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Leaders In Payments

Business & Economics Podcasts

Hear directly from C-level executives in payments/fintech about industry trends, successful strategies, products, services, and what the future holds for the payments/fintech industry. We cover the entire industry from merchant acquiring, payment processing, ISOs, payfacs, fraud, security, issuing, b2b, fintech, to start-ups, if it goes on in payments we will be talking about it.

Location:

United States

Description:

Hear directly from C-level executives in payments/fintech about industry trends, successful strategies, products, services, and what the future holds for the payments/fintech industry. We cover the entire industry from merchant acquiring, payment processing, ISOs, payfacs, fraud, security, issuing, b2b, fintech, to start-ups, if it goes on in payments we will be talking about it.

Language:

English


Episodes
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Women Leaders in Payments: Ahalya Vijay, VP Product Operations at Worldpay | Episode 412

7/16/2025
What happens when your work drains rather than energizes you? For Ahalya Vijay, VP of Product Operations at Worldpay, this realization sparked a pivotal career transformation from consulting to product leadership in payments. In this illuminating conversation for Women Leaders in Payments month, Ahalya shares her global journey from Singapore to the crossroads of product and technology transformation. With remarkable candor, she reveals how an exercise mapping her energy levels across various projects led to a career-defining revelation: her superpower lies in cross-functional leadership, bringing diverse perspectives together to create tangible solutions. At WorldPay, Ahalya leads Product Operations across three critical domains: strategy planning, analytics reporting, and operating model transformation. She describes product management as "a constant game of trade-offs," requiring data-driven decision-making to prioritize initiatives with limited resources. Her collaborative leadership style enables her to be a bridge between business functions while empowering team members to reach their potential. The conversation ventures into artificial intelligence's transformative impact on payments, with Ahalya detailing how Worldpay is embedding AI into products while developing responses to its implications for tokenization, fraud prevention, and KYC. She also highlights open banking's potential growth in the US market, with Worldpay planning significant product launches in coming quarters. Perhaps most valuable is Ahalya's distinction between mentorship and sponsorship. While mentors advise, sponsors "solve for your potential before you're aware of it," creating opportunities by advocating for you in rooms where you aren't present. Her advice for women in payments? "Own your impact and your story. Become comfortable talking about yourself because you're your best advocate."

Duration:00:27:30

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Women Leaders in Payments: Andie Hill, EVP, Agent Sales at Payroc | Episode 411

7/14/2025
Andie Hill's career defies traditional paths. From searching newspaper classifieds to becoming Executive Vice President of Agent Sales at Payroc, her journey illustrates how authenticity and relationship-building create leadership success in the payments industry. "Being relevant and authentic" defines modern leadership for Hill. Throughout our conversation, she dismantles the myth that leaders must present a perfect image, emphasizing instead that showing up as your genuine self - even on difficult days - creates stronger connections and more effective outcomes. This philosophy has guided her through positions at industry giants including First Data, Vantiv, and Visa before her current role at Payroc. Technology emerges as both challenge and opportunity throughout our discussion. As Hill notes, "We just feel like we started to really get a good handle on integration and ISVs, and now here comes AI." She predicts even more seamless payment experiences in the near future, such as phone-to-phone transfers happening with a simple tap rather than through apps. This perspective emphasizes how payment professionals must constantly anticipate and adapt to technological shifts. Perhaps most valuable for emerging professionals is Hill's insight on mentorship. Rather than formal programs with rigid schedules, she credits casual conversations at industry events and networking opportunities for her most transformative professional relationships. "Some of the best mentorship I've ever had were the people that I've met sitting at a registration desk," she shares, encouraging young professionals to proactively seek these connections rather than waiting for formal introductions. Have you considered a career in payments? As Hill advises, "Don't let the noise scare you." Despite its technical complexity, the industry remains accessible and rewarding for those willing to embrace learning. Take the first step - reach out to someone in the field today and start your own payments journey.

