Forces in Fintech: Recent Episodes

REPAY

Forces in Fintech is a bi-weekly podcast hosted by top investment professional, Dara Dierks, and produced by REPAY, a leader in integrated payment solutions since 2006. We’re dedicated to revealing what’s behind the digital transformation of fintech and commerce. In season 1 of the podcast, we’re talking with industry experts to discuss modern technologies and how they influence market trends.

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For consumers, making a purchase is simple, but behind the scenes, payment processing depends on a complex system of operations between banks and merchants. There must be a methodical, traceable trail connecting transactions to card issuers, consumer bank accounts and businesses. In order to juggle the task of processing and recording billions of dollars’ worth of transactions, how can payment processors create a streamlined network that will assure smooth and efficient payment experiences?

In this episode of Forces in Fintech, we’ll learn more about the technology that manages all these moving parts to make transaction processes seamless. We speak with REPAY’s SVP of Clearing and Settlement, Michael Cottrell, to understand the communication that occurs during each step of the clearing and settlement process. He’ll also tell us about the modernization of the tech stack that is expanding data collection and risk management capabilities for payment transactions.

We’ll also find out:

(1:26) – How did Michael begin his career in payment processing, and what led him to REPAY?

(2:21) – What is the REPAY Clearing and Settlement platform and what is its role in payment processing?

(3:59) – What differentiates REPAY’s in-house Clearing and Settlement process from competitors?

(5:12) – Who are REPAY’s RCS clients and target audiences?

(8:58) – How is this innovative process being received in the sales process?

(10:24) – What are Michael's thoughts and opinions on Payfac (or payment facilitator) as a service, and those that offer the service?

(12:41) – How does Michael see the future of the payments industry evolving?

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Constant innovation in the tech industry opens up countless opportunities to ease strain on businesses and their customers, but it can also leave consumers, providers, and legislators struggling to keep up with the field’s evolution. Regulation changes, escalating growth and acquisitions, and introducing additional compliance efforts are just a few factors testing the field’s agencies and their ability to maintain pace. How can the ARM vertical’s smaller operators begin to maneuver a landscape with so much complexity and change?

In this episode of Forces in Fintech, we’ll analyze the state of the market to understand which tech strategies businesses can implement to stabilize and strengthen their position against current competition. We speak with REPAY’s Senior Vice President of Sales, Chad Probst, to learn how REPAY has streamlined innovative tech and built efficient teams to solve these common industry challenges. He’ll also teach us how an increase in compliance tactics can also increase profitability and efficiency.

We’ll also find out:

1:27 – How did Chad’s previous work lead him to his role at REPAY?

1:49 – What is the current landscape of the accounts receivable management vertical, and how has it evolved over time?

3:53 – Is churn potential the main driver of the market’s current acquisition trend?

5:37 – What is the status of field competition?

8:13 – What approach should be taken when it comes to selling in the ARM space?

9:08 – How does seasonality or countercyclical timing in an economic cycle affect the business and their customers?

11:13 – What does the future of payments in the arm space look like?

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Whether we’re buying something online or in-store, the number of payment options we now have at our disposal is enormous. With credit cards and debit cards in both our physical and digital wallets, we no longer need to rely solely on cash or check, and we can even complete transactions with our smartphones or watches.

No matter the purchase, we now have a plethora of ways to pay. But why can’t we have the same choice when it comes to our mortgage payments too?

In this episode of Forces in Fintech, we explore this very question and take a look at the solutions available for borrowers to pay off their mortgages using newer and more convenient means. We speak with REPAY’s Mortgage Vertical Executive, Erik Skinner, to understand the innovations transforming the mortgage payment space. We’ll take a look at the industry to find out why evolution in this sector is so important, and we’ll explore why mortgage providers need to update and expand their payment options.

We’ll also find out:

(1:10) – What were the career experiences that led Erik to REPAY?

(3.01) – What are the unique characteristics and complexities in the mortgage payments space?

(5:24) – What’s the competitive landscape like in mortgage payments?

(7:30) – What makes REPAY's service offerings unique?

