“Connectivity is becoming utility” — Isik Uman, CEO of tpay, on mobile, AI, and the future of payments

Mobile payments in emerging and mobile-first markets are no longer a peripheral layer of digital commerce — they are becoming core infrastructure. With mobile money ecosystems already processing trillions in value and banking penetration still limited across many regions, mobile has effectively become the default financial system in large parts of the world.

But this expansion is running into its defining constraint: regulation and trust. As payments move across telecom, fintech, messaging, and content layers, fragmented and overlapping regulatory frameworks limit scalability and consistency. A “mobile civilization” could emerge once these frameworks converge toward shared standards of trust, identity, and accountability across markets.

In this episode of MEF Perspectives, Riccardo Amati speaks with Isik Uman, CEO of tpay Mobile, exploring mobile-first behavior, RCS adoption, and AI-driven orchestration across emerging markets.

The episode explores how messaging, fintech, and telecom infrastructure are increasingly collapsing into a single monetization layer, where mobile is no longer just a channel but the operating system of digital commerce.