
About Currency Research
Through its close relationships with central banks, regulators, payment operators, printworks, and other companies that are part of the cash and payments industry, Currency Research (CR) is the leading global provider of premium conferences for this audience. By connecting senior executives and experts from across the industry in an intimate environment that fosters collaboration and profound discussions, Currency Research (CR) aims to play an important role in enabling thought leadership in an industry that is seeing an unprecedented pace of change. Complemented by its publications, Central Bank Payment News, the Currency Research (CR) Payments Directory, and industry-specific reports, as well as its consulting services and initiatives such as training programs and webinars, Currency Research (CR) is the single source for all things cash and payments. Currency Research (CR) held its first conference ever in 1992 and has maintained its independence since, providing an objective view of developments in the industry.
The Currency Research (CR) team is located across the globe to stay close to its valued customers. With more than 200 years of combined experience in the payments industry, the Currency Research (CR) team is ideally placed to identify the latest trends and the newest developments and reference these throughout everything we do.
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Our Team
Nur Afiqah is an ACCA Member with over four years of experience in accounting and finance, having worked across multinational companies, SMEs and shared service environments in Malaysia, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Her experience has given her a broad perspective on financial operations, reporting and accounting processes across different industries and business settings.
She is committed to bringing a practical and detail-oriented approach to finance, with a focus on delivering reliable financial support and adding value to the organisation.
With over 20 years of experience in the currency industry, Natasha expertly develops regional and global cash and payments-focused events for Currency Research. She is committed to creating memorable and worthwhile user experiences at Currency Research events and values interpersonal relationships. Prior to joining in 2016, Natasha began her career at The South African Mint, where she concluded her tenure as the Regional Manager for Circulation Coins Exports, focusing on circulation coin export sales, business development activities in target regions, and relationship management with the existing Central Bank, Monetary Authority, and Mint customer base.
Ashwinee Balasundaram is a finance professional with over six years of experience in financial analysis, forecasting, reporting and stakeholder communication. Based in Penang, Malaysia, Ashwinee has honed her expertise in financial modelling and data-driven decision-making across roles in the technology industry. Her career includes significant contributions at AMD and Dell where she played a pivotal role in streamlining processes and delivering actionable insights.
Ashwinee is passionate about leveraging her financial acumen to drive organizational growth and efficiency, with a particular interest in global financial operations.
Paula Caniglia brings over 14 years of experience in sales operations, account management, and event coordination to Currency Research. Based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, she excels in building client relationships, optimizing CRM systems, and driving strategic growth across Latin America. Holding a Licentiate in International Trade from UADE, Paula is fluent in Spanish and English, with conversational proficiency in Portuguese, and is passionate about connecting with diverse markets. Previously, she held key roles in Logistics and Oil & Gas industries, managing high-value bids and international events. Outside work, Paula enjoys travel, photography, and exploring global cuisines.
Mariosa has over 10 years’ experience in finance and accountancy. Throughout her career she has achieved many goals and aims and worked in different sectors which have made her stronger and more knowledgeable in what she loves to do, which is understanding and working the numbers. Mariosa’s experience prior to joining Currency Research allowed her responsibility for preparing and analyzing financial reports, managing deadlines, projects and teams to ensure the smooth running of the department and accounting function. She is currently studying for the ACCA qualification.
Marlvin (Marv) Dube brings more than 15 years of experience spanning UI/UX, web design, video editing, digital marketing, and creative project management — equally comfortable producing print-ready collateral as building digital and marketing assets.
A self-taught designer and creative director, Marlvin has built his career across freelance client work and his own entrepreneurial ventures, including remote collaborations with international teams across diverse industries. He's also embraced AI-powered design tools as part of his workflow, always looking for new ways to sharpen his process.
At Currency Research, Marlvin leads design for the team's conferences and publications across print and digital, helping bring CR's work to its global audience.
