European CEO Awards 2024 named the best CEO in the fintech industry

There was a rather significant event in the world of innovative technologies – the European CEO Awards 2024. Only the best CEOs of companies that expand the boundaries of business and generally contribute to the development of scientific and technological progress are nominated for this award.

In the FinTech industry, the title of CEO of the year was awarded to Sergey Astafjev, CEO and Co-Founder of Wallester AS, an Estonian financial service provider that empowers businesses to establish their own customised card programs and payment infrastructure. What this company is and for what merits its creator awarded such an honorary award, we will now try to understand.

Features and prospects for the development of the industry

The European CEO Awards 2024, by europeanceo.com, were presented with 6 nominations, but we paid attention to the Fintech Industry nomination. It is an industry that is rapidly developing and affects all spheres of human activity. Sergey Astafjev’s company is the European market leader in providing integrated solutions for card issuing.

The prospects of this sphere are practically limitless. According to modest calculations of experts, the world market of cards by 2025 will reach a volume of over 65 billion U.S. dollars. That is explained by the growing interest of consumers in card products. In payment cards they are attracted by the increased level of payment security and convenience of use. If only banking institutions were previously responsible for issuing cards, today, thanks to companies such as Wallester, any organisation can market its card product.

The changes that have taken place in the field of card issuance are tremendous. Previously, to create your card program, it was necessary to collect a huge number of documents, meet all the requirements of the payment system Visa, MasterCard, UnionPay or another service chosen by the company, as well as to spend huge amounts of money on the development of software and infrastructure to maintain its vitality. To realise such a project, it was necessary to have sufficient experience going through certain processes and complying with the rules of payment systems.

Wallester’s solutions allow you to significantly reduce the time it takes to bring your card project to market. With their help, a business in any field can launch its card program in the shortest possible time with minimal costs and without finding additional highly qualified staff.

Wallester – a complete solution for your business

Wallester has created a platform and a complete solution for startups and corporations. It is a multifunctional platform that is easily scalable and customisable for business needs. Its main task is to provide the client with an opportunity to issue payment cards and manage the card program independently, without using the services of banks and other financial institutions.

“In an increasingly competitive financial technology environment, the difference between success and failure often depends on one crucial element: the quality of customer service.” (с) Sergey Astafjev, CEO and Co-Founder of Wallester

Cooperating with Wallester, the client receives maximum support at all stages of card product development. He is provided with all the necessary tools and support to launch an individual payment card program. The company undertakes all issues of administration, communication with the payment system, payment security, modernisation and maintenance of the platform.

With the Wallester platform, clients can independently issue cards for any purpose. They can be physical and virtual, debit, credit and prepaid. White Label solution allows to creation of cards with individual designs. Corporate symbols on payment means and in the mobile application help to make the brand more recognisable and significantly increase its status among competitors.

Wallester’s innovative platform gives client companies full control over their card programs. They can independently set card limits, activate and block cards, and reissue and replace them.

Wallester offers ready-made niche solutions for a wide range of industries. The company has customised products for credit, travel, banking and insurance businesses. It also offers options for companies involved in e-commerce, P2P lending, and other currently popular businesses. Niche solutions are tailored to a specific industry, but that doesn’t mean Wallester’s platform has a limited scope of use. On the contrary, thanks to its REST API, it can be easily integrated into any existing system and is suitable for use in any industry.

Cards issued through the Wallester platform can be tokenized. It allows them to be linked to digital wallets and significantly increases payment security. Additional security measures are observed thanks to the use of the modern 3D Secure protocol. It involves requesting an additional verification step during each transaction.

Wallester solutions are available throughout the European Economic Area, UK and Switzerland. It is a universal product for a wide range of entrepreneurs, constantly being developed and upgraded to meet customers’ needs best.

CEO of the year in FinTech 

European CEO is a renowned print and online publication headquartered in London. Senior executives in 28 European countries subscribe to the publication and receive quarterly in-depth analyses, strategies and recommendations to help them make qualified business decisions. The publisher has a full editorial team consisting of many distinguished authors. They cover the most topical topics that attract the interest of industry professionals and general readers.

European CEO Publishing has established the annual European CEO Awards to recognise the leading players in various sectors. Readers of the publication can nominate, at their discretion, business representatives who follow the standards set by the award and are worthy of the honour. In turn, the judges of the European CEO Awards select the winner who truly pushes business boundaries and implements progressive ideas.

In 2024, the European CEO Awards 2024 was presented in 6 categories. The maximum excitement was in the FinTech Industry category. Sergey Astafjev, CEO and co-founder of Wallester won the award with a huge margin of votes. When making the decision, the judges took into account all the previous merits of the nominee, and there are indeed many of them.

Sergey Astafjev was one of those who established Wallester in Tallinn in 2016. Under his keen guidance, the small startup became one of the market leaders with rapidly growing ambitions. The sphere of influence of this project increased every year, so in addition to the office in Estonia, a division was opened in Valbonne (France).

Under the leadership of Mr. Astafjev, Wallester became an official partner and principal member of the Visa payment system in 2018 and, in 2023, was ranked among the top 3 best financial institutions in Estonia. Another well-deserved award for Wallester was the victory at the Fintech Breakthrough Awards in the category “Best Management Platform”.

According to the European CEO Awards jury, no candidate for this award in the Fintech Industry category could compete with such achievements as Mr. Astafjev’s. He explains his success by putting not his ambitions but the needs of his clients first.

A quote from Mr. Astafjev from a recent interview: “In an increasingly competitive financial technology environment, the difference between success and failure often depends on one crucial element: the quality of customer service.”

This increased focus on customer satisfaction became the lever that helped Wallester to take a leading position in the fintech industry, and Astafjev himself to receive a well-deserved award. We are confident that by following such principles in its work in the future, Wallester will be able to receive many more important awards.