The Outside-In

How to think about payments from the customers perspective

In Stranger Things, the series on Netflix, there is another world exactly like this one that is filled with spooky things.  Only the bravest or most unfortunate crossover into this spooky world called the Upside Down.

It kind of reminds me of payments.

At my last payments conference, I can remember being struck by how wildly insular our industry has become. We all speak our acro jargon: ISO, PF, MSB, MTL, ACH, B2B, ETC. This jargon can be a great shorthand for experts, but it traps us.  

Having payments domain knowledge creates an inside-out way of problem-solving. This then takes us away from a customer orientation, stifles creativity, and makes us lose track of what is happening in Hawkins, the real world our customers live in.  

So how can we get better at this?  Here are some things to get outside-in:  

  • Ask questions that have nothing to do with payments - This one is great with a customer or prospect.  What problem are you trying to solve?  What would make your business better? What challenges do your customers face?  How is your business changing? Force yourself to not use any payment term until they do first. 

  • Have fun with it -  Pick any loaded topic you are trying to solve around and replace your jargon with a funny made-up word.  Seriously.  Want to figure out what to do with RTP? Call it Bugs Bunny for an hour and see what you come up with.  If that’s too strange, then try a $1 virtual collection jar for any time someone uses an off-limits insular term. 

  • Design with ridiculous customer-centered discipline - This one moves from light-hearted to hard-core.  If my journey from banking to SaaS taught me nothing else, it’s that you have to think about everything from the customer in or your will lose.  Do the journey maps. Oriented to their day. Be relentless about the detail. Even on the most mundane topics, start and end every session with “how does this relate to our customer.”

There is so much opportunity at the intersection of new business models, new technology, and new payment solutions.  But payments are last. The inside, not the outside.  They only ever happens after something else caused them.  It all works outside-in. 


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