This event took place on 10 June 2026. Our next event is Casablanca 2026 →
Overview
An invitation-led executive forum on cross-border interoperability, operating realities, and scaling instant A2A globally.
Leadership Pulse Series convenes senior decision-makers from instant A2A payment ecosystems to discuss practical pathways to cross-border interoperability. The format prioritizes executive dialogue and implementable outcomes over conference scale.
Global Focus
- Global scheme-to-scheme interoperability
- Cross-border corridor design beyond regional blocs
- Operating models, governance, and readiness across markets
- Practical implementation constraints (compliance, fraud, disputes, reachability)
Agenda — 10 June 2026
Who Attends
Format
Short plenary discussions, closed-door roundtables, and structured networking. Attendance is complimentary — there is no participation fee. However, places are strictly limited and attendance is curated by application. Submitting a request does not guarantee a place.
Main Media Partner
The Paypers is the leading global source of news and analysis for payments and fintech professionals. We are proud to have The Paypers as the official Main Media Partner for the Madrid 2026 edition.
Next Event
Leadership Pulse Series — Casablanca
20 October 2026 · Casablanca, Morocco
African A2A Connectivity: From Regional Rails to Global Reach
Learn More & Apply →Event Recap
On Wednesday the 10th of June 2026, we closed the doors on the latest edition of the Leadership Pulse Series in Madrid.
Central banks. Scheme operators. Infrastructure builders. Fintechs. Connectors. All in the same room. All in the same conversation.
We heard from Jose Manuel Marques from Banco de España on the co-existence of CBDCs and A2A schemes, from Joachim Samuelsson at Crunchfish AB on why offline architecture is the missing strategic layer in payments, from Mikkel B. Thrane at Vipps MobilePay on the emerging foundation for global interoperability, and from Martin Azcue Lopez at Bizum on what it takes to pioneer A2A payments beyond P2P.
Nicholas Ostler from Thunes joined us for a Fireside Chat on the corridors that matter most but get talked about least. And our panel, moderated by Chris C., brought together Magdalena Kubisa from BLIK, Federico Hernandez from Alipay+, alongside Bizum and Vipps MobilePay, to dig into the real opportunities and friction points of international A2A.
The conversations ranged across resilience, sovereignty, interoperability, regulation and collaboration. One slide from Vipps MobilePay said it better than we could have: we are stronger together.
Nacho Garcia from NURABAL presented on Agentic Payments in the era of A2A, highlighting why corporations are likely to lead adoption and why all the Instant Payment ecosystem needs to get ready.
While Europe is falling behind, India's UPI ecosystem is already setting the pace for agentic instant payments.
Agentic payments, the last mile problem in emerging markets, what happens when the network goes down, where the Digital Euro fits alongside the schemes that are already live and scaling. Nothing was off the table.
What attendees said
"The quality of networking was excellent. Many great connections made."
"Thank you for including me, it was an excellent event."
"A very informative day with some great discussions."
"Thank you again for thinking of us and we hope to work together again in the future."
That is exactly what we set out to build. A small room, by design. The value is who is in it.
Thank you to every speaker, every attendee and everyone who made the journey to Madrid. And thank you to The Paypers and Nordic Fintech Magazine for their partnership and for keeping the broader community connected to these conversations.
We are already thinking about the next edition. Watch this space.