Carlos Figueredo is the CEO and Founder of Open Vector, a professional consultancy firm founded in 2017 specialising in open banking, PSD2, GDPR and payments. Its purpose is to advise other governments, regulators and central banks on implementing open banking across the financial sector and promote financial and social inclusion while working closely with the Fintech community. Carlos is a recognised open banking SME with 20+ year payments, SWIFT, SEPA, PSD2 and ISO experience.

Carlos’ open banking experience started in 2016 as the Head of Data Standards for the UK Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE). He oversaw the ISO 20022 based standard development and the relevant technical elements to integrate it across the array of product-based API’s which was the first initiative globally in the banking sector, or any other sector, to have done so.

In the third quarter of 2018, Open Vector was granted by the British Embassy of Mexico City and the Prosperity Fund a component of phase 1 of the Fintech Law delivery. Carlos worked alongside the CNBV (National Banking and Securities Commission) to develop and implement the first open banking data standards, regulatory aspects and API architecture and security standards outside of the ones created in the UK.

Prior roles included leading large-scale program integration and standardisation primarily in the payment’s arena for banking institutions like Barclays, HSBC, and Credit Suisse. He also served as the global head of financial messaging for the CITCO Group of Companies. 

Carlos has over 20 years of data standards experience through his work at SWIFT but also in representing Ireland before the ISO committee in the development of ISO standards programmes like the SHARP (SWIFT Hedge Fund) Initiative which was the first ISO standardisation of the funds industry. He served in the ISO business validation and technical validation group for over 6 years overseeing the development of ISO 150022 and the creation of ISO 20022.

He has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Networking from Strayer University in Virginia, USA and a Master’s Degree in International Management from the University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom.