SOFIAH NICHOLE SALIVIO

News Editor

Ecommpay has been shortlisted in seven categories at the Payments Awards, including two individual Women in PayTech honours.

Its Head of Regulatory Compliance, Alpa Jotangia, and Chief Marketing Officer, Miranda McLean, are finalists for the Women in PayTech award. Ecommpay is also in contention for Best Online Payments Solution, Best Merchant Acquirer or Processor, Cross-Border Payments Solution of the Year, AI-Driven Fraud Prevention Platform of the Year, and Best Use of AI and Data in Payments.

The shortlist spans both corporate and individual categories in an awards programme that recognises businesses and executives across the payments sector.

Ecommpay operates a full-stack payments platform for merchants, with cross-border commerce at the centre of its offer. Merchants can access global and local acquiring, payment processing, and orchestration through a single API, alongside more than 100 payment methods.

Fraud prevention was one of the areas highlighted by the shortlist. Ecommpay cited its in-house Graph Analysis system as part of its response to payment fraud, a growing issue in digital commerce.

The individual nominations reflect different parts of the business. Jotangia was recognised for her work in regulatory compliance and for building a compliance culture within organisations.

McLean’s nomination centres on her marketing career and her work on inclusion, accessibility, and diversity in financial technology. Financial inclusivity sits at the heart of Ecommpay’s wider mission and shapes how it supports merchants seeking to improve accessibility for end customers.

AI focus

Artificial intelligence features prominently in the company’s awards showing. Alongside the AI-Driven Fraud Prevention Platform of the Year category, Ecommpay was shortlisted for Best Use of AI and Data in Payments, reflecting its use of machine learning and data analysis in payment processing.

Ecommpay has invested in artificial intelligence to analyse payment declines and fraud patterns. That work forms part of a broader push to improve checkout performance and payment acceptance rates for merchants.

McLean commented on the recognition in a statement.

“At Ecommpay, we are on a mission to push checkout performance to its absolute limit. As well as committing to increasing accessibility and inclusivity across our platform, adding to our suite of available payment methods and using the latest tech to fight fraud, we have invested in artificial intelligence to analyse payment declines and transform FinTech performance. To have our people, our innovations and our successes recognised with no less than seven Payments Awards shortlistings is incredible,” said Miranda McLean, Chief Marketing Officer, Ecommpay.

Company profile

Founded in 2012 and based in London, Ecommpay serves merchants looking to manage domestic and international payments through a single provider. Its platform includes open banking, recurring billing, and direct debits, which it builds directly into its system rather than relying on third-party products.

The business is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Payment Services Regulations to provide payment services. It is also a principal member of Mastercard and Visa, according to the company.

The seven shortlistings give Ecommpay visibility across some of the most competitive parts of the payments market, including online payments, merchant acquiring, cross-border transactions, fraud prevention, and the use of artificial intelligence in payment operations.

These categories highlight where payments groups are under pressure to differentiate, particularly as merchants seek fewer providers, broader geographic reach, and stronger fraud controls.

Ecommpay said ultimate financial inclusivity is its company mission, with a focus on helping merchants improve accessibility for customers.

Leonie Dubois, Head of Engagement, Land and Consents at Thames Water, said: “The South East is designated as seriously water stressed and as we enter the fourth heatwave of the summer it’s clear climate change is already having an impact.

“It’s therefore critical that we continue to progress our plans for White Horse Reservoir.

“It would act as drought insurance policy for the region, securing water supplies for 15 million people, including Thames Water, Affinity Water and Southern Water customers.”

The White Horse Reservoir, near Abingdon, will provide water for 15 million people across the south east.

The project has been labelled a “vital piece of national water infrastructure” by Thames Water.

But, in a statement action group ‘Group Against Reservoir Development’ called the reservoir the wrong solution in the wrong place.

The massive reservoir, which will cover an area the size of Gatwick Airport, has always been a topic of debate.

Only Kielder Water in Northumberland, at 200 billion litres, is bigger.

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Map of Abingdon reservoir location. (Image: Google Maps)

Two groups, Countryside charity CPRE Oxfordshire and Safer Waters, even sought a judicial review at the High Court.

However, their judicial review was dismissed.

 Thames Water revealed that costs for the controversial proposed Abingdon Reservoir soared from £2.2 billion to between £5.5 billion and £7.5 billion, a tripling of the original figure

This will be borne by customers of Thames Water, Affinity Water, and Southern Water.

The plan is to tackle an anticipated shortfall of more than a billion litres of water per day in the next 50 years, according to Thames Water.

This projection considers the effects of population growth and climate change.

Thames Water predicts that a severe drought could cost London’s economy alone as much as £500m a day.

Currently, hosepipe bans are already a common occurrence.

The Abingdon Reservoir, also known as the South East Strategic Reservoir Option (SESRO), is expected to be the second largest reservoir in the UK, with a capacity of 150 billion litres.

Only Kielder Water in Northumberland, at 200 billion litres, is bigger.

The site is located three miles southwest of Abingdon.

It is close to the River Thames and features the right geology and ground conditions for a reservoir.

Thames Water has had to plan for more than just the reservoir itself.

The project will include a pumping station, a conveyance tunnel to transfer flows to and from the River Thames near Culham, and infrastructure to link the reservoir to the River Thames for emergency drawdown.

An access road into the site, a temporary rail siding for freight train deliveries, and a compensatory floodplain are also part of the plan.

Local streams will be diverted, and the Steventon–Hanney road will be shifted to the south.

Chris Weston, speaking on the BBC’s Big Boss Interview podcast, stated that some of the firm’s targets were beyond what they could achieve.

He said: “We have to hit a certain level of leakage, but it is so far in excess of what we are capable of doing, I think anyone would be capable of doing, however much money you invested, that it is not going to be achievable.”

Thames Water, the largest water company in the UK, has been under fire recently for its handling of sewage discharges and leaks.

Last year, it was fined a record £122.7 million by regulator Ofwat, largely for breaching sewage spill rules.

The company, serving 16 million customers in London and parts of southern England, treats 4.3 billion litres of waste daily.

Mr Weston mentioned that “99.5% of the time” the waste is treated successfully, although “sometimes something goes wrong”.

He added that while the company wants to improve on pollution, the chance of getting to zero pollution was “very, very slim”.

Ofwat responded to Mr Weston’s comments by stating: “With around a fifth of water put into supply still lost through leakage, companies must deliver on the commitments they have been funded to achieve.

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(Image: PA)

“Water company targets are intended to be ambitious and drive better outcomes for customers and the environment.”

The Environment Agency spokesperson said the agency and the public expect Thames Water to comply with the law, adding that the agency would continue to hold companies to account where performance falls short.

James Wallace, chief executive of campaign group River Action, criticised Thames Water.

He said: “Thames Water’s tactics of opacity and deflection fool no-one.

“Telling the public to save water while this wasteful profit-obsessed corporation leaks 570 million litres of treated drinking water every day is offensive.

“There is nothing ‘realistic’ about accepting sewage pollution as inevitable.”

Thames Water has been grappling with billions of pounds in debt and faces the risk of temporary nationalisation, known as a special administration regime.

Mr Weston, however, warned of the potential burden on taxpayers if this were to happen.

Instead, he backed a rescue deal proposed by the firm’s lenders.

Meanwhile, Mr Weston defended the company’s pay levels, as his pay rose by 14% to £1.163 million in the year to March, while other directors received bonuses totalling £4.1 million.