The payments industry is having a moment. Instant money movement, embedded finance, digital wallets, cross-border innovation — every headline points to progress and scale. Yet beneath the surface, there’s a quieter issue emerging that isn’t getting enough attention: a growing shortage of qualified payments professionals.

While capital continues to flow into fintech and infrastructure projects, many organizations are finding that hiring the right talent — especially mid-level professionals who can bridge strategy, technology, and compliance — has become one of their toughest challenges in 2025.

A Shift in What “Payments Talent” Means

A decade ago, payments teams were often built around legacy operations and relationship management. But today’s environment demands professionals who understand APIs, data, compliance automation, product design, and instant payments ecosystems.

The industry has evolved faster than the workforce has. Professionals who can speak both “bank” and “tech” are in short supply — and those who can manage integrations between platforms, partners, and customers are commanding top dollar.

At IMPACT Payments Recruiting, we’ve noticed that demand is shifting toward hybrid talent:

• Product Managers who understand payment flows, tokenization, and customer experience.

• Operations and Risk Leaders who can automate back-office processes and scale without adding headcount.

• Strategic Hires who can bridge innovation with compliance and regulation — an increasingly delicate balance in real-time payments, crypto, and embedded finance.

The Mid-Level Gap: Where the Shortage Hurts Most

C-suite roles grab headlines, but the real pain point sits just below: the director and senior manager level. These are the professionals who make digital transformation actually happen — the ones translating strategy into execution.

As many early fintech employees move up into leadership or pivot into new industries (like AI or SaaS), there’s a vacuum of experienced mid-level talent in payments. Meanwhile, traditional FIs trying to modernize are competing with fintechs for the same narrow pool of candidates.

This “missing middle” slows innovation and increases burnout for existing staff, who end up wearing multiple hats across product, risk, and operations.

Automation Isn’t Solving the Problem — It’s Shifting It

The rise of AI in payments has created optimism around automating certain functions — but it hasn’t reduced the need for skilled professionals. Instead, it’s reshaping roles.

Teams still need people who can design, monitor, and interpret the systems. Fraud analysts need to understand machine learning outputs. Compliance specialists must evaluate AI-driven transaction reviews. Product managers must translate technical changes into user experience improvements.

The result? The “human layer” in payments is more valuable — and more complex — than ever.

Retention Is the Next Battlefield

With talent shortages come retention challenges. Compensation alone isn’t keeping top performers in place. Payments professionals today are seeking:

• Career mobility (especially across fintech and SaaS ecosystems)

• Flexible, remote-first work environments

• Mission-driven companies with a clear innovation roadmap

Companies that fail to invest in professional development, internal mobility, and culture risk losing their best people to competitors who do.

What Leading Firms Are Doing Differently

The organizations staying ahead are rethinking both how and where they hire.

• They’re expanding their talent reach beyond major markets like San Francisco or New York and tapping into skilled professionals in smaller cities or global hubs.

• They’re hiring proactively, building bench strength before growth spikes hit.

• And they’re partnering with specialized recruiters who understand the technical and cultural nuances of payments talent — not just “fintech” as a buzzword.

Why This Matters Now

Real-time payments, open banking, and digital currency adoption are accelerating — but progress depends on people. Without the right mix of talent, innovation stalls.

The quiet crisis in payments talent isn’t about the number of open jobs — it’s about the scarcity of the right people to fill them.

For companies building payments products, launching new rails, or scaling their teams, 2025 is the year to get ahead of the curve. Because as competition tightens, the fight for hybrid, high-performing payments talent will only get louder.

About IMPACT Payments Recruiting

For over 25 years, IMPACT Payments Recruiting has specialized in connecting the payments, fintech, and cards industries with the right leaders to drive growth and innovation. From mid-level managers to executive search, we help companies scale with confidence.

📩 Need help finding payments talent in 2025? Contact us at contactIPR@go-impact.com.