The Payments Association
Cristina Gaitens is an experienced operations and events professional, currently serving as Operations Manager at The Payments Association since August 2023. Previously, Cristina held the position of Educational Events Coordinator at the Association of Anaesthetists from September 2015 to August 2023. Prior roles include Meeting and Events Consultant at Inntel Ltd, Event Organiser (Associate) at the Financial Conduct Authority from October 2009 to November 2013, and Events Administrator and Team Secretary at the Financial Services Authority from December 2004 to October 2009. Cristina's educational background includes studies at King's College London in 2009-2010 and at William De Ferrers School.
The Payments Association
The Payments Association (previously the Emerging Payments Association or EPA) is for payments firms, big & small. We help our members navigate a complex regulatory environment and facilitate profitable business partnerships. Our purpose is to empower the most influential community in payments, where the connections, collaboration and learning shape an industry that works for all. We operate as an independent representative for the industry and its interests, and drive collaboration within the payments sector in order to bring about meaningful change and innovation. We work closely with industry stakeholders such as the Bank of England, the FCA, HM Treasury, the Payment Systems Regulator, Pay.UK, UK Finance and Innovate Finance. Through our comprehensive programme of activities for members and with guidance from an independent Advisory Board of leading payments CEOs, we facilitate the connections and build the bridges that join the ecosystem together and make it stronger. These activities include a programme of monthly digital and face-to-face events including our annual conference PAY360 and awards dinner, CEO round tables and training activities. We run 7 stakeholder working Project groups: Inclusion, Regulator, Financial Crime, International Trade and Open Banking. The volunteers within these groups represent the collective view of The Payments Association members at industry-critical moments and work together to drive innovation in these areas. We also conduct exclusive industry research which is made available to our members through our Insights knowledge base. These include monthly whitepapers, insightful interviews and tips from the industry’s most successful CEOs.