Board of Directors Committee
Kutay Yalınkılınç
Founding Board Member
Kutay Yalınkılınç has over 20 years of experience in financial technologies, payment systems, and banking. He has held senior management positions at global companies such as BBVA and Vodafone, as well as leading electronic money and payment institutions in Türkiye. During his tenure at these institutions, he played a leading role in the implementation of numerous financial technology innovations in Türkiye. He also served as a founding board member of professional associations focused on financial technologies in Türkiye, including the Turkish Electronic Money and Payment Institutions Association. In 2022, he established the Fintech Innovation Hub to strengthen collaboration among fintech ecosystems in Turkey, Azerbaijan, other Turkic Republics, and Eastern Europe. As of September 2024, he became a founding partner of Pars VC, where he focused on investments in financial technology companies and support for global growth strategies.
Gülçin Ayetmizel Telatar
Founding Board Member
Throughout her 20-year career, Gülçin Aytemizel Telatar has led strategic leadership roles at leading Turkish institutions in the fields of technology, payment systems, retail banking, and financial technologies, leading to distinctive projects. After beginning her career at Hewlett Packard, she continued in credit card product management at BBVA Garanti Payment Systems. Following roles in various fields, including marketing, sales, and business development, she served as Director of Strategic Partnerships and Business Development at ING Türkiye for nine years, implementing pioneering business partnership projects in Türkiye's embedded finance and payment systems. In 2021, she stepped into the financial technologies field, joining Paycell, a leading company, as Deputy General Manager responsible for Personal Products and Growth. For the past year and a half, she has served as the founding General Manager of Star Payment and Electronic Money Inc., where she has worked on wallet-focused projects. With the goal of making finance more accessible and sustainable with next-generation technologies, she has developed payment systems, electronic money infrastructures, embedded finance solutions, and digital platforms centered around the user experience. Today, as a leader who grows established structures, guides with strategic vision, and combines technology with a focus on people, she continues to share her knowledge and experience, guiding the journey of the next generation of professionals. Beyond her professional career, she is an active writer for Fintechtime and a member of the Platin Yaka and Women in Technology Associations.
Zeynel Abidin Avcı
Founding Board Member
After graduating from Boğaziçi University's Department of Economics in 2006, Zeynel Abidin Avcı began his career in the private sector. Following a brief entrepreneurial stint, he transitioned to the public sector. Throughout his public career, he held inspector positions at institutions such as the Financial Inspection Board and the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) General Directorate of Audit. He also completed his MBA at Alliance Manchester Business School on a scholarship from the CBRT. His thesis focused on blockchain technologies and central bank digital currencies. He most recently served as Deputy General Manager at the CBRT's General Directorate of Payment Systems and Financial Technologies. He played an active role in FAST layer services, the Digital Turkish Lira project, and international platforms such as the BIS, G20, OECD, and SWIFT. He also served as a Board Member at the Interbank Card Center. He left public service in November 2024 and joined the private sector as General Manager and Board Member at Fintlix Electronic Money and Payment Institution. As of August 2025, he has been providing consulting services to fintech and financial institutions in the areas of licensing, compliance, strategy, and technology through Finus Consulting, which he founded. [Name] holds CPA, CIA, and CFSA certifications and also completed a master's degree in Cyber Security at METU. He speaks advanced English, intermediate Arabic, and basic Russian.
Kerem Kalelioğlu
Founding Board Member
He began his career as a mobile phone and operator dealer at a young age. He served as a manager in the Sales, Marketing, and Product Management teams in the Payment Systems departments of Yapı Kredi Bank, Garanti Bank, and Akbank for 15 years. He gained retail advertising and marketing experience at Teknosa. He worked in the payment services, electronic money, and open banking business model within the scope of Law No. 6493, while serving as Assistant General Manager and General Manager at payment and electronic money institutions such as Paynet, VizyoPay, and TrPos. He currently serves as the General Manager Advisor at Pasifik Teknoloji, a Pacific Holding company. Kerem is married with one daughter.
