Payments is an industry full of big claims about what comes next, but product teams usually deal with something more concrete: regulation, infrastructure, customer needs and the limits of what systems can actually support.
Much of the work inside fintech sits in that gap, especially at companies building the technology behind issuing and acquiring.
In this week’s In Profile, Robin Anderson, head of product management at Tribe Payments, discusses his career in fintech, the realities of building products in payments, and how he views the industry’s current fixation with technologies like AI and digital currencies.
Tell us more about your company and its purpose
Tribe Payments is a payments technology company that provides issuer and acquirer processing, alongside a platform that helps banks, fintechs and merchants build and scale payment products.
At a practical level, what we’re really doing is taking away a lot of the friction that still exists in payments. Too much of the industry is held back by legacy infrastructure, which makes it harder to launch new products or adapt quickly.
We’ve built our platform to give clients more control, so that they can move faster, test things properly, and evolve their propositions without being constrained by the underlying technology.
Put simply, we want to make it easier for our clients to build payment experiences that actually match how people use money today.
What are some of your recent achievements you’d like to highlight?
Over the past 18 months, a big focus for us has been expanding internationally. Opening our Singapore and Dubai offices were both important steps – not just in terms of footprint, but in being closer to clients in regions where payments innovation is moving very quickly.
Alongside that, we’ve continued to invest heavily in the platform itself. A lot of the work has been around helping clients move beyond basic card programmes into something more complete; whether that’s issuer processing, digital banking capabilities, or more flexible product setups.
A good example of that is how we’ve been developing our risk and compliance capabilities. One of the biggest challenges in payments right now is balancing speed with increasingly complex regulatory requirements, especially as more transactions move onto real-time rails.
We’ve been addressing that through our Risk Monitor capabilities, which are designed to carry out fraud and compliance checks in real time, without slowing the payment down. This is really important, because historically there’s been a trade-off between speed and control, and that’s becoming less acceptable as expectations rise.
We’ve also seen strong growth in the range of clients we work with. That mix – from established financial institutions to fast-scaling fintechs – is useful because it forces us to stay flexible. The needs are very different, and the platform has to reflect that.
How did you get into the fintech industry?
My route into what became a career in fintech really started in payments. I was managing a co-operative grocery store in Northampton at the time, but I wanted to get back into technology, given my background in software development. I applied for a Technical Support role on Barclaycard’s ecommerce product, ePDQ, and got it. During the onboarding process, a conversation about my management experience led to me moving into a team leader role instead.
It wasn’t planned, but it gave me early exposure to both the technical and operational sides of payments, which shaped everything that followed.
It’s been over 20 years now, but I still catch myself facing up the shelves at Morrisons after I’ve picked something up – some habits stick!
What’s the best thing about working in the fintech industry?
It’s become a bit of a cliché, but the pace of change really is what makes fintech interesting. Payments sit right at the centre of everyday behaviour, so expectations shift quickly. New methods emerge, different regions influence each other, and what feels cutting-edge one year can become standard very quickly.
That constant movement keeps the industry fresh. It means you’re always learning, always adapting, and always thinking about how to turn broader market shifts into products and experiences that make sense for real users and businesses.
What frustrates you most about the fintech industry?
Probably when hype starts to replace clear product thinking. The industry can be quick to rally around new technologies, but sometimes slower to ask the basic questions: what problem does this solve, who is it for, and does it actually improve anything?
We saw that with the ‘metaverse’ conversation back in 2021/22 – plenty of enthusiasm, but not much clarity on why it mattered for people who just wanted to pay for something simply and securely.
For me, innovation only really counts when it’s tied to a real customer need and a clear outcome.
How have your previous roles influenced your career
Each role has shaped a different part of how I think about product. Barclaycard gave me the foundations: product management, delivery discipline, agile ways of working, and the confidence to operate in large, complex organisations. It was a strong environment for learning how to build and deliver properly.
At Network International, that became more commercial. I spent more time thinking about value propositions, creating clear market strategies, and making sure product decisions are anchored in customer need and business outcomes. I also had the benefit of working alongside a number of people in the industry I deeply respect, remain close to and continue to learn from.
Tribe has broadened things for me further. I arrived with a strong acquiring, ecommerce and gateway background, but it pushed me much further into acquirer processing, POS and card-present payments, and later into issuer processing and digital banking as my remit expanded. That helped me evolve from being seen primarily as ‘the ecommerce guy’ into a broader product leader across multiple parts of the payments and fintech ecosystem
If I look at my progression overall: Barclaycard taught me how to build and deliver; Network International taught me how to position and commercialise; and Tribe has pushed me to think more holistically as a product leader.
What’s the best mistake you’ve ever made?
Early in my career, I assumed that if something was genuinely useful, people would immediately understand its value, but that’s not always the case. I was quite focused on the product itself then, and not enough on how it was communicated. I think that’s a common experience in product leaders, particularly those with a technical mindset.
A former boss (somebody I still try to learn from when I can) taught me that good product thinking and good storytelling aren’t separate things; they’re part of the same job. Not as a marketing spin, but as a way of clearly expressing why something matters, to whom, and in what context. That changed how I think about value propositions, product advocacy, and ultimately how you turn good product work into real commercial impact.
What has the future got in store for your company?
The focus is really on scaling what we’ve built, both geographically and in terms of capability. That means continuing to expand into key markets like APAC, but it’s also making the platform more flexible and easier to work with as clients’ needs evolve.
We’re also seeing more demand from businesses that don’t just want individual components, but something more joined-up – combining issuing, acquiring and banking capabilities in a more integrated way. That’s where we’re spending a lot of time, because it’s where our clients are heading.
What are the next key talking points or challenges for your industry as a whole?
One of the biggest challenges is balancing speed with responsibility. There’s a lot of pressure to innovate quickly, but payments also rely heavily on trust, security and compliance. Getting that balance right isn’t easy, particularly for newer players.
At the same time, there’s still a significant amount of legacy infrastructure across the industry, and modernising that is necessary, but it’s complex and takes time.
And more broadly, differentiation is becoming harder. As more capabilities become standardised, the question shifts from ‘can you do payments?’ to ‘what makes your product genuinely better or more useful?’ That’s where I think the industry will need to focus.
