TOP 10
3
Samantha Ku
COO Square Financial Services
4
Anne Boden
CEO & Founder Starling Bank
Welsh entrepreneur Anne Boden MBE is a veteran of the financial industry . Prior to launching Starling Bank in 2014 , Boden enjoyed a 30-year career holding leading positions at Allied Irish Banks , Royal Bank of Scotland , and ABN AMRO .
A qualified computer scientist , she was an early advocate for the use of technology in the financial industry and launched Starling Bank in 2014 . Her strategy from the outset involved making the bank a global brand .
As the CEO , she oversees the Executive Leadership Team and is a member of Starling ’ s Board of Directors . Boden was awarded an MBE for her services to the financial and technology industry in 2018 .
The climb to success hasn ’ t always been easy for Samantha Ku . After graduating from the University of Miami as a 21-year-old in the middle of an economic recession , she was deeply in debt and found the employment market unforgiving . She recalls that it was “ a perfect storm of emotion to end the greatest college experience anyone could have ”.
But , despite a period of turmoil that came after attending 50 job interviews seemingly without any success , Citibank offered Ku her first position in the financial industry in 2010 .
She later joined Square in 2015 as Head of Operations , rising through the ranks to her current position of COO . Ku then built and led several teams foundational to the Square Capital program product suite , expanding the team to 100 + employees across San Francisco , New York , Las Vegas , and Melbourne in Australia .
46 fintechmagazine . com | June 2023