Aziz Özben
Founding Board Member
Aziz Özben is a well-established financial sector executive with over 26 years of experience in banking, electronic money institutions, and digital payment ecosystems. Currently serving as General Manager of Junomoney, he has played a leading role in shaping Türkiye's digital financial infrastructure, focusing on regulatory compliance, product innovation, and strategic partnerships. Throughout his career at Türkiye İş Bankası and Junomoney, he has led areas such as retail banking transformation, international expansions, consumer loans, and API-based digital credit systems. Aziz has held direct responsibility for electronic money licensing, regulatory compliance, and fintech strategy, combining operational expertise with his experience to contribute to sustainable financial innovation.
Orçun İnce
Founding Board Member
Orçun İnce is an experienced professional who has worked at leading electronic money and payment services companies in Türkiye, including Payguru and Dgpays, and has shaped his career in the technology and fintech fields. Specializing in payment systems and digital finance solutions, İnce has held co-founding and executive roles at innovative startups such as PayPandas Technology Inc., taking active roles in areas such as product development, user experience, and strategic planning.
With his experience and knowledge in the field of technology provision in the Fintech ecosystem, he serves as a board member of the Financial Technology Association.
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Ali Başar Temiz
Founding Board Member
Attorney Ali Başar Temiz, Founder of Temiz Law Firm, is a graduate of Doğuş University Faculty of Law and is currently pursuing a master's degree in Public Law at Bahçeşehir University. Founded in 2018, Temiz provides legal consultancy and representation services to clients in the areas of Criminal Law, Administrative Law, Real Estate Law, Commercial Law, and Information Technology Law. Attorney Temiz holds numerous national and international certificates of achievement and has actively served as a founder and director of numerous non-governmental organizations. With his professional expertise and multidisciplinary approach, he aims to provide solution-oriented services to individual and corporate clients. Fluent in Russian, English, and German, Attorney Ali Başar Temiz is married with one child.
Sabrican Zaim
Founding Board Member
Sabrican Zaim has co-founded five different financial technology startups since 2012. A graduate of Management Information Systems, Zaim founded Paymes in 2017 and successfully exited the company by selling it to a Dubai-based payments company in 2022. He continued to serve as Chairman of the Board of Paymes and Managing Director of the related payments company until the end of 2023. During this period, he oversaw the company's expansion into markets such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Azerbaijan, and Jordan. In 2023, Zaim co-founded Fintech Factory, an entrepreneurship and investment platform providing specialized support to fintech startups, and officially launched its investments in this area. As of September 2024, he also became a founding partner of Pars VC, an organization that provides investment and strategic support to financial technology companies aimed at their global growth goals.
Sinem Cantürk
Alternate Board Member
Sinem Cantürk serves as the Head of Fintech and Digital Finance at KPMG Türkiye. She continues her leadership roles as the KPMG Fintech Sector Leader and Blockchain Services Leader. She is also a founding member and the Vice President of the Financial Innovation and Technology Association (FINTR). Sinem began her career in 1996 at Yapı Kredi Bank, where she served in various roles for 10 years, including application development team leader, application architect, and project manager. She joined KPMG Türkiye in 2006. Since then, she has been leading Information Technology and Business Process Audit and Advisory projects based on global standards such as COBIT, ISO, SOX, ITIL, and CMMI, as well as local regulations from BDDK, SPK, KGK, and BTK. Additionally, she plays a key role in consultancy projects specifically within the financial sector, including the establishment of banks, finance companies, and electronic money institutions, as well as digital asset strategy, current state analysis, roadmap determination, implementation of COBIT and ISO standards, business and IT continuity analysis, and evaluation of internal control environments. As the Head of Fintech and Digital Finance, she has represented KPMG before regulatory bodies for the past 15 years. She is a highly experienced expert, particularly in the Financial Sector, Fintech Sector, and Information Technology. Her research areas include Digital Banking Trends, Support Services in Türkiye and ISAE3402, IT Maturity Standards, Electronic Money Institutions in Türkiye, and Pioneers of Digital Finance.
Erman Taylan
Alternate Board Member
Erman Taylan, who joined Paribu Ventures in 2022, holds a degree in Computer Engineering from Kadir Has University and furthered his education with an MBA from Istanbul Bilgi University. With over 15 years of experience in the digital world, he has held various roles in corporate innovation, product management, artificial intelligence, and financial technologies, gaining extensive expertise at companies such as QNB Finansbank, Koçfinans, and Webrazzi.