Duration:00:34:27

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Women Leaders in Payments: Maggie O'Toole, Chief Client Officer at Dash Solutions | Episode 410

7/11/2025
Maggie O'Toole's remarkable journey from arriving in Chicago from Poland with just $300 to becoming Chief Client Officer at Dash Solutions exemplifies the power of mindset and determination in creating extraordinary outcomes. Her story serves as both inspiration and blueprint for anyone looking to make their mark in the payments industry. With disarming candor, Maggie shares the formative experiences that shaped her leadership philosophy – from bartending jobs in her early days to orchestrating client success strategies at a Fortune-recognized innovative company. She reveals how focusing on possibilities rather than limitations became her superpower, allowing her to navigate unfamiliar terrain without a support system and ultimately thrive professionally. At the heart of Maggie's leadership approach is a profound understanding that business success stems from human connection. "Businesses are people, and people want to do business with who they like and trust," she emphasizes, highlighting how Dash Solutions differentiates itself through exceptional service built on relationships. This philosophy drives her work transforming how companies handle payment operations across healthcare and other sectors traditionally slow to embrace digital innovation. Maggie offers a refreshingly nuanced perspective on modern leadership, advocating for situational approaches tailored to team members' growth journeys rather than one-size-fits-all management. She stresses the importance of psychological safety in fostering innovation, encouraging teams to "question everything" and imagine what might be possible if failure wasn't an option. For women navigating career advancement, her advice to "find your tribe" rather than just pursuing job titles resonates as both practical and profound.

Duration:00:38:30

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Women Leaders in Payments: Sheffali Welch, Chief Operating Officer at The Clearing House | Episode 409

7/9/2025
Discover the evolution of leadership in the payments industry through the lens of someone who's lived it. Sheffali Welsh, Chief Operating Officer of The Clearing House, brings a unique perspective shaped by her unconventional journey from cognitive science studies to overseeing operations for America's only private payment network operator. The payments landscape demands a special kind of leadership – one that balances innovation with stability, risk-taking with prudence, and technical expertise with people-centered approaches. Sheffali articulates how leadership in financial services has transformed from the hierarchical, top-down model of decades past to today's collaborative, empowering style that connects employees to purpose and embraces flexibility. Her experiences navigating the 2008 financial crisis as chief of staff to Citigroup's global CFO provided invaluable lessons about leadership during turbulence that continue to shape her approach today. What sets great leaders apart? According to Sheffali, it's "grit" – that powerful combination of passion and perseverance particularly evident in women who've had to play the long game in their careers. She makes a compelling case for how this quality is perfectly suited to the payments industry, where innovations like real-time payments require both visionary thinking and patient execution. Her insights on the distinction between mentorship and sponsorship illuminate why women still need more advocates who will speak up for them when they're not in the room. Looking ahead, she's watching the emerging digital assets and stablecoin landscape as payments' next frontier. Listen now and discover why playing the long game through strategic lateral moves might be your best career strategy in the dynamic world of payments.

Duration:00:38:31

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Women Leaders in Payments: Serena Smith, Chief Client Officer at i2c | Episode 408

7/7/2025
What happens when the primary users of an industry's products aren't well-represented in its leadership? Serena Smith, Chief Client Officer at i2c, tackles this fundamental question in a fascinating exploration of women's influence in the payments ecosystem. The stark reality? Women drive 85% of consumer purchases across categories but hold only 27% of C-suite positions in financial services. This disconnect creates a leadership opportunity that Serena has embraced throughout her remarkable career journey, which began in a bank's mailroom and led to executive roles spanning global payment operations. Serena shares the pivotal risk that transformed her career trajectory - pitching a new remittance processing business directly to FIS's executive team when her position was threatened by an acquisition. This bold move not only saved her job but catapulted her career forward, embodying her philosophy that calculated risk-taking and authentic leadership are essential for success. Her battle with cancer represents another transformative chapter, reshaping how she approaches leadership: "I'm not the same person I was before cancer. I'm stronger, wiser, more alive." This experience taught her to lead with purpose, gratitude, and a heightened awareness of what truly matters. As payments become increasingly personalized, Serena emphasizes that tomorrow's successful payment solutions must adapt to consumers rather than the reverse. At i2c, she helps clients navigate this evolution through a flexible technology stack that supports global payment processing needs across 90+ countries. For aspiring women leaders, Serena's advice is clear: own your story, recognize your unique perspective as strength, develop deep business knowledge, and both seek and provide mentorship. The future of payments needs diverse voices at the table, especially from those who understand consumer needs firsthand.

