September 2, 2025 • 22 mins
Jonathan O'Connor brings a unique global perspective to the payments landscape as Division President of Third-Party Payments at Synovus, the oldest bank in Georgia. His journey from Dublin, Ireland to becoming a key player in Atlanta's "Transaction Alley" reveals how traditional banking and cutting-edge fintech can create powerful synergies.
At Synovus, community remains the cornerstone of their approach. With $61 billion in assets, 244 branches, and nearly 5,000 employees, the bank has built its reputation on exceptional customer service and deep community engagement. O'Connor leads three key divisions: merchant services supporting bank customers, a sponsorship bank division enabling ISOs and fintechs to process card transactions, and a Money as a Service operation. What truly sets them apart is their consultative approach - they don't just provide payment processing but help businesses leverage payment data for growth while protecting against fraud.
O'Connor's wealth of global payment experience shines throughout the conversation. From conducting Y2K reviews across Africa to witnessing the birth of e-commerce with early versions of now-giants like Adyen, his career spans continents and transformative industry shifts. Now firmly established in Atlanta's fintech ecosystem as Vice Chairman of Fintech Atlanta, he's passionate about positioning Synovus at the heart of "Transaction Alley" where 70% of global payments flow through.
His enthusiasm for mentoring the next generation of payment professionals is evident as he shares his work with UGA students launching their own payment company. His advice resonates for anyone in the industry: "Be passionate but link passion with purpose. Be curious, embrace change, build your brand, and play in traffic." Looking ahead, O'Connor sees transformative changes on the horizon with agentive AI, stablecoins, and blockchain reshaping how payments function - though he cautions that technology continues outpacing regulation.
Discover how Synovus is bridging traditional banking with payment innovation and why Jonathan believes we're on the cusp of the most significant transformation the industry has ever seen.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Leaders in Payments podcast,
where we talk to C-level leadersfrom across the payments
landscape.
We'll be discussing theproducts and services that
impact the payment space today,as well as trends and
predictions for the future ofpayments.
We will also hear stories fromour guests about their journeys
to the top.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Hello everyone and welcome to the Leaders in
Payments podcast.
I'm your host, greg Myers, andon today's show we have a very
special guest, jonathan O'Connor, the division president,
third-party payments at Synovus.
So, jonathan, thank you so muchfor being here and welcome to
the show.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Hey, Craig, great to be here again and nice speaking.
I think the last time weconnected was 2002.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
It's been a while.
It's been a while.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
I'm glad we're back together.
So, if you don't mind, tell usa little bit about yourself,
maybe a little personal andprofessional background.
Yeah, as you probably can hear,I'm not from Dublin, georgia.
I'm from Dublin, ireland, and Icame here 15 years ago with the
first day to IPO.
I moved over with my wife,three children, we even brought
the dog over and set up basehere in Atlanta, georgia, and we
love our life here in the Southand you know, the kids have now
(01:05):
all grown up there and reallyenjoying the SEC experience and
I'm also enjoying the collegefee expenditure.
So that definitely is anexperience for me.
But you know, in terms of ourlife here, you know, from my own
point of view, went throughcollege, started in a financial
kind of accounting space firstand then took a master's in IT
(01:26):
for strategic management, and Ireally have a passion for both
payments and fintech and that'sreally a big thing about me From
a personal standpoint.
I like to play the drums, I'm adrummer, so I take
percussionist, payments andfintech all in one.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
That's great.
That's great.
Well, if you don't mind, tellus a little bit about Synovus.
Maybe give us the high leveland then we'll kind of dive deep
into exactly what you'reresponsible for.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Sure, absolutely.
Well, listen, synovus is theoldest bank in Georgia and, I
believe, the best bank inGeorgia 61 billion in assets.
We're really all aboutcommunity.
We're about 244 branches strong, 4,900 employees and really you
know what makes Synovus reallyspecial is its people, its
passion to serve its customers,and I've really grown to respect
(02:13):
the bank over the way itlistens to its customers and the
power of community.
How I add value inside the bankis I lead a team called Third
Party Payments and inside thatgroup we manage the merchant
services business where wesupport our bankers on enabling
additional value to our bankcustomers If they have a
business and if they have a loanor a deposit with the bank.
