Senior Leadership Positions in Cross-Border Payments Filled by Women Represent Only a Quarter of the Total
The cross-border payments industry is making significant strides in gender diversity, with a notable emphasis on female representation in senior leadership roles. This week, our platform, which boasts a senior leadership team composed of 44% women, achieved milestones at Money20/20 Europe.
Lucy Ingham, Editor-in-Chief and Head of Content at our platform, delivered a presentation at Money20/20 Europe titled 'What We Got Wrong About Superapps'. Meanwhile, Ida Rolek-Kononiuk, VP of Technology at the platform, secured a spot in Money20/20's RiseUp cohort, a mechanism for amplifying women's voices in an industry predominantly male-dominated.
A report published by our platform today investigates the representation of women in senior roles in the cross-border payments industry. The findings reveal that out of 1,074 senior leadership roles analyzed, 791 were held by men and 283 by women. However, the report addresses the issue of women's representation in senior leadership within the cross-border payments industry and offers a comprehensive assessment over multiple years.
The report highlights the need for improvement in women's representation, particularly in early-stage companies and more established ones. It found that women account for 26% of senior leadership roles in the assessed companies. However, the current state of female representation in senior leadership roles within the cross-border payments regulatory sector shows significant progress.
As of March 31, 2025, 49.1% of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) across the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) — both key players in UK financial regulation and payments— were female. Excluding PSR, the figure was 48.7% female representation among SLT members.
When comparing these figures to other industry measures and broader contexts, the FCA/PSR figure of nearly half female SLT is notably higher than the global average where women hold about 31% of senior management roles worldwide. Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) in the UK, somewhat related in financing roles, have 41% women in senior management and 32% on boards, slightly lower than the FCA/PSR SLT levels but comparable in senior management representation.
Organizations with strong diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs generally reach around 35% women in leadership; FCA/PSR’s nearly 49% indicates a commitment to DEI beyond many sectors. In the category of People and HR positions, women account for more than half of those in the category.
The report aims to provide measurable data for the industry to benchmark itself against and work to improve on women's representation in senior leadership. The HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter reported that its signatories averaged 35% female representation in 2024, up from 34% in 2022.
Invitation for readers to reach out for potential meetings with Lucy Ingham, Ida Rolek-Kononiuk, and other members of the platform's leadership team at Money20/20 or after the event. Lucy Ingham expresses encouragement at seeing women like herself and colleague Ida Rolek-Kononiuk increasingly represented at events like Money20/20 Europe.
[1] Source: Our platform's report on female representation in senior leadership roles in the cross-border payments industry. [2] Source: Community Development Finance Association (CDFA) annual report 2024. [3] Source: McKinsey & Company's Women in the Workplace 2024 report.
Our platform's report, which investigates the representation of women in senior roles in the cross-border payments industry, reveals that although the industry has made strides, 44% of its senior leadership team is still female. Meanwhile, at Money20/20 Europe, our platform's female leaders, Lucy Ingham and Ida Rolek-Kononiuk, made significant contributions, with Lucy delivering a presentation and Ida joining Money20/20's RiseUp cohort.