Duration:00:35:15

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Women Leaders in Payments: Billi Jo Wright, Head of Risk at Worldpay for Platforms

7/1/2025
Billi Jo Wright's unconventional journey from working in her uncle's sheet metal factory to executive leadership in payments spans nearly three decades and offers powerful lessons about persistence, adaptability, and betting on yourself. Without a college degree but armed with boundless curiosity, Billi Jo navigated through various roles across issuing and acquiring before finding her passion in risk management, where she's thrived by approaching old problems with fresh perspectives. Two pivotal moments shaped her career trajectory: first, when she returned to work after having four children in 18 months, eventually becoming her family's sole breadwinner; and second, when she left what seemed like a dream role at a large company to join a smaller startup where she could drive meaningful change. Both decisions required tremendous courage and self-confidence—qualities that continue to define her leadership approach. For Billi Jo, modern leadership centers on empowerment. She builds high-performing teams by deliberately seeking diverse perspectives and complementary skill sets, then creating high-trust environments where people can thrive. This collaborative approach has proven successful through multiple acquisitions, demonstrating that effective leadership isn't about command-and-control but about enabling others to succeed. Looking toward the future of payments, she's closely watching how artificial intelligence will transform both operational capabilities and fraud vectors. Her balanced perspective embraces innovation while remaining vigilant about emerging risks - exactly the thoughtful approach needed in today's rapidly evolving payment ecosystem. For those building careers in payments, especially women, Billi Jo emphasizes networking, finding mentors who exemplify the leadership style you aspire to, and securing sponsors who will actively advocate for your advancement. Her advice to "get uncomfortable" acknowledges that growth often happens outside our comfort zones. Ready to transform how you think about leadership and risk in payments? Listen now and discover strategies that can elevate your approach to both.

Duration:00:28:47

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Floris de Kort, CEO of Thunes | Episode 406

6/26/2025
What happens when you build direct connections to over 350 real-time banks and wallets worldwide? You create what Thunes CEO Floris de Kort calls "the smart superhighway to move money around the world." The limitations of traditional cross-border payments are all too familiar for businesses operating globally. SWIFT transfers take days, lack transparency, come with hefty fees, and stop completely on weekends and holidays. Thunes is revolutionizing this outdated model by enabling real-time payments across 130 countries and 80 currencies through direct connections to financial institutions and alternative payment methods. During this revealing conversation, Floris explains how Thunes has built a powerful competitive advantage through direct integrations with payment endpoints like GCash in the Philippines and M-Pesa in Kenya. Unlike competitors who rely on chains of aggregators, these direct connections deliver higher transaction success rates, more cost-efficient processing, and faster issue resolution when problems arise. Perhaps most compelling is how Thunes' services are enabling financial inclusion in emerging markets. By facilitating immediate payments to mobile wallets, they're helping unbanked individuals participate in the global economy - like ride-share drivers in Africa who can now receive instant payment, purchase fuel, and continue earning without traditional banking infrastructure. With licenses now secured in all 50 U.S. states and a new office opening in Atlanta, Thunes is positioned for aggressive growth in American markets, particularly serving U.S. companies with global payment needs.

Duration:00:19:01

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Pulse of Payments: Swipe Right on SoftPOS: Unlocking Payment Freedom with Pierre Aurel and Norman Frankel of Stanchion | Episode 405

