FinovateFall Best of Show winner Neural Payments on bringing payments to the masses through “any to any” payment capabilities.

Host Greg Palmer wraps up our series spotlighting the FinovateFall 2026 Best of Show winners with a conversation featuring Mick Oppy, founder and CEO of Neural Payments. Drawing on over a decade of payments experience, including leading issuing product for a large US processor, Mick explains why he started Neural Payments: to close the gap between the pace of change in the industry and the ability of banks and credit unions to keep up. The company's mission is to bring payments to the masses in a way that works smoothly for both consumers and the back office teams who support them.

At the heart of Neural Payments is its “any to any” payment capability, letting users send money to anyone, anywhere, instantly, without worrying about which payment rail is used behind the scenes. The experience is embedded directly into a financial institution's existing mobile banking app, so there is no new wallet or separate registration required. On the technical side, Neural Payments is built from the ground up rather than layered on top of a sponsor bank's APIs, connecting directly into debit networks, the Fed, and RTP systems, while unifying fraud and risk monitoring across all payment types. Mick also speaks candidly about the human side of this work, describing lengthy, sometimes 18 month long negotiations with compliance, legal, and regulatory teams at major institutions, and how patience and relationship building, not technology alone, are what ultimately move these conversations forward.

Looking ahead, Mick shares that Neural Payments has shifted from being seen as a competitor to many P2P solutions to becoming a complementary engine that financial institutions can add to their existing stack, opening doors to new RFP opportunities around funding accounts and new account openings. He teases two to three new business lines launching in the first quarter of next year, including a move into the SMB and micro merchant space, alongside continued growth on the P2P side. Closing with a bold industry prediction, Mick compares the payments space to the slow adoption of QR codes before the pandemic, suggesting that a similar tipping point, driven by stable coin, agentic payments, or another unforeseen shift, is likely within the next two to three years, and that staying adaptable will be the key to thriving as change accelerates.

More info:

Neural Payments: https://neuralpayments.com; https://www.linkedin.com/company/neuralpayments/

Mick Oppy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mickoppy/

Greg Palmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbpalmer/

Finovate: https://www.finovate.com; https://www.linkedin.com/company/finovate-conference-series/

FinovateFall: https://informaconnect.com/finovatefall/



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