Leaders In Payments

My guest this week is a Wyoming native with a passion for solving problems. Known by many in the tech scene as “the disruptive guy,” Nautical Commerce CEO Ryan Lee spent more than a decade operating at the intersection of commerce, fintech and logistics, only to bring us a platform capable of democratizing access to marketplace technology.For those of you who may not know, Nautical Commerce is a multivendor platform with the elegance of Shopify and a scalability parallel to none. According to Ryan, they are a start-to-finish, soup-to-nuts platform with a toolset that enables turnkey efficiency for B2B or B2C multi-vendor commerce. If they had an ultimate (measurable) goal, it would be “to see the next Jeff Bezos launched from a Nautical company.” They specialize in high-transaction product and digital marketplaces and their competitive advantage lies in the fact that they are a commerce system – versus an app that sits on top of another commerce platform. Payments is the cornerstone capability of their platform and, according to Ryan, the foundation of any successful marketplace.Tune in this week to hear about Ryan’s journey to CEO, including a self-taught coding proficiency in high school that landed him a certifiable “in” to the technology sector once he got to college. We talk about all things payments, commerce and what the industry looks like in the next 2 to 3 years as it relates to contactless, the proliferation of more payments orchestrators, and crypto as a solution desperately looking for a problem.

My guest this week has a passion for creating something new that will change the industry and leave a legacy he can be proud of. In a fast-paced world and a time of life where everything seems to have already been done and you always hear people say there are no new ideas under the sun, Engage People CEO Jonathan Silver has managed to come up with something quite innovative.For those of you who may not know, Engage is a technology-focused loyalty company that aims to democratize loyalty currency. How do they do it? They integrate into the payments ecosystem in a manner that enables prompt technology to offer your loyalty credit card points, for example, as a form of payment for your Starbucks coffee. According to Jonathan, their proprietary platform provides the conduit between loyalty programs and the retail checkout process, with a vast network of clients and partners integrated into one truly unique ecosystem.As for their competitive advantage, they have developed the first true payments network for the loyalty industry, as well as a data driven platform that enables promotional engagement in real time. Not only does that bring the value of points to the forefront, it provides meaningful incentive for all touchpoints in the payments cycle, including the customer, the retailer and the partner.Tune in this week to hear Jonathan talk about his journey to CEO, including the two proprietary brands under the Engage umbrella, what the future of loyalty payments looks like in the next 2 to 3 years and how his passion for creating something impactful will eventually lead to a de facto payments offering for the loyalty currency market.

My guest this week is a self-proclaimed “accidental entrepreneur” with a passion for facilitating the extraordinary. Justifi CEO and Cofounder Joe Keeley has had a fascinating journey through the world of entrepreneurship that all began with an employment ad that “wouldn’t be found anywhere but Minnesota.”It was during his undergraduate career, and he was just looking for a way to make some extra money. When thumbing through the paper one day, Joe came across an employment ad for a nanny position with one major requirement: the applicant had to be a hockey player. Not only did this catch his attention due to the sheer uniqueness of the request but he was also highly qualified as he was playing hockey for his college team. His willingness to respond not only got him the job but also led him down a prolific entrepreneurial journey that lasted 15 years and resulted in 200 national locations and a lucrative sale to a public company.And this was just his first business. For those of you who may not know, Justifi is a company that specializes in providing the technology for platforms to be world-class at payment monetization and going beyond payments. They accelerate the potential of vertical SaaS platforms and help them increase their value in the areas of payments technology, virtual fintech and the beyond payments space.According to Joe, if you structure payments correctly, you can anticipate all the things customers want to do in the future and be set up for success. Tune in this week to hear him talk about his journey to CEO, including where he sees the industry in the next 2-3 years, the orchestration within his company that allows for the monetization of payments and beyond, as well as the various reasons why platforms shouldn’t always aim to become a payfac and how that can actually be a better business decision.

