OpenPayd CEO on future of payments tech
Global payment systems are undergoing rapid transformation, as real-time transactions, stablecoins, and AI increasingly integrate with established banking networks. This evolution presents fresh opportunities—especially for multinational firms—for streamlining cross-border money transfers. Iana Dimitrova, CEO of OpenPayd, has long examined the broader implications of this financial convergence.
OpenPayd has 6 global offices and powers more than 1,200 businesses, moving around US$300 billion in annualised payment volume. The company’s platform brings together payment accounts, local and cross-border payments, foreign exchange, treasury capabilities, and regulated digital-asset infrastructure through a single API.
Handling the Plumbing
Iana Dimitrova sees regulation as an important foundation for innovation, while arguing that the next generation of financial infrastructure must be more intelligent, more connected, and easier for businesses to use. “Our job is to handle the plumbing: the licensing, banking connectivity, payment rails, compliance, and technology,” she says of OpenPayd. “That allows our customers to focus on what they do best, which is building products, solving customer problems, and growing their businesses globally.”
Iana believes that AI is one of the most important forces changing financial services, with applications across almost the entire financial services lifecycle. However, she also emphasizes the need for accountability in AI-driven decision-making, particularly when it comes to agentic payments, where AI systems could make decisions or initiate transactions with less direct human involvement.
For Iana, the issue is not simply what AI can do, but whether businesses can ensure that automated decisions remain authorised, traceable, and subject to effective controls. She argues that the necessary safeguards cannot be added once the system is already in operation, but rather must be designed in from the outset.
Stablecoins and the Multi-Rail Future
Iana sees stablecoins as a means of payment and settlement alongside traditional payment rails, rather than a replacement for them. She believes that the future is multi-rail, with businesses able to use both fiat and stablecoins as part of the same payment journey. The real opportunity, she says, is creating the interoperability that makes this possible.
A stablecoin-enabled transaction can settle in under one minute, compared to traditional international payments that may take several business days. Iana expects different forms of money movement to operate alongside one another, with businesses able to use the most appropriate rail for a particular transaction. This interoperability is central to OpenPayd’s proposition, as the company seeks to create infrastructure that connects multiple payment systems and handles the complexity in the background.
The sector is approaching a structural change in the way money moves, with the convergence of real-time payments, stablecoins, and increasingly intelligent financial infrastructure. Iana believes that this shift will enable businesses to move money globally across different rails without having to think about the complexity underneath. As she notes, “The future isn’t about one payment rail replacing another; it’s about businesses being able to move money globally across different rails without having to think about the complexity underneath.”
With OpenPayd’s platform, businesses can already use stablecoins and blockchain technology to solve practical problems in international payments. The company’s focus on accountability and regulation is likely to remain a key aspect of its approach as it continues to innovate and expand its services. As Iana looks to the future, she sees a world where businesses can move money quickly, efficiently, and securely, without having to deal with the complexities of multiple payment systems. The exact details of how this will play out are still emerging, but one thing is clear: the way money moves around the world is changing, and OpenPayd is at the forefront of this shift.
