Leyla Aliyeva
@leylaaliyeva
Experienced FinTech product manager driving national payments, open banking, and scalable digital finance solutions.
AzerbaijanWhat I'm looking for
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
Business Consultant
Kapital Bank
May 2025 - Present (1 year 1 month)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Education
Degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework
Khazar University
Master of Business Administration, Banking
Grade: 80/100
Completed an MBA in Banking at Khazar University, focusing on banking and financial services.
Baku State University
Bachelor of Science, Computer Science
2010 - 2014
Grade: 82/100
Completed a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science at Baku State University from 2010 to 2014.
Tech stack
Software and tools used professionally
Availability
Location
AzerbaijanAuthorized to work in
Job categories
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