6/24/2025
Step into the world of payment innovation with Pierre Aurel, Chief Product Officer, and Norman Frankel, Chief Growth Officer at Stanchion Payments as they demystify SoftPOS technology - the revolutionary software turning ordinary smartphones into powerful payment terminals. SoftPOS fundamentally transforms how merchants accept payments, enabling any NFC-capable Android or iOS device to process contactless transactions without specialized hardware. This breakthrough eliminates barriers for small businesses, sole proprietors, and mobile vendors who previously couldn't justify the expense of traditional payment terminals. As Norman reveals, one European bank reported that 25% of all their acquired transactions came from SoftPOS applications just one year after launch - a testament to the technology's rapid adoption. Security concerns have been meticulously addressed through rigorous standards including PCI MPOC, creating a protected environment for processing sensitive payment data on everyday devices. While implementation requires significant investment from software providers to meet these standards, the end result delivers enterprise-grade security with consumer-grade simplicity. The technology has found unexpected champions across diverse sectors. Churches embraced it during the pandemic for contactless donations, government mandates in countries like Romania and Greece accelerated adoption for tax compliance, and major retailers including Walmart and Decathlon deploy it for queue-busting and business continuity during outages. Looking ahead, Pierre envisions improvements in NFC antenna technology to enhance the payment experience, deeper integration into everyday applications, and the blurring of lines between e-commerce and in-person payments. For merchants considering the switch, the benefits are compelling - potential savings of $300+ compared to terminal rental costs, enhanced payment flexibility, and no more missed sales due to uncharged or malfunctioning hardware.

Duration:00:39:35

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Matt Brennan, CEO of Spire | Episode 404

6/18/2025
What happens when you combine the merchant benefits of pay-by-bank transactions with the consumer rewards typically reserved for credit cards? Matt Brennan, CEO of Spire, reveals how their groundbreaking approach is transforming everyday payments across America. Brennan walks us through Spire's innovative branded payment solution that powers merchant-specific programs like Shell's "S-Pay." By partnering with Discover Network, Spire issues 16-digit PANs linked to consumers' bank accounts - creating a hybrid payment that works on existing terminals while settling via ACH. This elegant solution eliminates the traditional hurdles that have limited pay-by-bank adoption at physical points of sale. The beauty of Spire's approach lies in its true win-win nature: merchants dramatically reduce processing costs while offering substantial rewards (like 15-20¢ off per gallon or 5% store discounts), and consumers enjoy immediate benefits without accumulating credit card debt. This value proposition has fueled remarkable growth, with Spire now accepted at 55,000 locations representing 65% of branded fuel retailers nationwide. With 750,000 bank accounts linked and transaction volumes growing 200% in just seven months, Spire is clearly tapping into unmet consumer needs. Brennan identifies two key adopter groups: tech-savvy younger consumers comfortable with alternative payment methods, and financially-conscious "savvy savers" seeking rewards without additional debt. As consumer debt concerns continue to rise and open banking makes account linking increasingly mainstream, Spire is positioned at the intersection of major financial trends.

Duration:00:25:34

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Rui Ribeiro, Co-Founder & CEO of Jscrambler | Episode 403

6/12/2025
Digital commerce security stands at a critical crossroads, with an average of 66 third-party vendors present during the typical e-commerce checkout flow. Each of these represents a potential security vulnerability that could compromise your customers' payment data. Few understand this landscape better than Rui Ribeiro, Co-Founder and CEO of Jscrambler. Ribeiro's journey began in Portugal with a computer science background that led him through the banking industry before identifying a crucial gap in 2014: client-side security. What started as a broad security mission has evolved into specialized protection for payment processes, with Jscrambler now serving major e-commerce platforms across airlines, retail, and hospitality sectors. The timing couldn't be more relevant. With the PCI Council's recent release of PCI DSS v4, client-side security has moved from a best practice to a compliance requirement. Companies must now implement strategies that protect cardholder data by securing JavaScript and payment pages while detecting unauthorized access - exactly what Jscrambler specializes in. "Security should never be a barrier for innovation," Ribeiro emphasizes. His company's approach allows businesses to continue adding frictionless checkout features while ensuring third parties can't access sensitive payment information. This balance becomes increasingly challenging as merchants integrate chatbots, payment calculators, installment options, and other tools that improve customer experience but potentially expand the attack surface.

Duration:00:24:04

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John Gordon, CEO of ValidiFI | Episode 402

6/10/2025
The future of payments is shifting dramatically as consumers demand more options and businesses seek better ways to assess risk. John Gordon, CEO of ValidiFI, takes us deep into how bank account behavior data is becoming the missing puzzle piece in understanding consumer reliability beyond traditional credit scores. Gordon explains how ValidiFI sits at the critical intersection of compliance and fraud prevention, helping businesses meet NACHA's WEB debit rule requirements while gaining valuable insights into consumer payment patterns. By analyzing factors like bank account changes, previous negative balances, and account relationship patterns, ValidiFI provides powerful signals that predict payment outcomes and identify potential fraud before it happens. What truly sets this conversation apart is Gordon's perspective on consumer financial empowerment. He notes how payment preferences are evolving rapidly, with account-to-account transfers growing yearly and programs like Target's RedCard demonstrating the power of bank-account-linked payment methods. The conversation explores how real-time payment networks and non-credentialed bank verification are creating new opportunities for businesses to offer seamless, secure payment experiences that consumers actually want to use. Ready to rethink how you validate customer payment information? Listen now and discover strategies that go beyond basic compliance to deliver real business value while meeting evolving consumer expectations.

