Oracle veteran Christopher Poda takes on Director, Partner Solutions role at FreedomPay

FinTech firm FreedomPay has appointed Christopher Poda as Director, Partner Solutions.

He was previously at Oracle, where he spent almost 22 years, most recently serving as Global Partner Manager.

In a LinkedIn post, he said: "As 2026 begins, I’m excited to share that I stepped into a new role two months ago as Director, Partner Solutions at FreedomPay. I’m humbled to join the Partner Sales team and energised by the opportunity to help shape and grow the partner ecosystem."

"I’m deeply grateful for my years at Oracle - the work, the people, and the partnerships made a lasting impact on me both professionally and personally. That chapter built the foundation for this next one. Looking forward to the journey ahead."

2026 RTIH Innovation Awards

Payments will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards will open for entries in April. They celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Thursday, 15th October.

Check out our 2025 winners here.

Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”

“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”

He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”

Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.