Women in Payments Australia Symposium 2025 was a celebration of glow-ups, the future of payments, and a grateful Platinum Sponsor. Emily Curlewis, Zepto's Head of Marketing, Comms & Govt Relations reports.
This year’s Women in Payments Australia Symposium in Sydney felt a little bit like coming home.
For more than a decade, this community has been a constant in my career – a place to learn, to stretch, to be nudged out of my comfort zone, and to watch extraordinary women (and allies) reshape the future of payments. Being back in the room in 2025, with Zepto as Platinum Sponsor once again, was a genuine privilege.
And this year, Team Zepto had plenty to celebrate.
Shining a light on our nominees – and a very unexpected win
One of my personal highlights was seeing four Zepto colleagues recognised as Women in Payments award nominees:
- Vishakha Bhosale – Emerging Leader
- Jaimie Wistaff – Innovation
- Mariana Paun – Advocacy for Diversity & Inclusion
- And me, in the Inspiration Award category
Each of these nominations reflects real impact: from product innovation and customer outcomes, to culture, advocacy and the way we show up for others across the ecosystem.
I was completely surprised to take home the Inspiration Award on the night. To be recognised by a community I’ve learned so much from is incredibly special.
In my acceptance remarks, I shared one message I deeply believe: don’t wait to be invited into the conversation. Pull up a chair. Bring your expertise. Make sure your voice is in the room when decisions about our industry, our customers and our policy settings are being made.
The awards highlighted what Women in Payments does best – celebrating the people who are lifting others as they lead, and reminding us that progress is a team sport.
“Are Your Payments Stuck in the 80s?” – when payments meet glow-ups
As Platinum Sponsor, we wanted our activation to feel fun, useful and unmistakably Zepto.
Our overarching advertising campaign currently asks prospects to consider a slightly provocative question:
Are your payments stuck in the 80s?
So in the foyer, we delivered our “Are Your Payments Stuck in the 80s?” experience:
- First, attendees stepped in for a fresh professional LinkedIn headshot.
- Then, we turned that same portrait into an ’80s-inspired glow-up – big hair, bold colours, power suits and all.
The response was, I have to say, overwhelming. By the end of the day, we had processed more than 220 glow-ups.
At times the energy around the booth had genuine “I want a Cabbage Patch Kid for Christmas!” levels of enthusiasm. Lines formed, people compared their glow-ups with colleagues, and the conversations flowed naturally into what happens when payment systems are stuck in the past – and what real-time, data-rich rails make possible instead.
Post-event, we shared galleries of both the “pro” and “glow” portraits so everyone could download their favourites, update LinkedIn, and keep the 80s magic alive a little longer.
For us, it was more than a photo booth.
It was a playful way to bring our campaign to life and have real conversations (and a laugh) with our fellow payments friends, as together we shape the future of payments in Australia.
Zepto voices on stage: debates, panels and real-time rails
Beyond the booth, we were proud to see Zepto voices contributing to some of the most energising moments of the program.
Suzie Slingsby once again took to the stage to moderate The Great Debate: Safe Enough to Scale? — a fast-paced, fiercely intelligent exploration of the tension between innovation and regulation. By bringing together bold fintech perspectives and seasoned banking voices, the debate reflected the very real balancing act shaping our industry today.
Elsewhere on the program, Jaimie Wistaff joined a fireside chat on the evolution of account-to-account payments, alongside one of our customers, Kasey Kaplan from Beforepay. Together, they brought the real-time payments story to life through practical examples of how modern rails are changing experiences for both businesses and consumers.
I was also incredibly proud to watch Suzie and Jaimie in action on stage. Both were absolute naturals — composed, insightful and generous in how they brought others into the conversation. Seeing them represent Zepto with such confidence, credibility and authenticity was a genuine personal highlight.
Another standout session was the payday superannuation panel, featuring our customer Employment Hero. The discussion highlighted how real-time payments will be critical to making payday super work at scale — delivering faster, more transparent outcomes for employers, funds and members alike.
A strong Zepto contingent – and a stronger community
This year we had ten Zepto team members at the Symposium – across product, security and tech, finance, commercial and leadership. That mix really matters. It meant our hallway conversations ranged from ISO 20022 migrations and scam prevention, to culture, career paths and how we build more inclusive workplaces.
Across two days of keynotes, panels, workshops and networking, a few themes stood out:
- Trust and digital resilience are now central to every conversation on innovation.
- Real-time payments and PayTo have firmly moved from theory into execution – and the ecosystem is learning fast.
- Wellbeing, authenticity and purpose-driven leadership aren’t “nice to have” topics; they’re fundamental to building high-performing teams that last.
Women in Payments continues to do what it does best: curate an agenda that blends deep industry content with leadership, inclusion and career development – and bring together an Australian payments community that is generous with its time, insights and support.
Gratitude – and what comes next
On a personal note, I’m incredibly grateful:
- To Kristy Duncan and the Women in Payments team for building and sustaining this community, and to my fellow Women in Payments Australia Advisory Board members for the work we do together behind the scenes to keep growing its impact.
- To my Zepto colleagues who nominated me, who cheer from the sidelines, and who show up every day to build a more modern, inclusive payments ecosystem.
- To our customers and partners, many of whom we were lucky enough to spend meaningful time with during the Symposium.
As we head into another big year for real-time payments, regulatory reform and industry change, one thing feels certain: we’re better when we do this together.
From all of us at Zepto, thank you to everyone who visited our booth, joined a session, shared a glow-up, or stopped for a conversation in the foyer. We loved reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones.
We’re proud to have once again been Platinum Sponsor of the Women in Payments Australia Symposium, and we’re already looking forward to seeing how this community continues to shape what comes next.
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