Banking & Payments Federation Ireland
The voice of banking and payments in Ireland
Our President & Chair
Cathy Bryce, Managing Director of Capital Market, AIB has been appointed President of Banking & Payments Federation Ireland and Fernando Vicario, Fernando Vicario has been appointed Chair of the Federation of International Banks in Ireland.
BPFI President – Cathy Bryce
Cathy Bryce, Managing Director of Capital Markets AIB has been appointed President of Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI).
Cathy started her career in Investment Banking with Morgan Stanley and subsequently ABN AMRO. She joined AIB in 1996, holding a range of leadership positions in lending roles across both International and Irish portfolios. In 2018 she joined the National Treasury Management Agency as Director of the National Development Finance Agency and NewERA. In 2019 she returned to AIB joining the Executive Management team of the Bank as Managing Director of Capital Markets, her current position. In this role, she leads the corporate and business areas of the Bank with teams that account for about one third of AIB’s assets and banking activities, including Goodbody Stockbrokers. She is a business graduate of Trinity College Dublin, holds an MBA from INSEAD Business School and completed the General Management Program in Harvard Business School. Cathy is a member of the Finance Committee of Trinity College and the Advisory Board of Trinity Business School. She is also a member of the Diversity Committee for Leinster Rugby.
Speaking on her appointment Cathy Bryce said: “I am honoured to be appointed as the first female president of Banking & Payments Federation Ireland. It is a time of great change across the sector and we have a growing diversity of membership that encompasses domestic and international banking as well as the growing fintech and payments industries. Following the recent successful migration of more than one million customer bank accounts from Ulster Bank and KBC, our focus remains on prioritising supports for our customers and communities.”
“As the voice of the banking and payments sector in Ireland, BPFI is also well placed to represent the industry at an international level through our active membership of the European Banking Federation and our well-established EU and international networks. We are focused on supporting the development of legislation at both domestic and EU levels to ensure Ireland remains a competitive and attractive location for the financial sector that brings huge employment to the country.”
Cathy added “I also look forward to working together as an industry on the many challenges and opportunities ahead as we lead the transformation necessary to meet our climate and sustainability obligations.’’
FIBI Chair– Fernando Vicario
Fernando Vicario, CEO of Bank of America Europe DAC, and Country Executive for Ireland appointed Chair of the Federation of International Banks in Ireland, the international banking division of Banking and Payments Federation Ireland.
A native of Pforzheim, Germany and a Spanish national, Fernando has worked for Bank of America (BofA) for over 25 years. He has held multiple roles, including head of Corporate Banking for Financial Institutions in Europe and Emerging Markets (ex-Asia), head of EMEA Global Product Solutions, head of EMEA and Latin America Corporate Banking and co-head of EMEA Debt Capital Markets and Corporate Banking.
Fernando sits on the EMEA regional executive committee, the global Diversity & Inclusion committee (D&I) of BofA and co-chairs the EMEA environmental, social and governance (ESG) Strategic Council. Fernando is also a member of the Board of the Open Doors Initiative in Dublin.
On taking up his new role, Fernando said: “I am honoured to have been selected as the Chair of FIBI at a time of opportunity for international banks and investment firms in Ireland. FIBI has become the voice of the sector and was a key driver in the establishment of the Central Bank of Ireland’s Financial Industry Forum. While the sector has grown steadily over the past decades, we have seen Ireland punching above its weight within the European Union and internationally. Ireland is an established hub for many banks servicing the European market; ranked as the 6th largest exporter of financial services in the world and the 19th largest international banking sector globally. International banks in Ireland are also contributing substantially to employment across the country with over 14,200 people employed at the end of 2022.”
Fernando continued: “It is a priority of mine to promote further accessibility, cultural diversity and female leadership within the sector. We need to leverage diverse views and experiences in order to foster innovation, generate new developments and to continue to attract top talent in a competitive market. We look forward to working collaboratively with the Government in the development of its international financial services strategy so that Ireland remains a key financial centre.”
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