About

A pen between two worlds

From the towers of finance to the realms of fiction — an atelier where writing, music and image meet.

Pınar Kuş portresi
"This is not an epic of arrival; it is an elegy of the journey."
— Külden Harita, Prolog

I have spent more than twenty years in finance — payment systems, consumer finance and digital assets — building teams and growing products. But there was always a notebook on the corner of my desk, and as it grew, the stories stepped out of the towers' shadow and founded realms of their own.

Four of my books have been published so far. The two flagships: Külden Harita, a real finance career carried into fantasy; and Zamanın Öteki Ucu, a science-fiction story of inheritance and hope across generations. My whole shelf is on Kobo in Turkish and on Amazon in English.

Alongside writing, I love to sing. İsra adıyla açtığım YouTube kanalında şarkılarımı ve video kliplerimi yayınlıyorum; yapay zekâ destekli müzik ve video prodüksiyonu sayesinde bu şarkıları insanlarla buluşturabiliyorum. Şarkılarım ve romanlarım birbirinden bağımsız — ikisi de kendi yolunda ilerleyen, ayrı sevdiğim iki uğraş.

This site is one roof over two passions: my books on one side, my songs on the other.

4 BOOKS FANTASY & SCI-FI CRYPTO EDUCATION AI DESTEKLİ MÜZİK YOUTUBE: İSRA İSTANBUL
Career Journey

Twenty years, one route

A journey from banking to fintech, from payment systems to digital assets — each stop preparing the next.

2025 — Present

EVP · Product, Growth & Strategy

Consumer Finance Company

Product vision, growth strategy and the company-wide roadmap; deputizing for sales, finance and reporting functions.

2024 — 2025

Group Director, Digital Assets & Product

Digital Assets & Fintech Company

Stablecoin transfers, crypto wallet integrations and product leadership of Türkiye's first shared physical finance point concept.

2022 — 2024

Head of Product & Strategy

Global Payment Technology Company · 30+ countries

Vision for the processing, digital wallet and POS product family; new market entries and sector growth plans.

2019 — 2022

Senior Product Manager · Digital Assets

Bank-Owned Super App

NFT and token ecosystem strategy for a super app; BaaS, embedded finance and open banking scenarios.

2012 — 2019

CEO Office Manager · Payments Product Manager

Participation Bank

A bridge between executive management and key units; coordination of digital transformation and strategic payments programmes.

2006 — 2012

Product Officer → Senior Payments Specialist

Private Banks

The foundations of the craft: card portfolios, product development and segment-based campaign management.

Education

Economics (EN) · MBA (EN) · Computer Programming

Istanbul University · Bahçeşehir University · Istanbul University

I chose to become a student again mid-career, to connect technology with product management.

Expertise & Interests

One roof, many rooms

Payment Systems

20+ years across cards, wallets, processing and POS products.

Consumer Finance

BNPL, personal loans and commercial finance product lifecycle management.

Digital Assets & Crypto

Stablecoin, wallet and blockchain solutions; volunteer education and awareness work for the crypto ecosystem.

Product Strategy & Growth

Vision, roadmaps, partnerships and data-driven growth.

AI Music & Video

Songs and videos released on the İsra channel; generative-AI production.

Fiction & Songwriting

Four books, an ongoing writing journey — and lyrics for every story.

Ash & Star
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