Fintech Business Podcast Interview: BILL's Mary Kay Bowman
Jun 25, 2025
In this engaging discussion, Mary Kay Bowman, Executive Vice President at BILL, shares her extensive experience in fintech, having held pivotal roles at Amazon and Square. She explores BILL's transformation into a comprehensive financial operations platform, and why checks remain surprisingly popular in businesses today. The conversation also tackles the ongoing battle against payment fraud and the innovative possibilities AI brings to streamline transactions. Additionally, she highlights the crucial balance between user experience and the needs of both payers and payees in the evolving payments landscape.
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Mary Kay Bowman's Career Journey
- Mary Kay Bowman shared her extensive career path across startups and giants like Amazon, Square, and Visa.
- Her journey reveals how payments evolved alongside technology from Web 1.0 to intelligent cloud systems.
Why Checks Persist in SMB Payments
- Businesses still use checks due to their ubiquity and practicality despite digital alternatives.
- Legacy payment methods persist because they integrate well with existing business processes and needs.
Balancing Payment Preferences
- Payment usability varies between payer and payee; preferences like speed or security can differ.
- Balancing those preferences is key to optimizing small business payments beyond just speed or technology.