(02:36):
We'll then support our bankersto introduce merchant services
and add more value to therelationship for the bank.
We also have a second divisioncalled the Sponsorship Bank
Division and inside there weenable ISOs, payfax and even
Fintechs to process Visa andMasterCard transactions.
So you know a very, verywell-established business.
(02:59):
We're the largest ISO team inthe industry 14-plus amazing
people who were all reallythesis people, and what really
impressed me when I got to thebank was their experience.
You know 25, 30 yearsexperience in this industry and
that intellectual capital isreally something that's very
special.
Also, our risk and our AML BSAteams, their understanding of
(03:23):
the industry and how we canprotect the bank against
residual operationalreputational risk is something
really special.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
OK, so a couple of follow on questions.
So in the merchant servicesbusiness, is that mostly small
business or is it across theboard?
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Yeah, primarily we're a small business.
You know, as a community bank,our heritage is really a
supporting small business.
They're the lifeblood of anycommunity and I really feel very
passionate about that.
You know how we can help thesmall business in our
communities, you know, withpayment acceptance, but not only
just payment.
You know how can we help themdifferentiate themselves through
(04:01):
data or through other forms ofpayment.
You know, enable them throughACH, through credit card.
We've got a great treasuryproduct as well AR and AP.
So you know how collectivelycan Synovus enable that business
to not only grow their businessbut maybe also protect their
business, because today, as weall know, fraud is a problem for
(04:23):
everybody and for smallbusiness in particular.
We want to be that trustedadvisor as they want to grow
their business and, particularlyfrom a payments point of view,
we lead from the front to dothat.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Okay, okay.
So when I started in payments20 years ago it was Chase
Payment Tech, so we worked withthe Chase branches right, and
kind of the way the model workedthen was a business walked into
a branch, opened a checkingaccount and then payments were
kind of sold to them.
So I'm kind of curious, I mean,is that the same model, or has
it changed a lot since then?
Speaker 3 (04:53):
I would say that you know the model hasn't changed
that much.
Primarily a bank is.
You know we drive a lot of ourfocus around loan growth,
deposit growth and auxiliaryservices.
I sit in a bucket for reallynon-interest revenue.
So you know we sit there and,as I said, we're all about
enabling a more holisticrelationship with the customer.
(05:16):
So merchant would form part ofthat value add.
I would say at the moment withtreasury and other markets.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Okay, so the ISO business, kind of that part of
the business are there sizes ofcompanies you work with or is it
pretty much across the board?
Speaker 3 (05:30):
You know we're very selective in who we work with.
You know we number one weprotect the brand.
You know Synovus is awell-established brand in the
sponsorship business for over 20years actually.
You know a lot of other banksmay have, you know, some
challenges with regulatoryissues and you know will damage
their brand.
(05:50):
So we don't go and work witheverybody who's available to
engage in a process with us.
We're selective so we wouldprobably work with, you know,
six to eight clients a year andwe're very happy with that
because we have a veryestablished methodology for
onboarding.
We have a very establishedmethodology for review, not only
(06:10):
protecting the bank, but we'realso educating ISOs.
We're also educating Payfax.
We're also educating FinTechsaround.
You know how your policies andprocedures should stand not only
against Visa and MasterCardregulations, but also as they
grow.
They need to have thisoversight, maturity and I think
that's something very specialthat we bring, because, as I
(06:33):
look out at the industry, Idon't think not everybody does
that.
And for everybody to grow, youknow growing commercially is
very important, but also growingyour framework inside your
company is very important and wegive that as a consultative
sale to our prospective clients.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Okay, and you have a third part of the business right
, I think, the banking as aservice.
Is that still part of what youdo?
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Yeah, we do.
We also have a third part ofour business called Mass and
that was really our money as aservice product.
You know, while we're stillactive in the area, we're kind
of waiting for the, I think, theindustry to mature a little bit
more from a regulatorystandpoint.
We're very encouraged by what'sdeveloping in the market, but
we really feel that, you know,we'll pause, probably for the
(07:19):
remainder of this year andprobably the first half of 26.
But I think I'm encouraged bywhat I'm seeing that we will
probably get active again inthat area towards the second
half of 26.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Okay.
Well, what would you say,differentiates your company and
your services from yourcompetitors out there?
