Prominent Australian fintech leader, Debra Taylor, has been honoured as Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2022 Women in Finance awards. Designed to recognise the best and brightest women leading Australia’s finance sector, Debra was chosen to receive the award after a competitive assessment between her and 9 other leading women in finance.
A pioneer of Australia’s fintech industry, Debra views her win as reflection of her successful 30-year career as a payments technology and fintech specialist. This is combined with a country girl humility towards paving the way for greater diversity within Australia’s AU$4 billion fintech sector.
Commenting on her award win, Debra notes: “Australia’s finance sector is well positioned for exponential growth and global economic contribution. My entrepreneurial success has been most evident in the AU$870 Billion global payments sector. This is an area where my expertise in achieving global compliance standards, obtaining master service agreements as well as negotiating cross-border operational requirements, has resulted in the successful launch and scaling of multiple businesses.
Identifying valuable opportunities is only a part of Debra’s success. She believes her greatest asset is the culture of ‘leading by example’ that she cultivates to attract and retain the brightest talents. “With every venture, the key to my success has been ensuring a clear purpose and vision is defined so team members and stakeholder can confidently contribute to the start-up’s journey. This focus creates a culture of shared ownership and active learning which has been the cornerstone of my career since day one.” – said Debra.
Debra’s latest entrepreneurial venture can be witnessed at OpenSparkz – Australia’s leading Platform-as-a-Service transforming the global loyalty marketing sector through card linking technology. Based in Sydney, OpenSparkz currently powers enterprise loyalty programs across Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, and North America.