Brianna Erban is the Editor-in-Chief of Central Bank Payments News (CBPN). Based in Edmonton, Canada, Brianna has extensive experience in writing business and academic reports, editing, in-depth research and analysis, project planning and management, and communications. For almost a decade and counting, Brianna has focused her research on developments in the fast-moving world of cash and payments. Although primarily focused on news emerging from the digital payments ecosystem, she remains interested in efforts to uphold cash as a consumer choice and democratic right. Brianna studied at Keele University (UK) and the University of Alberta (Canada) and holds a Master of Arts in English Literature degree and a Master’s degree in Library and Information Studies.
Shaun has spent over 25 years in the cash and payments industry. A tenured currency and central banking expert, before joining Currency Research, Shaun spent 16 years at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System where he oversaw all operational and policy aspects of U.S. banknote issuance and processing. Shaun also spent several months with the Digital Dollar Project where he gained extensive knowledge of all things digital assets and digital currencies. He is CR's go-to currency subject matter expert.
Shaun joined CR in 2017 as Managing Director for the Americas region and in 2025 Shaun was appointed Chief Commercial Officer. He develops and implements comprehensive commercial strategies to drive business growth and oversees sales, business development, and sales marketing functions.
Sonia is a seasoned digital marketing professional with over two decades of experience. She has extensive experience with teams spread over multiple countries and time zones and has a proven track record of delivering tangible results.
Within digital marketing, Sonia has worked as a content creator, translator, and social media manager, and has extensive experience in SEO and digital content creation. She has worked as a Social Media Manager and Web Content Manager, where she was responsible for on-site optimization of articles, social media content creation, and technical support of clients' websites. She has created written and visual content for WordPress websites, managed freelance contributors, and created and implemented strategic content calendars for email newsletters.
Sonia is currently the Digital Marketing Expert for Currency Research (CR), where she conceives and oversees all CR’s digital marketing efforts, including web, SEO/SEM, email, social media, and PPC campaigns. Additionally, she manages the company’s events app, creates marketing collateral, and produces and edits video content to drive engagement and boost brand awareness.
Helen is responsible for managing all operational relationships with the sponsors across CR events as Head of Client Relations. She has many years of experience managing conferences and other corporate events within the legal and medical sectors. These events ranged from seminars for up to 350 delegates to glamorous award ceremonies with 900 attendees. Helen particularly enjoys meeting new people and building lasting relationships. She of course also loves to travel.
Hamish has joined Currency Research as a Relationship Manager - EMEA. With a degree in economics, he brings a strong analytical mindset to the team, he is focused on building key relationships to support CR’s conferences. Through extensive travel, he has gained practical insight into different payments systems, allowing him to develop an understanding of the challenges and opportunities that face the current global payments landscape.
Kiara is a business development professional with extensive experience supporting B2B tech and SaaS companies across the APAC region in the past 6 years. She specializes in building strong client relationships, identifying growth opportunities, and engaging decision-makers through strategic outreach. With a background in strategic communication, Kiara brings a people-first approach to sales, combining clear communication with a strong understanding of business needs to drive sustainable growth.
Hurin Nawawi has joined Currency Research as Operations & Marketing Coordinator, responsible for supporting and coordinating the operations and marketing activities.
Before joining CR, Hurin brings 6 years of experience in content strategy and marketing coordination. Hurin is adept at maintaining an up-to-date online presence, regularly updating news, resources, and event information across the company's websites and various social media platforms. She also ensured the accuracy and relevance of information by promptly updating any changes on the company's website.
With a collaborative approach, she has worked well with internal and external partners to deliver quality content. Additionally, Hurin has experience in assisting the marketing team by efficiently managing event requests, highlighting her versatility and dedication to the overall success of marketing initiatives.