(9:10) – Why are REPAY’s partnerships with Black Knight and Visa game changers?

(11:50) – What is the growth opportunity like in this space?

(13:06) – What is REPAY’s GTM strategy in this vertical?

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Manual processes create room for error. For consumers, traditional methods of payment processing can be hard to organize and keep track of. As more industries go paperless, automated digital payment methods create an opportunity to streamline both payments and communication, offering convenience and simplicity for all parties involved.

In this episode of Forces in Fintech, we’ll learn about the digital revolution happening in the credit union and bank space. We’ll discover what tools and technologies are assisting consumers with their payments, how they enhance the user experience, and how this tech is accelerating transactions. Joining us on the episode today is Aaron Dils, Senior Vice President of Sales at REPAY, to discuss how REPAY is creating product enhancements, partnerships, and integrations, providing clients with quick, and scalable solutions for their payment needs. Plus, we’ll hear why Aaron thinks there has never been a better time for credit unions and banks to go digital.

We’ll also find out:

01:09 – What was Aaron’s journey to his work at REPAY?
02:01 – What makes the credit union industry ripe for digital transformation?
04:11 – When adopting modernized payment processing like REPAY, what are the credit unions and banks looking to achieve for their members and customers?
07:04 – What is competition like in the Fintech payment processing market?
09:24 – How has REPAY partnered with and integrated into these platforms? What is instant funding in the context of personal financing?
09:41 – How is REPAY’s relationship in an existing integration different from a future integration?
13:07 – How do you see the future of payments related to credit unions and banks evolving?

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Buying a car is one of the largest purchases a consumer will make in their lifetime. And while
it can be an exciting process, it can also be stressful. Because, traditionally, financing a new
automobile has never been a quick and easy process – requiring long applications and
complicated repayment methods. And these processes aren’t just a source of friction for the
customer, it prevents dealerships from moving stock quickly, and it takes up valuable time
and human resources for the lenders who approve and provide the loans.

But our consumer and auto financing payment solutions are getting an upgrade.

In this episode of Forces in Fintech, we’ll find out how digital payments are transforming the
consumer and automotive payments space by giving individuals access to funds more easily
- all while making repayments faster and more accessible than ever before. Joining us in our
episode today is Preston Cecil, Consumer and Auto Finance Leader at REPAY, to discuss how
digitization is modernizing consumer and auto financing, making vehicle (and other big-ticket) purchases simpler than ever before. We’ll learn about the tools and services allowing
lenders to move more nimbly on finance applications and how these solutions benefit
customers, merchants, and lenders alike.
We’ll also find out:

  • (01:01) – How did Preston come to be with REPAY?
  • (02:56) – Who are the clients REPAY serves within consumer and auto financing?
  • (04:44) – What differentiates REPAYs consumer and auto financing solutions from the
    rest of the market?
  • (06:50) – Who are the biggest competitors in the auto financing market?
  • (08:00) – What is instant funding in the context of personal financing?
  • (09:41) – Who is driving demand for new payment capabilities?
  • (11:23) – How has REPAY’s go-to-market approach evolved and how has the sales
    pipeline developed?
  • (14:06) – What does Preston see in the future of consumer and auto financing
    payments?

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Standardization is the key to smooth sailing when it comes to payments. Because when all your suppliers, partners, and customers play by the same rules, you don't need to worry about incompatibilities in your finances interrupting your workflow. But, for the media sector, consensus on payment methods is still far from a reality. And for political ad agencies, this is a big problem. Because for their campaigns to be successful, they need to air at the right time and in the right place. But with different broadcasters demanding funds through different channels, making those payments on time becomes a challenge - risking ad space and political ambitions.

In this episode of Forces in Fintech, we learn all about the advances in electronic payments that are taking place within media with a little help from the president of REPAY's Media Payments Inc., Jim Hughes. Jim reveals the fragmented payment situation within the sector and details the hurdles that make timely payment of political ad campaigns so difficult. Jim also discusses how Media Payments Inc. is helping political advertizers to simplify their campaign spending, and how the organization is working to modernize B2B media payments.

