In an industry where agility and innovation define success, Gustavo Origel has carved a path from corporate leadership at Citibank-Banamex to founding PaymentsonGO, a fintech company reshaping payment solutions in Latin America. In this interview, Gustavo shares insights on the transition to entrepreneurship, the role of AI in financial services, and the challenges of expanding into new markets. He also discusses financial inclusion and the future of fintech education. Read on for his perspectives on the evolving payments landscape.
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Your journey from Citibank-Banamex to founding PaymentsonGO is remarkable. What inspired you to take the leap from a distinguished corporate career into entrepreneurship, and what were the biggest challenges you faced in that transition?
Life marks stages for us and each of us sets challenges according to the objectives we set for ourselves. In my case, since some time before deciding to definitively leave the corporate world, I had the intention of doing different things where I could determine the future and destiny of the company, products and services that were innovative and at the edge of technology, testing new concepts, as well as obtaining real support from a supplier at reasonable costs.
The entrepreneurial world is very different from the corporate world that we live in as executives, the risks and benefits directly impact the entrepreneur, in which he must not only worry about delivering products and services in the best way, but also about having the Equity and Funds available under a financial health that allows the company the growth andsustainability in the long term.
PaymentsonGO has seen significant growth, working with top-tier clients like Indeval and MUFG. What core principles or innovations do you believe have driven this success in such a competitive financial landscape?
Firstly and with no doubt, we count with the best payment platform in the market, ahead of many companies that have been around for a long time and are now becoming legacy with the advantage that we are very agile and that we can, due to the characteristics and technology of the solution, provide the best functionality, scalability and availability for these mission critical services as payments are for a financial institutions.
Our software is completely open, configurable, and scalable than any other in the market, easy to integrate in complex and diverse environments. Besides, one of our main priorities is to ensure the security of the platform, which is why we have different national and international certifications to ensure the best-in-class payments platform, independently of the regular vulnerability assessments to check we don’t have any breach in the system.
On the other hand, because we don`t drag with the heavy structures that usually big companies have, our products and services are more than competitive, providing of course the best-in-class platform but also the talent with very well prepared and experienced people for implementation and consulting services.
You’ve recently begun exploring AI solutions within PaymentsonGO. How do you envision artificial intelligence transforming the payments ecosystem, particularly in emerging markets like Mexico and Latin America?
Artificial intelligence is a technology that is undoubtedly revolutionizing our society in every way. In the case of payment systems, achieving greater efficiency and effectiveness in their application, reducing the risk levels of fraud, improving the customer journey by making it a much more personal experience, increasing their levels of efficiency, security and possibilities of better and more accessible payment systems in the industry.
With the arrival of Agentic AI, I see companies and services specialized in various functions, which clients will be able to integrate to have the best solution, under open standards
With your extensive background in financial infrastructure, data centers, and security engineering at Citigroup, how has that experience shaped your strategic approach to building technology solutions at PaymentsonGO?
Customers and regulators expect the highest levels of security, availability and efficiency from mission-critical payment systems, with no capacity or performance issues despite increasing volumes. Our solution handles all of these aspects very well for the benefit of our customers, and this insight and experience I have had over the years has allowed me to understand the needs holistically, so that we can generally comprehensively consider all aspects.
Financial inclusion is a critical issue in many emerging economies. Can you share more about your recognized project from the Oxford Fintech Programme and how PaymentsonGO is contributing to improving financial accessibility in Mexico?
Mexico, like many Latin American countries, has low levels of participation of society in the financial sector, with technology representing a unique opportunity to provide multiple services at their fingertips, benefiting the population to achieve greater stability and economic growth.
With Paymentsongo solutions, electronic wallets, blockchain technology, real-time transfers and payments, and now incorporating Applied Artificial Intelligence, all these services can be brought to this sector in a reliable and economical way.
As part of the AIFOD working committee on innovation and AI in emerging countries, what trends or challenges do you see as most pressing for these regions in the near future?
Gaps between advanced and emerging countries can reach alarming levels causing differences even greater than those we currently have, as well as dependencies that contain risks for their economic and social growth. That is why it is so important to support and influence the different public and private sectors and society in general so that these countries have the access, tools, and education necessary to achieve sufficient independence or technological knowledge and have solutions that adapt to their needs.
Promoting the local development of this industry, with regional resources, that encourage competitive innovation schemes and that adapt to the needs of emerging countries, will allow maintaining the competitiveness and productivity that will be required in local and global markets. It is also important to see from the labor point of view that it will be necessary to train and qualify technical resources so that they are not at a disadvantage with the markets in developed countries.
Throughout your career, from overseeing global security engineering to leading cutting-edge fintech solutions, what has been the most pivotal technological advancement you’ve witnessed in the financial sector?
During my more than 40 years of experience in technology within the financial sector, I have lived through multiple technological changes that have transformed the financial sector in its processes and solutions. From the introduction of internet technology for practically all banking functions, moving forward with the use of mobile devices with a banking solution applications, the management of big data, which has undoubtedly been another important transformer in technological solutions in the financial sector, the digitalization of payment systems and methods easing access and availability of payments to our clients.
We are now experiencing another technological wave that may be even bigger and deeper with the introduction of generative and agent-based artificial intelligence, which I believe will not only be technological change, but will have social, economic, ethical,and security implications that will impact all sectors of modern society
Given your dual experience in academia and industry, how do you believe educational Institutions should evolve to better prepare future leaders for the rapid changes in fintech and AI?
Educational institutions must adapt to rapid technological changes so that graduates are better prepared for the world of work. A link between school and industry becomes essential, as well as a greater exchange at all levels of students and teachers for enrichment and improvement of knowledge transfer.
Curricula must be more agile and flexible to adapt to the changing world, and teachers must be allowed greater exposure and exchange with other national and international institutions for better academic and work preparation.
As PaymentsonGO looks to expand further into Latin America and the U.S., what are your key strategic priorities, and how do you plan to navigate the regulatory and technological challenges of international growth?
In the field of payments, we are sufficiently prepared from the point of view of our technology to cover other markets, in which, however, certain alliances with regional or local companies will be required to be more effective in the way we will cover these new clients. Paymentsongo is also now incorporating artificial intelligence technology into its services and platforms, seeking innovation and efficiency within a scheme of specific functional solutions, through agents that ultimately integrate complete solutions that are lighter, focused and efficient.
All our solutions are modular, open and parameterizable to adapt without changes to the various markets. With the arrival of artificial intelligence, adaptation will be done through training the solution through data, automatically fine-tuning to each market and need. From a regulatory perspective, we must continue to actively participate and communicate with the various participants in local and international regulatory processes to act quickly on the corresponding adjustments, as well as, if possible, influence certain sectors to promote certain changes that will allow for better dynamics in the financial sector.
On a personal note, with over four decades in the financial sector, what continues to motivate you every day, and what legacy do you hope to leave through your work with PaymentsonGO and beyond?
I have always been linked to innovation and change, and what motivates and excites me more every day is creating and proposing new alternatives and possibilities of doing things different, taking advantage of technology and constantly questioning the current way of doing things.
Maintaining the status quo is not an option for me to remain current, updated and competitive. Within my legacy, I hope to have contributed to creating a better society and country, according to my possibilities, which serves as an example for youth to always fight for their ideals and a more just and equitable society, being better human beings every day