Speaker 3 (07:37):
I would say, you know , as we go back to, about the
power of the community, we'revery active in hiring commercial
bankers in all of our regionsand I believe in that myself.
People buy off people,customers through our product
(08:03):
innovation, through ourwillingness to listen to their
business models, their growthambitions and helping them
through that.
I really think that personalconsultative approach makes
Sanova stand out in theSoutheast region banking network
.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Okay, you mentioned something I want to double click
on and it's something that Ithink a lot of payments
companies don't provide is thatconsultative selling right.
You're out there helping themunderstand their business and
how to improve their business,so can you touch on maybe, how
that's part of a maybe core towhat you do?
Speaker 3 (08:30):
Sure, look, we've invested in.
Probably 80% of our team arenew talent, passionate talent,
but very experienced talent, whohave come from processors and
other banks.
We've harnessed that expertiseto bring it into our talk track
and our DNA with our customers,where we look at not only the
(08:51):
payment acceptance, we look attheir business model, we look at
how we can help with data, welook at how we can help with
chargebacks.
You know that's a problem and Imentioned risk earlier as well.
So it's really, you know, asthey have ambitions to grow, we
work with them not only onpayment acceptance but, you know
, are they getting the rightdata for their reporting, for
(09:12):
their financial packaging?
Have they got the rightcontrols in place for risk
management?
Have they got the appropriatechargeback management tools and
do they understand the processwhen they get chargeback?
So it's really bringing themthrough the full life cycle of
payment and ensuring that, as asmall business, they're
adequately, sufficiently trainedor have enough access to
(09:34):
appropriate tools to managetheir business and grow.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Okay, all right.
Well, let's switch gears alittle bit and talk about you.
So maybe walk us through yourprofessional journey and how you
ended up at Synovus, and maybewhy you are at Synovus.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Bank.
I did the Y2K review for anIrish company actually and
traveled most of Africa in 1998,1999, you know, looking at
payment systems and that wasamazing.
(10:08):
From there I was employeenumber six actually in
EuroConnects, which was Elevant.
So I was part of Bank ofIreland, going right back to Ed
Grazinski and Nova Corporation,so we were the founders of
Elevant.
That was an amazing experience.
And I got to be very early ine-commerce, cross-border
(10:28):
acquiring dynamic currencyconversion.
I was the first acquirer for,like Adyen, which was Bibbit at
the time, and Global Collect allthese companies from Holland
which really transformed theindustry and also pay safe when
they were surefire, you know,right back to the days when
these guys were starting.
So that was an amazingexperience.
(10:50):
And then first day they cameknocking on my door and I
relocated to the UK and rantheir European business for
e-commerce and also the EMEAbusiness for e-com and was
involved in multiple jointventures, you know, in the UK
with FDMS, aibms in Ireland,bnlp in Italy.
So got to really travel a lotand, you know, culturally got
(11:11):
exposed to a lot of differentcultures and business
methodologies and that was agreat grounding, you know, to
not only evolve my professionalgrowth but also, you know, from
a business leadershipperspective.
You know from a businessleadership perspective.
You know, be aware and workwith so many cultures.
I found that very intriguing.
And then around 2012, ed Labrie,ceo first day at the time,
(11:31):
probably wanted somebody whospeaks funny to come over to the
US and help them with the IPOand work closely with Barry
McCarthy and other people therein the early days.
And was also set up theiremerging markets Verticals ran
about 12 of the lines ofbusiness there and set up the
gaming and gambling business,did the first transactions for
(11:52):
FanDuel and DraftKings.
I sat on the board of Telecheckand kind of revolutionized
check cashing to be in thecasinos.
So that was an amazingexperience as well.
And then I got interested incrypto and got dragged back to
Europe for a couple of years andtook a company out of
liquidation, secure trading anddeveloped trust payments and
(12:13):
grew that into a 40%quarter-on-quarter growth
business and we did a lot incrypto in Malta.
And then from there came back tothe US, consulted with Barry
McCarthy for a year in Deluxeand really helped them transform
a little bit around theirmerchant business and also their
treasury business and thenended up in Synovus.
I really wanted to get exposedto banking as a service but also
(12:39):
really get an education inbanking but also bring my
expertise in payments.
I really admired Synovus as aforward-thinking bank because
not many banks were doingbanking as a service, you know,
three years ago and not manybanks have got the reputation
and sponsorship that Synovushave done.
