The Board has been chaired by Javier Santamaría since June 2012. He has been a member of the European Payments Council since its creation in 2002. As an independent, self- employed professional, Mr Santamaría has accumulated broad and balanced expertise in the intertwined dimensions of payments – business-related, operational, technical – across different client segments and product lines, in the legacy and the innovative spheres. He has been immersed in both cooperative and competitive environments. Besides payments, he is interested in other banking fields and continues to be actively engaged in academic matters. Mr Santamaría is also Chair of the Iberpay Board. Former Head of Operations and Business Services, he was Senior Vice President at Banco Santander until December 2016. He was a member of the Board of the Euro Banking Association and a Director of the SWIFT Board until the end of 2016.