The Payments Association
Mark O'Keefe is an experienced professional in the payments consultancy sector, currently serving as the Director of Optima Consultancy since April 2007. O'Keefe has a comprehensive understanding of the payment ecosystem, working with major industry players. Additionally, O'Keefe holds the position of Ambassador at The Payments Association and serves as an Advisor for the consultative group in the case of Liz Coll v Alphabet Inc. O'Keefe is also a Board Trustee and Chair of the Financial Oversight, Audit & Risk Committee at M20 Learning Trust and a PSR Panel Member for the Payment Systems Regulator. Past roles include Non-Executive Chair at ByteDance, Consultant at Insight Consultancy UK Ltd, and various financial positions at Marks & Spencer Money and Capital One Bank Europe plc. Mark O'Keefe earned a BSc (Hons) in Business from The Manchester Metropolitan University from 1994 to 1997.
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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.