Founder and CEO
i2c
Amir Wain is a recognized payment thought leader and serial entrepreneur. His entrepreneurial journey began when he founded Innovative Pvt. Limited in 1987. In 2000, he founded i2c to modernize financial technology. As CEO, Amir sets the strategic direction to realize his vision of a global, unified banking and payment platform that delivers unparalleled flexibility and agility while providing security and reliability.
Outside of his work at i2c, Amir serves as Chairman of the Board at numerous startups including xiQ, an AI-powered sales and marketing platform. He is also a limited partner to venture capital funds focused on B2B companies leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning. Amir also serves as Chairman for the Wain Foundation, which is focused on improving health and well-being, the quality of education, and clean water and sanitation in the world.
This research examines how the relationship between banks and their issuers and processors is evolving as payments infrastructure modernization accelerates alongside increasing consolidation across the payments ecosystem and intensifying competition from non-bank players seeking bank charters.
Once viewed primarily as legacy technology or middleware – providers, issuers and processors are now fewer in number and more deeply embedded as strategic partners supporting banks’ growth, innovation, and customer experience initiatives. The study explores how this shift, influenced by a more concentrated provider landscape and the emergence of newly chartered, digital-first competitors, is shaping banks’ modernization priorities, including technology architecture, data access, flexibility, and speed to market. In doing so, it assesses how banks of different sizes are redefining expectations around service, collaboration, accountability, and long-term risk as they navigate choice, innovation, and dependency in an increasingly competitive payments environment.