There is often confusion surrounding discussions on innovative financing in the context of global health. This summary of a past CUGH conference session on the subject clarifies what is meant by global health specialists when they debate “innovative payment mechanisms” and challenges associated to it. Aceso Global’s CEO Maureen Lewis opened the session with a presentation on the emergence of new actors in global health financing and the shifts in donor priorities away from disease specific programs towards more integrated programs, which could be financed by innovative financing mechanisms.