The Issuer Academy: Innovate. Scale. Impact

Financial inclusion is often measured in account sign-ups and app downloads; vanity metrics that say nothing about whether someone’s financial life has actually improved.

In this episode of The Issuer Academy, host Merusha Naidu sits down with Wilfredo Rodriguez (Executive Vice President and Head of IT and Operations at Asia United Bank) and Anna Porra (Chief Revenue Officer at Paymentology) in Bangkok. Together, they break down why the industry must shift from tracking initial access to measuring sustained usage. Rodriguez shares how AUB became the first Philippine bank to roll out the national digital ID, how they negotiated with regulators to launch instant-issuance government benefit cards, and why established banks must unlearn decades of analog habits to compete with agile fintechs.

How Huru is reimagining UAE fintech for migrant workers with zero-balance accounts, Jaywan cards, cross-border payments, and AI-powered banking.

In the UAE, managing money is rarely a single-country affair. Salaries need to cover local bills, support families overseas, build savings, and provide a safety net all at once. Huru is building a financial platform designed around exactly that reality.

Recording live from Seamless in Dubai, in this episode of The Issuer Academy podcast, host Merusha Naidu sits down with Priyanka Verma, Director of Technology at Huru, and Tim Joslyn, Chief Technology Officer at Paymentology, to discuss how Huru is reimagining financial access for the UAE’s migrant workforce.

Remittances across Africa are becoming a gateway to everyday finance: digital wallets, cross-border payments, cards, credit, and neobank services.

Across Africa, money moves with people. Workers cross borders for opportunity, build careers in regional hubs, and send wages, school fees, and support back home. But what if that first remittance is not just the end of a transaction, but the beginning of a financial relationship?

In this episode of The Issuer Academy podcast, host Merusha Naidu sits down with Juan Seco, Group Chief Growth Officer and Managing Director for East Africa at Mukuru, and Nuno Sitima, COO at Paymentology, to discuss how remittances are evolving into a gateway for everyday finance across Africa.

Portable financial identity, cross-border credit, and migrant banking: Ibrahim B. Oladele of Maxim on rebuilding financial inclusion for fintech.

When you move countries, your financial reputation doesn’t come with you. The stable job, the years of on-time payments, the strong credit history…none of it translates. Overnight, you become invisible to the financial system.
In this episode of The Issuer Academy podcast, host Merusha Naidu is joined by Ibrahim B. Oladele, Founder and CEO of Maxim. Together, they dive into the hidden crisis facing millions of migrants worldwide.

In this episode of The Issuer Academy podcast, host Merusha Naidu is joined by Ibrahim B. Oladele, Founder and CEO of Maxim. Together, they dive into the hidden crisis facing millions of migrants worldwide.

Digital banking profitability and banking infrastructure modernization are entering a new phase. In this episode of The Issuer Academy podcast, host Merusha Naidu is joined by Keerthi Iyengar, Chief Operating Officer at Constantinople, and Jeff Parker, CEO of Paymentology. Together, they navigate how banking-as-a-service platforms and cloud-native infrastructure are fundamentally reshaping the financial services industry, enabling tier 2 and tier 3 banks to compete with digital disruptors without sacrificing trust, compliance, or community connection.