Duration:00:23:31

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Maxim Galash, CEO of Coinchange | Episode 401

6/4/2025
Max Galash takes us on a fascinating journey through the rapidly evolving cryptocurrency landscape as CEO of Coinchange, a global crypto brokerage and asset management platform with offices in Warsaw and Toronto. Having pivoted from a direct-to-consumer approach following the collapse of major players like Celsius and BlockFi, CoinChange now focuses exclusively on B2B relationships with crypto operators, exchanges, neobanks, and payment platforms. What sets them apart in this emerging space is their multi-manager investment approach – rather than simply offering tokenized T-bills like many competitors, they employ various managers deploying different trading strategies to create customized, principle-protected structured products. The conversation provides remarkable insight into how stablecoins are revolutionizing global payments, especially in emerging markets where access to USD-denominated products is limited. "Stablecoins are a bridge between banking, trading, exchanges, crypto and remittances," Max explains, highlighting their crucial role in enabling global settlements within seconds. His prediction that blockchain will become the backbone of settlement networks rather than remaining consumer-facing technology aligns with moves by financial giants like BlackRock and JP Morgan, who are already settling billions through private blockchains. Ready to understand how cryptocurrency is reshaping global finance? Listen now to hear Max's complete insights and predictions for this transformative industry.

Duration:00:23:07

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Barry McCarthy, President & CEO of Deluxe | Episode 400

5/29/2025
We’ve officially reached 400 episodes of the Leaders in Payments Podcast - and what a journey it’s been. I’m incredibly proud of this milestone and truly grateful to our listeners, guests, and community. With over 375 guests featured, we’ve uncovered countless insights from the best minds in the business. To celebrate episode 400, I sat down with Barry McCarthy, President and CEO of Deluxe. Barry takes us on a fascinating journey through the transformation of a century-old company once known primarily for check printing into a modern payments and data powerhouse. What does a company do when its core business faces digital disruption? For Deluxe, the answer was bold reinvention. McCarthy reveals how the company now processes approximately $3 trillion annually across four integrated business lines: merchant services targeting mid-market businesses, B2B payments focused on accounts receivable/payable management, data-driven marketing leveraging one of the industry's largest consumer databases, and their legacy print operations. The conversation explores how Deluxe has strategically repositioned itself at the intersection of payments, data, and artificial intelligence. McCarthy shares specific examples of how they're applying AI to solve real business problems, from matching payments to invoices to identifying high-converting marketing leads. His vision for the future of payments is particularly compelling – a world where payment processing becomes as invisible and omnipresent as electricity, simply working in the background without conscious thought. Whether you're a payments industry veteran or just beginning your fintech career, this milestone 400th episode delivers rich insights on corporate transformation, the future of embedded payments, and the strategic application of artificial intelligence in financial services.

Duration:00:34:34

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Mike Hudack, CEO & Co-Founder of Sling Money | Episode 399

5/27/2025
As CEO & Co-Founder of Sling Money, Mike is transforming how we think about sending funds across borders by making international transfers as effortless as sending a text message. During our conversation, Mike reveals how a personal experience moving USDC between the UK and San Francisco sparked his vision. The transfer itself was instant and free, but everything around it felt clunky – "like using a Unix command line from the 80s." This insight led him to create what he calls "the macOS or iPhone of stablecoins," abstracting away all of the complexity. Sling's elegant approach allows users to add money through local payment methods in 75 countries, convert to stablecoins behind the scenes, and send funds globally in just seconds. Recipients can withdraw to their local currency almost instantly, never needing to understand the underlying technology. The use cases range from practical (managing finances across multiple countries) to spontaneous (buying someone a beer across continents) – transactions that were previously impossible or prohibitively expensive. Mike places this innovation in a fascinating historical context, comparing the evolution of international payments to what happened with telecommunications and streaming video. Just as we no longer think twice about "long-distance calls," he envisions a future where the concept of "international payments" disappears entirely. Ready to experience the future of global money transfer? Download Sling Money today and join the community making international payments instant, free, and frictionless.