Shelley Jackson has joined the CR team in the role of Operations & Marketing Director. Shelley brings extensive knowledge to the team with over 20 years of experience in Marketing, Events, Logistics, and Team Management. Her career has touched on various industries, with the most recent in the Wine Industry, living and working in China for 6 years. Interests are food, wine, travel, biking, hiking, and distance running.
Amalina Md Khair is an Event and Project Manager with nearly eight years of experience delivering high-impact in-person and virtual events, leading programmes in the Middle East (UAE & Oman) and Malaysia, and supporting projects across Europe, the UK, the US, and APAC. She was named to the Eventex Powerlist 2025 as one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in the Events Industry (Top 50 in Asia) and is recognised for her operational excellence, having also been featured on the 10times “Eva Talk” podcast discussing innovative event formats and audience engagement.
Tom Mitchell is a senior leader at Currency Research, where he plays a central role across much of CR’s global conference portfolio — spanning commercial strategy, programme development, and relationship management with the world’s leading financial institutions, central banks, and cash and payments industry stakeholders.
Tom serves as Vice Chair of both the Currency Conference and the Banknote Conference — two of the most prestigious events in the global currency industry — and acts as Event Director for the EMEA Cash Cycle Seminar (ICCOS), the Silk Road Cash & Payments Conference, and the Ghana Cedi Anniversary Conference. Together these events span Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, and beyond.
Having joined Currency Research in 2014, Tom has built an extensive global network across central and commercial banks, cash management companies, security printers, and payments organisations. He works across CR’s commercial and programme functions to deliver unparalleled networking, educational, and promotional opportunities for the currency and payments community.
Ana Osorio has joined the Currency Research team an Event Manager. She is a passionate event organizer with a bachelor’s degree in hotel management and a speciality degree in Marketing. Since the beginning of her career, 8 years ago, Ana has organized multiple conferences in varying industries bringing with her a wide range of experience
Some of her interests include tennis, biking, and traveling.
Karrtigesu Saravanan is an ACCA Affiliate with over five years of experience in bookkeeping and more than three years in accounting and taxation. He has developed a well-rounded financial background through roles in audit firms, a logistics company, and Citigroup. Karrtigesu brings strong expertise in financial reporting, compliance, and tax matters, and is committed to delivering accurate and reliable financial insights that support organizational goals.
Jens has been in the industry for nearly 35 years with senior management roles in sales and marketing, operations, customer service, business development, and general management.
He has a background in payments and cash, and led both global business units as well as a number of major change programs on a global scale throughout his career.
Jens joined CR in 2018 as Vice President, Business Development and Consulting. In November 2020, he was appointed as CEO & President and in January 2025 assumed the position of Chair & CEO.
Tan Chee Meng worked as an electronic design engineer for five years prior to joining the currency community 29 years ago. His currency experience started at the Central Bank of Malaysia where he gained a thorough understanding of high-speed sorting machines and the currency supply chain. In 1995 he joined Currency Systems International (CSI) to further enhance his knowledge in the field of high-speed currency processing and detection. Additionally, he ran an engineering and parts depot in Malaysia to service all of CSI’s customers in Asia.
When De La Rue acquired CSI in 2001, his knowledge in the industry expanded to include teller assist units, ATMs, substrates, and security features. Tan joined Currency Research in October 2009 as Managing Director of Asia and Middle East. Tan is currently the Secretary of the Asian Cash Management Association (ACMA).
Tan Chee Meng specializes in Cash Management Alternatives and is a regional expert in Asia on all sections of the cash cycle.
Jordan is responsible for payments programming across Currency Research's (CR) entire event portfolio, including the Central Bank Payments Conference and the Island Nations Currency & Payments Summit.
Described as CR's resident “Swiss Army Knife,” Jordan’s reliability and flexibility have allowed him to support a variety of initiatives during his time with CR. In addition to leading the payments programming stream, he also serves as Senior Editor of Central Bank Payments News since 2020, provides content-development assistance to CR’s marketing department, oversees the company’s community and media partnerships, and serves as occasional host on The P.I.T. Exchange podcast.
Jordan earned his undergraduate degree in philosophy from Virginia Commonwealth University and holds a Master of Management in Library and Information Science from the University of Southern California.
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Some Testimonials from our Sponsors