What does a math challenged sales guy that migrated into the merchant industry by accident have to do with going Beyond in payments? Quite a bit, actually…Beyond CEO and President Mike Peters is a north Jersey native with a passion for helping people reach their goals and facilitating a genuine team player environment that has everyone working towards a common goal. For those of you who may not know, Beyond is a merchant acquiring company that drives new merchant sales and facilitates daily necessities such as payroll and business services to midmarket and small business verticals. They have a large focus on the SMB middle America, feet on the street environment and their business model is largely influenced by the one-stop-shop philosophy that so many merchants desire.As for their competitive advantage, this is established largely through their published promises to their merchants. They include:·       Price protection·       Flexible contracts·       Top security·       Adaptable product solutions ·       And trusted business advocacy servicesSo, what attracted Mike to this role at Beyond personally? He has a tremendous amount to say about the philanthropy and thriving culture that the company builds its foundation on being a driving force for his decision. Not only do they have a proactive outreach program that sends money to underprivileged kids who would normally not be able to afford a college education, they also have a company culture that, according to Mike, “focuses on doing the right thing even when nobody is looking."Tune in this week to hear Mike talk about his journey to CEO, his personal and professional passions and what the industry looks like in the next 2 to 3 years as it relates to technology advancements, AI integration and the remaining runway for the agent model. 

As we continue our spotlight on women leaders in payments this month, this week’s episode features Monneo Managing Director Lili Metodieva. A talented artist with a childhood dream to become a pilot, you may wonder how Lili ended up in fintech? The answer is simple: she thrives in dynamic, fast-paced environments and it most comfortable when she’s out of her comfort zone.Lili was born in the sixth oldest city in Europe on the southside of Bulgaria. She received her undergrad degree in IT and a graduate degree in commerce. And her first job after college was selling telecommunication equipment to large companies looking to facilitate cross-border video communication. Following a short time in the telecom space, she decided she wanted to dive into something completely different and challenging so she took a job in ecommerce.After 10 years in the payment space Lili then decided to take a break from the industry and start a personal venture related to Facebook marketing and online advertising. But it didn’t take long for her to realize that the payment space was ultimately her “dynamic love for life.”For those of you who may not know Monneo is a company that specializes in connecting the dots between traditional banking and online commerce. Her job as managing director is to recognize opportunities, prevent mistakes and get things organized. She will be the first to say that business comes down to connection with people and her guiding principle is to treat others the way you would like to be treated. She also feels the most important quality every leader should possess is respect. Tune in this week to hear Lili talk about her journey through payments, what leadership means to her and how getting out of your comfort zone is the only way to progress and grow.

As we continue our journey through honoring our women in payments leaders this month, my next guest is another exceptional individual that does nothing short of inspire. Her name is Lixia Zhu and she is the global head of product for Vynamic Payments at Diebold Nixdorf. For those of you who may not know Diebold Nixdorf is an innovation bank with more than 150 years processing, 22,000 employees and a portfolio that spans 130 countries. They are dominant in both the hardware and software niches, spanning everything from ATMs, POS systems and protective safes to software services for global, retail, and private sector clients. Vynamic Payments, specifically, caters to top tier 1 & 2 global financial institutions. Lixia’s role in this company is to define strategy for business and product, oversee daily execution, leverage strategic partnerships, and optimize the go-to-market strategy. As for her background, Lixia grew up in China as the youngest of four daughters during a time when boys were favored, and her country promoted a one child only preference in the home. She will understandably credit her parents as active sources of inspiration for her noteworthy career journey and untappable potential. Not only is she leading a dynamic department in a full-time role, she’s also currently in the process of completing her global executive MBA program. Tune in this week to hear Lixia talk about the importance of getting out of your comfort zone as it relates to growth and momentum, her guiding principles of being authentic, open minded, and eager to learn, as well as the one quality she thinks every woman leader should possess in order to be successful in this industry, where women executives are the minority at only 4%. Her story is truly inspiring and her drive is contagious!