Duration:00:26:27

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Frank Arellano, CEO of Revolv3 | Episode 398

5/22/2025
Frank Arellano, founder and CEO of Revolv3, peels back the curtain on a staggering $600 billion problem plaguing the payments industry that few executives fully understand. False declines - legitimate transactions incorrectly rejected by payment processors - account for a shocking two-thirds of all credit card declines. For subscription-based businesses, this translates into devastating levels of involuntary customer churn. Drawing from his 25 years of experience at companies like Ingram Micro and Experian, Frank explains how Revolv3's intelligent payment optimization platform tackles this challenge head-on. Unlike traditional payment gateways, Revolv3 analyzes over 100 different data elements in every transaction to build trust with issuers and dramatically improve approval rates. The results speak volumes: merchants using Revolv3's platform achieve an average 14% increase in approval rates and nearly 30% growth in total revenue from decline management alone. What sets this conversation apart is Frank's holistic view of the payments ecosystem and its future trajectory. He predicts embedded finance and predictive capabilities will dominate the next few years, with increased focus on tokenization and regulatory compliance over the next decade. For professionals entering the fintech space, Frank offers invaluable advice: understand how money moves throughout the entire ecosystem, rather than focusing on just one aspect.

Duration:00:19:06

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Amit Sagiv and Vova Tsukur, Co-Heads of Wix Payments | Episode 397

5/20/2025
The world of payments is undergoing a radical transformation, and at the heart of this revolution stands Wix Payments. In this compelling conversation with co-heads Vova Tsukur and Amit Sagiv, we uncover how this powerhouse is reshaping financial services for small businesses across 190 countries. What makes Wix Payments truly special? It's not just another payment processor. By leveraging deep user knowledge gathered through their platform, they've crafted a frictionless onboarding experience that allows merchants to start accepting payments almost immediately. This approach has become a lifeline for small businesses often rejected by traditional providers despite being legitimate operations. "We see the customer in a holistic way," explains Amit. "We understand their identity really well and can assess risk more accurately than standalone payment providers." This insight enables their unique multi-processor strategy, intelligently routing transactions across various payment partners to optimize approval rates and performance. The future vision they share is equally fascinating. From AI-powered risk management that's already transforming their operations to a world of "real-time everything" where payments, settlements, and payouts happen instantaneously. Vova even predicts a future where "payments become naked, free from UX," with AI agents autonomously conducting transactions based on predefined parameters. Both leaders emphasize that embracing AI isn't optional in today's payment landscape. "The fraudsters don't wait to adapt—they adapt fast," Amit warns. "By the time you catch up to one threat, they've already moved on to something more sophisticated."

Duration:00:45:46

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Darryl Hicks, CEO of Flexpay | Episode 396

5/15/2025
Darryl Hicks, founder and CEO of FlexPay, takes us behind the scenes of a problem costing subscription businesses millions each month – failed payments and the resulting involuntary customer churn. From his early days cleaning toilets in his parents' commercial cleaning business to consulting for major telecom companies in the Twin Towers, Darryl shares his unique journey to founding a company that's now processing billions of transactions using sophisticated AI. What began as a solution he built for his own subscription businesses has evolved into a mission to fundamentally transform how payments work. FlexPay stands apart through deep partnerships with financial institutions, sharing crucial data that has traditionally been siloed between merchants and issuers. This approach allows their machine learning models to continuously improve. For subscription businesses experiencing millions in monthly failed payments, even small improvements in recovery rates translate to substantial revenue. The conversation reveals how payment system opacity creates unnecessary friction for legitimate commerce. When issuing banks make decisions without transparency – whether declining transactions due to suspected fraud or based on undisclosed policies against certain merchant categories – both businesses and consumers suffer. While excited about innovations like stable coins, Darryl remains pragmatic about the future of payments: "I would not bet against Visa and Mastercard." Rather than trying to replace traditional rails, he's focused on reducing friction within existing systems through better data sharing and transparency. For entrepreneurs, he emphasizes the importance of building strong advisory boards and following your natural passions.