"We found the conference very interesting, there is a nice programme, a lot of delegates and very interesting speeches. The venue is nice, and we hope we have the opportunity to visit a similar area in this region, we are very interested in the middle Asian countries, so thank you for organising it and we definitely will be back."

"It has been a great pleasure being here and meeting many delegates from around the world and many central banks, as well as having our team members participate in panel sessions and presentations covering several topics. What we appreciate most about the Currency Research events is the prevalence of the valuable material and content compared to other conferences."

"We are delighted to be here at the conference and we’re meeting with a great number of commercial and central banks and also payment companies. It is a great opportunity to talk about the growth of payment technology in the region. The opportunity to meet banks from different countries, new territories and talk about how we connect them through our infrastructure and other infrastructures globally I think is a great opportunity. It is great to see collaboration between private and public sector in action and it is a great opportunity to deep dive into the challenges of this region. An absolutely fantastic event."

"This conference is an incredible platform for knowledge sharing and collaboration. The panel discussions and presentations are truly insightful and present diverse perspectives on the future of money. This conference is also a fantastic opportunity to connect to industry leaders, exchange ideas, and contribute to the ongoing evolution of money. Finally, I would like to thank Currency Research for organising this conference and the participants for making this conference a remarkable experience."

"We are here in Mexico at The Currency Conference, and we just presented our new project called the “Absence of Everything” which is a new way to think about bank notes. We are really glad to be here with all the colleagues in the industry."

"Greetings from Mexico City, we are super happy to be back after four years, and we are also extremely happy to meet again with Central Banks and all the key players of the industry. This event is also much more than a get-together, it is probably one of the most changing parts that we have now in the cash industry with a shift to electronic payments and digital currencies is also changing or needs to change the model of cash circulation and cash recirculation. We are much more agile and also the availability of cash and the costs that need to be under control, that’s going to be the big challenge for the next twenty years."

"We are thrilled and proud to have been associated with the Currency Research Global Payments Summit. These last few days have been amazing, absolutely incredible, being in the beautiful city of Cape Town and surrounded by all of these really really smart payments people and talking about all of these wonderful innovations in the payments landscape. We are proud to be able to talk about the launch of the Paysharp Instant Payments System on this platform and to use this as an opportunity to engage and network with all of these global payments thought leaders. We are really proud to be associated and look forward to future engagements like this."

"Greetings from Cape Town everyone. We have been one of the sponsors here at both events – The Central Bank Payments Conference and The Global Payments Summit. I have to say it has been the most excellent week, I guess it always helps a little when you end up in a location that you want to go to as an individual, that is always a nice start but sometimes you get there and the event itself, not so much. This has been truly an added value event for us, extremely well organised, and we were very pleased to be able to sponsor the conversations that we have had around our booth and in individual meetings have all been added value. So great to be here and congratulations Currency Research on two events extremely well organised and we look forward to participating in them again next year."

"We had a fascinating time here at the conferences, the kind of people we have interacted with were completely out of this world. The size of the conference allows you to interact with everybody and form relationships which I don’t think we could have formed otherwise. There were key people from the banks who we could interact with. It has been fantastic, we have met people not only from Africa but from all over the world, on many different continents. It has been an amazing possibility to build relationships and network with people from all around the world. We are really happy and we will be back."

"It has been an honour and a privilege for the Ripple CBDC team to attend the Digital Currency Conference this week in Mexico City. One of the great things about the conference is the opportunity to speak directly with Central Bankers and learn about the issues they are facing, and how they are trying to design CBDC applications that work for them. I was just in a session with Kwame from the Bank of Ghana and the lead from the Bank of Jamaica on their digital currency projects and that was just a fantastic experience. Thank you Currency Research for hosting us."

"I would like to thank Currency Research for another successful event in Bangkok this year, it has been great meeting old friends and new friends and getting the industry together in the region and of course from elsewhere, from Europe and the US as well. It was a very fruitful event; we had a lot of learnings and best practices to share. We would like to thank you and offer our support for the next event."

"It was my pleasure to be a part of The Asia Cash Cycle Seminar, we managed to establish the right connections in order to achieve a synergy in the cash cycle process. It was delightful for me to see such a lot of new and old friends in our hometown of Bangkok. We’re looking forward to the next one."







































































































































