Payments Innovation

There’s a simple way to make international transactions easier for you and your clients:

Make payments in local currency.

Bob Murray is the Director of Foreign Exchange at Brookline Bank and he’s been involved in foreign exchange markets since the early 80’s.   Throughout the years, he’s seen how foreign exchange can really touch all areas of a bank.  From international payments to wire transfers, having a solid foundation in foreign exchange markets is critical for the success of a bank.  

Bob has also noticed something else that has stayed the same in the several decades he’s been in this space: it’s still fundamentally a relationship market.  Without a relationship formed between a foreign exchange salesperson and a customer there can be no hope for a productive and lasting business exchange between the two parties.

We sat down with Bob in this episode of Payments Innovation to talk about Brookline Bank, the foreign exchange market, international currency exchange best practices, and educating customers on this space.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There’s a simple way to make international transactions easier for you and your clients:

Make payments in local currency.

Bob Murray is the Director of Foreign Exchange at Brookline Bank and he’s been involved in foreign exchange markets since the early 80’s.   Throughout the years, he’s seen how foreign exchange can really touch all areas of a bank.  From international payments to wire transfers, having a solid foundation in foreign exchange markets is critical for the success of a bank.  

Bob has also noticed something else that has stayed the same in the several decades he’s been in this space: it’s still fundamentally a relationship market.  Without a relationship formed between a foreign exchange salesperson and a customer there can be no hope for a productive and lasting business exchange between the two parties.

We sat down with Bob in this episode of Payments Innovation to talk about Brookline Bank, the foreign exchange market, international currency exchange best practices, and educating customers on this space.

There’s a simple way to make international transactions easier for you and your clients:

Make payments in local currency.

Bob Murray is the Director of Foreign Exchange at Brookline Bank and he’s been involved in foreign exchange markets since the early 80’s.   Throughout the years, he’s seen how foreign exchange can really touch all areas of a bank.  From international payments to wire transfers, having a solid foundation in foreign exchange markets is critical for the success of a bank.  

Bob has also noticed something else that has stayed the same in the several decades he’s been in this space: it’s still fundamentally a relationship market.  Without a relationship formed between a foreign exchange salesperson and a customer there can be no hope for a productive and lasting business exchange between the two parties.

We sat down with Bob in this episode of Payments Innovation to talk about Brookline Bank, the foreign exchange market, international currency exchange best practices, and educating customers on this space.

Jeff is passionate about all things Fintech and Payments. He has consulted with eCommerce platforms, PSP's, Challenger Banks, and Financial institutions of all types and sizes to deliver business-critical payments, banking, and compliance solutions via cloud and on-premise.

With over 10 years working in the finance, banking, and payments space, Jeff has extensive knowledge in solving problems and removing barriers to entry for Fintech's in the new digital era.

In this episode we welcome Jeff to the hosting team at the Payments Innovation podcast. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Paper checks are dying.

But not as fast as you might think.

While many individuals are demanding instant payment systems, most companies still operate by paying bills by check every month.  The overall rates of check usage dropped significantly from 2000 through 2015, but in the last few years the percentage of check usage has plateaued.  There has not been enough disruptive innovation in this particular space to force companies into the next evolution of digital payments.

Stuart Bain is the Senior Vice President at Alacriti, Inc. His team at Alacriti is focused on bringing superior payments technology and flexible payment options to companies all over the country.

Stuart joined us for this episode of Payments Innovation to discuss billpay industry trends, the evolution of checks as a form of payment, and what younger generations are demanding from new payment methods.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The days of region-locking payments are coming to a close.

US Unlocked is a prepaid card for international consumers to make purchases in the US.

Brion Bonkowski is the CEO at Tern: Enabling Global Commerce which acquired US Unlocked several years ago. Tern purchased US Unlocked because Tern were interested in acquiring their impressive tech platform.  Tern has now built out tech to enable people to launch other prepaid platforms around the world.

Brion joined us for this episode of Payments Innovation to talk about Tern and US Unlocked, the capabilities of their prepaid cards, and the challenges that come alongside operating in this space.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many financial institutions are stuck in the past with outdated technology.

But tech innovators like Google and Facebook aren’t going to wait for them to catch up.

Don Halliwell is the Senior Director of Marketing and Communications at Zafin, and he’s been in the digital transformation space for over 10 years.  Don and his team are in the partnership space with banks. They provide them with the agility required to meet customers where their needs are.

Zafin equips financial institutions with the software technology they need to overcome digital transformation challenges in the ever-evolving digital landscape of the financial industry.  They are the worldwide leader in digital banking, and they work with over 30 largest banks in the world including in the US and Canada.

In this episode of Payments Innovation, we’re joined by Don to talk about pushback to digital transformation, the current marketplace in this space, and the future of the digital banking industry.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why doesn’t the US have real time payments?

Many nations around the world, including the UK, have these solutions, but not the US.

To dive into this question, we spoke with Tim Mills, the Vice President of Real Time Payments Business Development at The Clearing House.

The Clearing House has been around since the middle of the 19th century.  They were established to create more efficiency surrounding interbank clearing and the settlement of payments.  160 years ago, clearing checks between financial institutions was a lot easier said than done.

In the past century and a half, The Clearing House has moved to such areas as ACH payments and high value payments. They have moved to acting as an advocate around payment related issues for the financial industry.   And now in the 21st century, they are playing a leading role to modernize the payments landscape.

Tim has a 20 year background in payments including time in Bangladesh and Trinidad.  He has been with The Clearing House since 2004 working to make real time payments a reality in the United States.  In this episode of The Payments Innovation Podcast, we talk to Tim about Real Time Payments in the US, the challenges that still need to be overcome, and what the future holds.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many entrepreneurs fall into no man’s land when it comes to their bank account.

They’re too big to keep a personal account, and too small to get attention from banks.

Every specializes in bank accounts for online businesses, and they are looking to simplify the entire bank account process for online entrepreneurs.

Jeremy Black is the Co-Founder and CEO of Every.  He began his career as an online entrepreneur in a pre-Shopify world. He ran an e-commerce operation in music industry before he moved onto roles in the tech community.

Jeremy spent a lot of time in banking and enterprise software before he felt the call to return to the entrepreneur life. His role at Every is to advocate for the next generation of online entrepreneurs. This week, we spoke to Jeremy about Every’s platform, his target market, partnerships, and the future of his business.

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Community Banks fund over half of the small businesses in the US. They are an essential and often overlooked part of the economy.

Tina Giorgio is the President and CEO at ICBA Bancard. Tina has been in this role for a little under 2 years, but she has spent the last 30 years in community banking.

“Community Bankers, at our core, are about serving our local community.  There’s a lot of communities in the United States who would not be properly served if it wasn’t for their local community bank.”

Many community banks simply can’t compete with larger entities.  They need representation, especially in the evolving world of payments.  So Tina and her team are advocates for these banks.

They have specifically been working in the area of merchant funded rewards.  ICBA Bancard provides benefits through these reward programs to both merchants and their customers.  Merchants see a higher number of transactions by implementing these programs, and merchants get to support both national and local business while getting rewarded. It’s a win for everyone.

Tina joined us for this episode of the Payments Innovation Podcast to talk about community banking, merchant funded reward programs, and overcoming challenges in her role.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.