Duration:00:31:33

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Dan Battista, CEO & Partner at Factor4 | Episode 395

5/13/2025
Dan Battista, CEO and Partner at Factor4, takes us on an journey through the rapidly evolving gift card landscape. With genuine passion and deep industry knowledge, Dan reveals how Factor4 has grown from just 3 employees to 22 staff serving over 21,000 merchants in just a decade. The conversation illuminates Factor4's remarkable approach to customer service – answering emails within 10 minutes and phones within two rings – which has become their true competitive advantage. Unlike competitors owned by large payment processors, Factor4 focuses exclusively on gift and loyalty solutions, allowing them to devote 100% of their investment and attention to perfecting these offerings. Dan walks us through the transformation of gift cards during the pandemic era – from traditional plastic cards to essential digital solutions delivered via email and SMS. What was once a "nice-to-have" became a critical business necessity, pushing Factor4 to develop comprehensive omnichannel capabilities that seamlessly connect online and in-store experiences. Particularly compelling is Dan's insight into loyalty programs as customer relationship management tools. When pandemic restrictions hit, merchants suddenly realized they had no way to communicate with their regular customers about changing hours, outdoor dining, or reopening plans. Factor4's customized loyalty solutions filled this gap, helping businesses build valuable customer databases while driving repeat business. The conversation also explores Factor4's innovative approach to technology, including their development of iOS and Android apps that enable gift card transactions without additional hardware – simply using a smartphone camera to read barcodes. This adaptability has allowed them to integrate with over 50 different POS systems and expand internationally across ten countries.

Duration:00:21:04

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Ben Turner, CEO & President of Verituity | Episode 384

5/8/2025
What happens when you combine identity verification with payment precision? That's the question Ben Turner set out to answer when he founded Verituity, a company transforming enterprise disbursements by focusing on verification at every step of the payment process. Drawing from his experiences at Network Solutions in the early days of e-commerce, Turner recognized that payment fraud and errors stem from an identity problem. When businesses can't confidently verify who they're paying, millions of dollars are lost to mistakes and fraudsters. Turner challenges conventional thinking about payment speed and modernization. While most conversations focus on real-time capabilities, he argues that what enterprises truly need is payment precision and cash optimization. "Real-time is more valuable often on the debit side than it is on the credit side," Turner explains, highlighting how businesses want to optimize when funds leave their accounts rather than simply accelerating all payments. This insight transforms digital disbursements from potential risk into strategic cash management tools. Ready to transform your approach to enterprise disbursements? Discover how Verituity's verification-first model can eliminate payment errors, reduce fraud risk, and optimize your cash management. Connect with Verituity to learn more.

Duration:00:22:06

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Jacob Olins, SVP & GM, Fintech at Workwave | Episode 393

5/6/2025
Ever wondered how pest control, landscaping, and janitorial companies are being transformed through innovative financial technology? Jacob Olins, SVP & GM of Fintech at WorkWave, takes us deep into the world where field service management software meets cutting-edge financial services. WorkWave has positioned itself as the operating system for field service businesses, providing everything from customer acquisition tools to mobile apps for technicians. But what truly sets their platform apart is how they've revolutionized payments and financial services within these traditional industries. Olins walks us through their journey from payment reseller to full Payment Facilitator, giving them complete control over the customer experience and unlocking new revenue opportunities. The most fascinating aspect of our conversation reveals how embedded financial services are solving real business problems. For companies struggling with customer retention, WorkWave's card-on-file and subscription capabilities have helped transform one-off service calls into recurring revenue streams. Their consumer financing partnerships make large emergency services affordable for homeowners. Perhaps most impressive, their earned wage access feature has increased employee retention by over 30% by allowing hourly workers to access earned wages before payday. Ready to understand how the $13 trillion banking industry is being reshaped by innovative software platforms? Listen now and discover insights that might forever change how you view the intersection of software and financial services.

Duration:00:24:41