We'll also find out:

  • 1:08 – What problem did Jim set out to solve when he started Media Payments Inc.?
  • 3:07 – What does the B2B payments landscape look like in the media vertical?
  • 5:55 – How widely accepted are ACH payments within media?
  • 7:04 – Who are MPI's typical customers?
  • 8:28 – What assets do REPAY and MPI offer to the media payments industry? And how does this offering position them for further market penetration?
  • 10:16 – What is the competition like in the media payments space?
  • 11:09 – What does MPI's GTM strategy look like?
  • 12:05 – How simple is the onboarding process for new clients?
  • 13:30 – How does having a large supplier network help MPI with sales?
  • 14:41 – What is customer churn like for MPI? And how do they minimize it?
  • 16:25 – What does Jim see in the future of B2B payments in the media industry?

To find out how real-time electronic payments can benefit your business, head over to https://www.repay.com/ for more.

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Hospitals operate in an intricate and delicate financial ecosystem. And while some industries might be able to tolerate small delays in payments - for a hospital, it could mean life or death. Yet, many healthcare providers still function on legacy payment infrastructure, with little to no digital integration in their B2B payment systems. For many hospital executives, the perceived friction in adopting real-time electronic payments is just too much of a gamble when patient welfare is at stake. But while many might think that bringing digital B2B payments on board takes weeks or even months, the truth is that these services can be up and running for a hospital in as little as 8-10 hours.

In this episode of Forces in Fintech, Dara speaks with senior vice president of REPAY, Wade Eckman. They discuss the current state of B2B payments within hospitals and reveal just how easy it could be for healthcare providers to upgrade their payment systems to allow real-time electronic payments. They also reveal which payment technologies could provide the most benefit to hospitals, and Wade tells why, when it comes to onboarding digital B2B customers, retention is so high.

We'll also find out:

  • 0:38 - Who is Wade Eckman? And how has he seen payments evolve within hospitals?
  • 2:40 - How big is the opportunity in digitizing payments within the healthcare industry?
  • 4:08 - What kind of assets does REPAY offer for organizations within healthcare?
  • 6:18 - How competitive is the payments environment in hospitals?
  • 7:47 - What kind of hospitals can REPAY help?
  • 9:10 - What does the onboarding process look like for new clients in the healthcare space?
  • 12:00 - How long does it take to get digital payments up and running?
  • 13:24 - How is having a large supplier network beneficial from a sales perspective?
  • 14:40 - What drives customer churn in the healthcare space?
  • 15:47 - What is the future of digital B2B payments in the health sector?

To find out how real-time electronic payments can benefit your business, head over to https://www.repay.com/ for more.

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Society is embracing the benefits of real-time electronic payments, but in the world of B2B AR and AP, digital money transfers are still a rarity. And while individual consumers are making the most of cashless transactions, many institutions in every vertical still find themselves having to cut and cash checks manually, wasting their own (and their stakeholders') time. But moving money between businesses doesn't have to be this hard - real-time electronic payments are here.

In today's episode of Forces in Fintech, our host, Dara Dierks is joined by Executive Vice President of REPAY, Darin Horrocks to examine the state of real-time digital payments in the B2B sector. They'll discuss the forces driving digital payments and ask what opportunities the future of electronic transactions will bring. They'll also look at some of the challenges facing widespread digital payment adoption and assess the market potential of digital B2B payments.

We'll also find out:

  • 1:13 - Who is Darin Horrocks and what did the early digital payments landscape look like?
  • 2:40 - What has the evolution of B2B payments looked like over the years? And what is the TAM within B2B payments?
  • 5:26 - What kind of verticals does REPAY provide digital payments for?
  • 7:36 - What kind of assets does REPAY offer to clients?
  • 9:56 - How does REPAY divide its approach between ERP and direct sales?
  • 14:13 - What kind of growth is REPAY experiencing?
  • 12:49 - What is REPAY's biggest competitor in each vertical?
  • 15:18 - What will the future bring for B2B payments? How will it evolve?

To find out how real-time electronic payments can benefit your business, head over to https://www.repay.com/ for more.

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Introducing Forces in Fintech, launching November 2022.