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Leyla Aliyeva

@leylaaliyeva

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Experienced FinTech product manager driving national payments, open banking, and scalable digital finance solutions.

Azerbaijan

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What I'm looking for

I seek a senior product or leadership role in FinTech or payments where I can drive product strategy, scale national/regional payment solutions, mentor teams, and align innovation with regulatory compliance.

I am a FinTech product leader with over 10 years' experience in payments, digital banking, and product development, specializing in national payment systems, open banking, and fintech ecosystem building. I combine technical knowledge from a BSc in Computer Science with strategic insight from an MBA in Banking to deliver reliable, user-centric financial infrastructure.

At the Central Bank of Azerbaijan I led cross-functional Agile teams to design and launch the national Instant Payment System (IPS), AniPay multibanking app, Open Banking frameworks, and a Shared KYC platform, achieving system availability of 99.99%, sub-20-second transaction speeds, and significant cost savings for banks. I drove integrations for 30+ banks and PSPs, scaled AniPay to over 1 million users, and supported real-time flows exceeding 85M AZN annually.

I am outcomes-driven and partnership-focused, having built collaborations with global institutions, run regulatory sandboxes, and advised banks and startups on QR, POS, and digital payments strategies. I prioritize data-informed decision-making, regulatory alignment, and human-centered product design to modernize payment rails and improve financial inclusion.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Business Consultant

Current

Kapital Bank

May 2025 - Present (5 months)

Advised on acquiring product profitability and merchant migration to QR/POS channels, designing BNPL and Pay-by-Link scenarios and data-driven onboarding to accelerate merchant formalization and adoption.

Payments Strategy QR POS BNPL Go To Market

Business Consultant

Andersen

Mar 2024 - Sep 2024 (6 months)

Defined and implemented a national QR payment solution for Mbank (Kyrgyzstan), delivering ISO 20022-aligned payment flows, MVP scope, and interoperability to enable secure real-time retail and utility transactions.

ISO 20022 Business Analysis & Compliance Stakeholder Engagement

Product Manager - Instant Payments

The Central Bank of Azerbaijan

Apr 2021 - Jul 2024 (3 years 3 months)

Owned product strategy and rollout of the national Instant Payment System (IPS), launching QR payments (9M+ AZN annual volume), Open Banking APIs, and dispute automation while maintaining 99.99% availability and sub-20s transaction speeds.

Product Management ISO 20022 API Design Fraud Prevention Roadmapping Figma Power BI

Business Consultant

AION Biosystems

Aug 2023 - Mar 2024 (7 months)

Contributed to Agile delivery of a digital healthcare monitoring platform, managing product lifecycle from requirements to go-live and ensuring secure, scalable data collection and clinician-facing functionality.

Product Management Agile Requirements Gathering Healthcare IT Data Visualization & Compliance Sprint Planning

Business Consultant

Interexy

Mar 2022 - Jul 2022 (4 months)

Led business analysis for Gameday Plus, designing payment and wallet flows integrating fiat, NFTs, and crypto, and ensuring KYC/AML alignment and secure monetization through hybrid payments.

Payment Integration NFT Business Analysis KYC Wallet Design Monetization Smart Contracts

Senior Business Analyst - IPS

The Central Bank of Azerbaijan

May 2018 - Apr 2021 (2 years 11 months)

Translated regulatory and stakeholder requirements into technical specifications for IPS modules (clearing, settlement, fraud, disputes), led integrations for 30+ institutions and resolved 250+ certification issues to enable stable 24/7 operations.

Business Analysis ISO 20022 Integration Power BI Requirements Gathering

Head of Division - Fintech

The Central Bank of Azerbaijan

Jul 2015 - Jul 2018 (3 years)

Led national fintech strategy and a 15-member cross-functional team to deliver Open Banking, Shared KYC, and payment rail enhancements aligned with ISO 20022, driving ecosystem modernization and regulatory-compliant innovation.

Payments Strategy ISO 20022 Stakeholder Management KYC

Card Payments Specialist / BA

The Central Bank of Azerbaijan

Feb 2015 - May 2018 (3 years 3 months)

Managed clearing and settlement for the national card network, ensuring PCI-DSS compliance, optimizing interoperability with global schemes, and administering ~30 billion AZN annual turnover with improved interchange efficiency.

Card Processing PCI DSS Dispute Resolution Settlements