About This Episode

In this episode, Mark Beresford and Amine Saidi of Edgar, Dunn & Company talks with Erich Litch, General Manager of Payments Software, and Phil Bruno, Chief Strategy and Growth Officer at ACI Worldwide, about how banks can modernize legacy platforms without risking a full-scale overhaul. From convergence across payment rails to the growing role of orchestration, they explain why modernization is no longer optional for financial institutions.

They also explore how real-time payments are reshaping global markets, from Brazil’s Pix to India’s UPI, while open banking creates new opportunities for value-added services. Erich and Phil share how AI and emerging agentic AI are being used to fight fraud, streamline transactions, and automate back-office tasks, helping banks compete with fintechs on speed and customer experience.

Join us as we explore how modernization, AI, and new payment models are redefining financial services worldwide.

Watch The Episode

Episode Links

LinkedIn (Erich Litch): https://www.linkedin.com/in/erich-litch-500548

LinkedIn (Philip Bruno): https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-bruno

Website: https://www.aciworldwide.com

Guest Bio

Philip Bruno

Philip Bruno is ACI’s Chief Strategy and Growth Officer. In this role, he leads the company’s growth strategy, including corporate strategy development and long-range strategic planning. He works with leaders and teams across the business to drive the execution of strategic growth initiatives, monitor market dynamics to inform our strategy, and help ensure the clear communication of our strategy and vision to internal and external stakeholders.

Mr. Bruno brings more than thirty years of experience in payments and financial services from McKinsey & Company, the global management consulting firm.  At McKinsey, he served as partner and co-lead of the Global Payments Practice, advising leading financial institutions and technology companies worldwide on strategic growth, digital innovation, customer experience improvement, and operational effectiveness.

Throughout his career at McKinsey, Mr. Bruno shaped strategic initiatives across the payments ecosystem, from established banking institutions to emerging fintechs. His expertise spans digital commerce, retail payments, commercial payments/transaction banking, and payment infrastructure.

Mr. Bruno holds a Master of Business Administration from New York University’s Stern School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania.

Erich Litch

Erich is ACI’s General Manager of Payment Software. In this role, he drives the company’s leadership in payments orchestration for Banks and Merchants. He is responsible for leading our global product management and commercial functions for these two customer segments.

Mr. Litch joined ACI in 2024 as Head of Merchant Solutions. He has more than 20 years of experience in executive and senior leadership roles at SaaS and licensed-based financial technology businesses. At Fiserv, CheckFree, and Corillian, he held various senior leadership roles, driving the sale and delivery of enterprise financial software and payments solutions to large global financial institutions. He also oversaw the acquisition and integration of other financial technology companies.

More recently in financial technology, Mr. Litch served as President and Chief Operating Officer of 2Checkout, an online payment processing and subscription management company acquired by Verifone. At 2Checkout, he developed a comprehensive operations strategy to significantly improve sales, security, quality, and reliability.

Mr. Litch holds a J.D. from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, California, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles.

--------------------------------

This article is part of Leaders in Payments & Fintech, a podcast and newsletter brought to you by EDC. Join us and follow Leaders in Payments & Fintech today on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app for conversations with today’s global leaders in payments and Fintech.

Listen & follow on Apple

‍Listen & follow on Spotify

Listen & follow on Amazon

--------------------------------