For the past nine years, Erman has been regularly sharing his insights on the technology landscape through Soft Commitment, a technology publication he founded. Additionally, he published his book titled 'Yapay Zeka' (Artificial Intelligence) in December 2025.
Şebnem Elif Kocaoğlu Ulbrich
Alternate Board Member
Şebnem Elif Kocaoğlu Ulbrich is a technology and marketing strategist with a background in law. She began her career working on M&A projects at international law firms before transitioning to the banking sector, where she was involved in the PPP project financing of the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge and Istanbul Airport at DenizBank. Subsequently, she held executive roles in business development and go-to-market (GTM) strategies at Germany's leading FinTech ventures, including FinLeap, Cringle, and Lendico, leading product positioning and growth initiatives. She is also a Design Thinking expert.
During her LL.M. studies at Galatasaray University, Kocaoğlu Ulbrich authored Türkiye’s first graduate thesis examining FinTech from a legal perspective. She is a recipient of the Joachim Herz Stiftung and Jean Monnet scholarships. She is a co-author of The PAYTECH Book, The AI Book, and The LegalTech Book, and has contributed to the 2023 and 2025 editions of the book Blockchain: The Technology Transforming Industries.
Since 2019, as the founder of Berlin-based Contextual Solutions GmbH, she and her team have been providing technology and finance-focused strategy, market expansion, product management, marketing, training, and coaching services to companies operating in Türkiye and international markets. Kocaoğlu Ulbrich serves as the Germany Representative for FinTech Istanbul and is a regular contributor to publications such as Fortune, Forbes, PSM, and Fintech Circle. She was recognized as a LinkedIn Top Voice in 2024.
Demirhan Şener
Alternate Board Member
Demirhan Şener has 30 years of experience in digital transformation and innovation leadership across corporate payments, payment systems, employee benefits, and business services. During his 27-year corporate career at Arçelik, Yurtiçi Kargo, and Multinet Up, he served in CTO and CEO roles, managing the transformation of traditional business models into agile and technology-driven structures. He spearheaded Multinet Up’s evolution from a meal card company into a multi-subsidiary financial technology group that includes regulated payment and electronic money institutions.
For the past three years, he has been providing fintech, digital transformation, and B2B growth consultancy services under the umbrella of Digital Spark Consulting. He is also a managing partner at Sistem Global, as well as a board member and co-founder of technology companies focused on data, customer experience, and artificial intelligence. He is an active ecosystem leader, serving as an LP at StartupFon VC and a founding member of SIF Ventures and Platin Yaka.
İbrahim Avşar Dirgin
Alternate Board Member
Throughout his career of over 25 years, Avşar Dirgin has contributed to the development of the Turkish fintech ecosystem as a senior executive in the fields of financial technologies and payment systems. He possesses deep expertise in payment infrastructures, digital wallets, card systems, and regulatory compliance processes. His management approach integrates strategy, operations, and growth, focusing on the creation of sustainable and scalable business models.
During his career, he has undertaken General Manager responsibilities at payment systems such as Aypara, Figopara, Rubikpara, and Papel. He has managed the establishment, licensing, product development, and operational scaling processes of electronic money and payment institutions with a holistic approach.
He aims to leverage his strategic management experience, extensive regulatory knowledge, and execution-oriented industry expertise within a framework that contributes to the association’s corporate goals, guides ecosystem stakeholders, generates sustainable value, and promotes collective intelligence.
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Onur Taşgöz
Audit Alternate Board Member
Onur Taşgöz has executive experience in sales and marketing across the finance, automotive, and fintech sectors. He graduated from Sakarya University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He began his career in sales and served in various regions of Türkiye, holding managerial roles at Otokoç Otomotiv in customer management, corporate sales, building sales teams, sales operations, and customer satisfaction processes. Between 2018 and 2021, he was responsible for team and target management as a Sales Manager. Having joined Finekra as Sales Manager in 2022, he has been serving as the Sales and Marketing Director since 2023.
At Finekra, he manages the positioning of open banking and fintech solutions in the B2B market, leading his teams in sales strategies, CRM processes, customer experience, solution-oriented selling, and digital marketing. He focuses on growth targets, sales performance, and increasing brand visibility through data-driven decision-making.