My guest this week marks our first impressive female leader in payments to kick off our Women Leaders in Payments monthly special. Her name is Kathleen Pierce-Gilmore, and she is the head of payments at Silicon Valley Bank.For those of you who may not know, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) is often referred to as “the bank of innovation” and is very popular throughout the fintech space. SVB caters specifically to private equity firms, venture capitalist firms, accelerators, and incubators. They serve as a commercial bank for standard BAU protocol and also provide infrastructure and licensing for their partners in need of embedded payments. In addition to all this, they also facilitate all things startup as far as fundraising, IPO, acquisition and the like, as well as a $7 billion capital platform used to invest in companies they gain exposure to through their innovation roots.And if you think that’s impressive, wait until you hear about the woman behind their payments legacy. Kathleen grew up in what she would describe as very unstable circumstances. Her family suffered from severe financial insecurity and she will be the first one to say that poverty is more than just an economic state. However, it was this experience that drove her to become the woman she is today. This instability throughout childhood eventually brought her into one of the most stable industries available. And her journey getting there has been absolutely fascinating!With a résumé that includes some of our industries heaviest hitters such as American Express, Capital One and PayPal, Kathleen has truly been a trailblazer for women everywhere – not just in payments. Tune in this week to hear her talk about her guiding principles of integrity, excellence, compassion, and happiness, as well as what it takes to be a change agent and what every woman leader should possess.

Sandy Kemper, CEO of C2FO, discusses their decentralized financing platform, matching accounts payable and receivable. He reveals mind-blowing stats about the global target market and shares insights on the future of payments and financing. Additionally, the podcast explores reducing friction and increasing transparency in the industry, advice for college graduates, and the role of transparency in fostering curiosity.

This episode is sponsored by Citizens Pay. Designed to streamline the buying process, Citizens Pay is a leader in “Buy Now Pay Later” that provides merchants the security of a premier national bank on an omnichannel platform which drives sales and builds loyalty.If you want to learn more about Citizens Pay, visit https://citizensbank.mvk.co/2hycr where you can find additional information about Citizens Pay’s buy now pay later financing solution.What does a video game designer and avid Vietnamese art collector have to do with payments? A lot! Evvio Co-Founder Adrian Jones started his entrepreneurial career at 15 years old in the videogame design industry, only to find that his passion for technology and the impact it can have on the world around him would eventually propel his career into the ecommerce payments space.For those of you who may not know, Evvio is an ecommerce technology company that provides opportunities for anyone, anywhere to participate in ecommerce. They specialize in person-to-person emerging ecommerce transactions and their technology adds tremendous value to exchange networks such as: ●      Social commerce●      Super apps●      Online gaming ●      And the metaverse!Fluid commerce is probably one of the biggest buzzwords you’ll hear in this podcast, with Evvio driving this intention for their target audience. And one of their main objectives is to make ecommerce inclusive in that it doesn’t require a bank account or credit card to transact. As for their competitive advantage, the ability to earn and spend without value passing out of the e-commerce network is the first thing that Adrian points out, followed closely by fraud prevention capabilities that allow the seller and buyer to maintain a cryptographic agreement of services being used.Tune in this week to hear Adrian talk about the future of our industry as it relates to the projected growth of person-to-person ecommerce, the demise of credit and debit card payments, and the social commerce exchange that will spike from $560 billion in 2020 to $2.9 trillion in 2026. As for what he projects beyond the next 10 years, he has this to say based on his own experience: “Much as we try to forecast what the world will be like in years ahead, there are just so many things we don’t see coming.” Don’t miss this one!

My guest this week has a genuine passion for building things that create a significant impact and then using it as a mechanism for change. But according to Inscribe CEO and Co-Founder Ronan Burke, the true fulfillment in this comes with creating the opportunity on your own and not waiting for someone else to give it to you.For those of you who may not know, Inscribe is a fraud detection automation company that helps fintechs approve more customers by automating their account opening and underwriting workflows. This includes automatically overseeing some of the most fundamental checkpoints when it comes to ensuring safe, secure transactions, such as:·       Identity verification and KYC·       Corporate control·       Platform integrityFrom a long-term perspective, Inscribe’s mission is to create a fair and efficient payments ecosystem by protecting platform integrity through automation and fraud detection. And their product adds value to any company that transacts large payments and facilitates high-trust interactions. And as for what makes them stand out against their competitors, one of their main advantages is they offer a fully automated solution with absolutely zero human engagement in the detection approval loop.Tune in this week to hear Ronan talk about his journey to CEO and what the next 2-3 years look like as it relates to fraud. One thing he knows for certain is that fraud will increase substantially as the payments industry moves towards faster, cheaper, and more real-time transactions. As for what he foresees in the next decade, it looks like we can expect an ecosystem that offers less risky and even safer options when it comes to facilitating large transactions in an online environment versus a traditional retail scenario.