The appointment represents how Hyphen wants clients to experience the business – as one connected relationship rather than a handover between departments. Nadasen will own the relationship from the first conversation through to delivery and ongoing product input, a structure that mirrors the same principle of orchestration Hyphen builds into the platform itself.
Nadasen joins Hyphen from PayU Africa, where she served as CEO, leading strategy, commercial growth and operations across 37 African countries. During her tenure she helped transform PayU's South African business, driving sustainable growth and profitability, and played a key role in positioning the African business ahead of the sale of PayU's Global Payments Organisation to Rapyd.
Her earlier career spans strategic and technology roles at Microsoft and BP in the UK and Europe, across software development, systems analysis, product management and programme delivery. That range has shaped how she leads – combining technology, commercial thinking and delivery to solve problems in practical, workable ways.
“Karen brings a combination of commercial depth and hands-on operational experience across African payments,” says Gerrie Butler, CEO of Hyphen. “Her new role gives our clients a single, accountable relationship with Hyphen, and Karen is exactly the right person to build that.”
Beyond her executive roles, Nadasen has chaired the Ecommerce Forum of South Africa and PASA's Card Stakeholder Forum, contributed to the Financial Services Working Group of the BRICS Business Council, and co-founded Women in Payments Africa. She has a particular interest in expanding participation in technology and fintech among women and young people, and recently joined the board of Christel House South Africa.
She holds an Executive MBA from the University of Cape Town's Graduate School of Business, graduating cum laude with research into the global open banking phenomenon, and has completed an executive programme in Behavioural Science at Yale School of Management.
“Hyphen has built a genuine reputation in African payments over close to two decades, and this role is an opportunity to bring the client experience as close together as the platform already is,” says Nadasen. “I'm looking forward to working with the team, and with Hyphen's clients.”
