• Kardelen Hatun, VP of Engineering;, Sharon Ehigiene, Strategic Programs Lead at Silverflow


• 06.03.2026 03:15 pm
#WomenInFintech #FutureOfPayments

As International Women’s Day approaches, conversations in fintech often spotlight representation. But visibility alone doesn’t create payment systems, expand into new markets, or navigate the intricacies of global card networks. Real change comes from impact and in payments, impact is the result of aligning commercial insight, technical expertise and deep knowledge of card schemes. At Silverflow, this alignment is embedded in daily operations trough close collaboration between engineering and strategic programs teams, led by Kardelen Hatun (VP of Engineering), and Sharon Ehigiene (Strategic Programs Lead).

Together, they represent two critical pillars of modern payments – market expansion, platform engineering and scheme strategy. Their collective experience spans industry leaders like Adyen, Worldpay, Airwallex and Primer, bringing hands-on leadership in infrastructure, acquiring and scheme partnerships to Silverflow.

Balancing Growth With Operational Feasibility

As payment companies scale globally, expansion often reveals gaps in systems not originally designed to handle regulatory diversity, local payment preferences, or specific card scheme requirements.

For payment platforms to grow sustainably, commercial ambitions must align with operational and technical realities. Entering new markets requires infrastructure that is both robust and flexible enough to support evolving transaction volumes, regulatory requirements and new payment models.

Clarity and forward planning are essential. Teams must anticipate not only what clients need today but also future demands as transaction volumes rise and use cases diversify. From marketplaces to embedded finance models, systems must be designed to adapt from day one.

Engineering for Resilience and Scalability

Kardelen Hatun translates this commercial vision into technical precision. With a PhD in software engineering and a background in high-scale e-commerce systems, she treats payment infrastructure as vital digital infrastructure, where downtime can have systemic consequences.

Under her leadership, engineering decisions prioritise resilience, observability and long-term scalability. Regulatory and scheme requirements are never an afterthought - they guide architecture from the start. By embedding cross-functional collaboration into development, Hatun ensures that commercial goals and technical realities are aligned before solutions reach clients.

The Strategic Role of Card Schemes

Sharon Ehigiene adds a layer of expertise often overlooked outside fintech: deep card scheme knowledge. As Strategic Programs Lead, she drives the integration of global card schemes onto the Silverflow platform, ensuring that evolving scheme rules, compliance requirements, and processing standards are embedded directly into product and engineering decisions.

Her approach treats schemes as strategic partners rather than external constraints. Early engagement allows the company to anticipate network changes, streamline compliance and accelerate product launches. This integration reduces gaps between regulatory intent and implementation, empowering engineering teams to understand the “why” behind requirements and giving commercial teams the context to guide clients effectively.

Collaboration as the Engine of Innovation

While fintech is often male-dominated, Silverflow’s experience shows that innovation is not driven by hierarchy - it’s driven by disciplined collaboration. Engineering roadmaps are informed by market realities, commercial strategies account for technical trade-offs, scheme partnerships are embedded across both.

Hatun emphasises that empowered teams build better systems. Ehigiene adds that sustainable progress depends on trust, both internally and with scheme partners and clients. Together, they demonstrate that leadership in payments is about synthesising expertise across domains rather than relying on individual vision.

Investing in the Next Generation

Impact in fintech extends beyond products and market share. Both leaders mentor emerging talent, fostering expertise in commercial, technical and strategic domains. Their collective philosophy is clear – the industry thrives when institutional knowledge is shared, refined and applied.

This International Women’s Day, Silverflow reframes the conversation. Representation matters, but expertise, collaboration and disciplined system-building shape the future of payments. By aligning strategy, engineering and scheme knowledge, the company is creating scalable, resilient infrastructure and cultivating the leaders who will define the next era of global payments.