Leon Isaacs 2018 Speaker

Chief Executive Officer

DMA Global (DMAG), All Africa

Biography

Leon Isaacs is a seasoned expert and business leader in the payments, remittances, mobile money and money transfer industry. He has over 25 years hands-on experience and since 2007 has led DMA Global, the specialist development consultancy.

DMA Global, which is based in the UK but has a global remit, provides a broad range of services that help to mobilise funds into developing markets. These include:
• International payments in all forms
• Consumer remittance price and quality comparison websites
• Mobile payments policy design and data collection
• Research into Fintech, remittance market trends, policy design, pricing and new product development
• Quantifiable financial literacy programmes to remittance receivers in developing countries
• Diaspora investment analysis and programme design
• Diaspora outreach

Leon was also Managing Director of the International Association of Money Transfer Networks, an international trade association, for 6 years where he interacted with numerous regulators and stakeholders to represent the industry.

He was a steering group member of the UK Government’s Remittances Task Force, form its inception until the completion of its work early. He is an observer to the G20 Consultative Committee of the Private-Public Sector Partnership on Remittances. Leon has spoken at, and chaired, numerous international conferences on remittances including at the World Bank, the United Nations and the G8.

Prior to establishing DMA Global he was intrinsically involved with two successful start-up money transfer businesses: MoneyGram International and Coinstar Money Transfer (formerly Travelex Money Transfer).

Leon, an economist by training, began his career with NatWest bank and subsequently moved to New Zealand where he joined Thomas Cook Group to help develop and establish the world’s first non-bank commercial foreign exchange business.

Leon is currently based in Paris.