So I really admired the bankfor those two things and got to
(13:01):
connect with some people likeWayne Akins and took on this
journey, brought in a few folksfrom my previous adventures in
business and we put together agreat team and we're delivering
double digit growth now everyquarter in our businesses and
we're challenging the norm andwe get to win and work in a
great bank every day.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Okay, well, what are some things you're passionate
about?
So, maybe one work-relatedpassion and one personal passion
.
You already mentioned drumming,but maybe there's something
else.
So maybe a couple of yourpassions.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Sure, look, I think you know what gets me out of bed
in the morning is to win and,you know, to move forward in
business and I motivate my teamto do that daily From a personal
standpoint, building thatbridge between, I think, banking
traditional banking and fintech.
As I mentioned today, I sit onthe ATPC board.
(13:54):
You know which we really lookat policy in DC.
I'm vice chairman of fintechAtlanta, where we're really
trying to, you know, evolve andgrow companies in Atlanta.
We've over 244 FinTechcompanies here and you know 70%
of all payments, global payments, come through Atlanta.
So you know this is really anamazing hub spot and one of my
(14:14):
ambitions is to make Synovus thebank of transaction alley and
you know that excites me.
That's one of my passions isreally building that bridge
between technology and banking.
And you know, from a personalstandpoint, obviously you know
my family, you know my faith andreally you know, I think from a
personal standpoint, is tryingto make a difference.
(14:35):
You know, give back.
When you're 25 years in anindustry, giving back is a great
thing.
You know, one of the things I'mdoing at the moment is I'm
mentoring four kids out of UGAthey're launching a payments
company and to watch theirambition.
You know their intellectualcuriosity and you know they're
about to go live in August witha product in Athens, in Georgia,
(14:58):
and we're supporting the bankis supporting them, and to be
part of that is truly amazing.
You know, and it's one thingI've I've really enjoyed over
the last 12 months, as I giveback to particularly, atlanta
has been a great city for me andmy family and that's been great
.
Maybe I'm giving back a littletoo much.
I'm now chairman for FinTechSouth, but also the MC, so my
(15:18):
wife has told me to stop sayingyes to everything.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Well, I think we talked a few months ago and I
think you had just been toWashington and on a trip there.
Do you want to talk about thata little bit?
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Yeah, look part of the ATPC is we do a DC fly-in
and we get to meet a lot of thelegislators and state
representatives and you know, tosee the to be there as part of
the Genius Act was was being,you know, been walked around and
discussed, and, as a verypassionate person of stablecoins
and crypto, that was trulyamazing.
To see and to witness thepassion around a payment caucus
(15:53):
where hopefully someday we'llhave some payment leaders
involved at a regulatory andjudicial level, I think is truly
amazing.
So there's plenty oforganizations ETA, atpc.
What everybody is doing is theright thing to bring more voice
for the payments industry, forbanks, for payment processors,
for ISOs and for merchants.
(16:14):
You know we are the lifebloodof the last mile solution for
every transaction and I reallyfeel that with the environment
we're in now, hopefully from aless regulatory perspective,
will allow innovation shine alittle bit more and my hope is
that we'll see that evolve nowover the next two to three years
.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Okay, all right.
Well, one final question, andit's going to be interesting to
hear your answer because of whatyou're doing with the UGA
students.
But if someone's maybe they'regraduating from college or maybe
they're want to move out of anindustry and they want to move
into payments or fintech,obviously, as someone that's so
passionate about the industry,what advice would you give them
to be successful in thisindustry?
Speaker 3 (16:54):
First thing I would say is be passionate.
You know I'm quite a passionateperson, but you always got to
link passion with purpose.
So always have a purpose in howyou're going to be passionate
about and I think then you cando really extraordinary things.
Be aware and be curious all thetime.
You know payments is anever-changing industry, but I
(17:14):
really feel we're on the nextphase of really transformational
change.
We read about agentic AI.
We read about ambient commerce.
We read about crypto.
We read about stable coins.
You know these are all going toredefine payment.
They're going to redefinetraditional models like the
payment gateway, the paymentpage, all these things we take
(17:36):
for granted.
You know we'll have agentsdoing that stuff now.
So I think you know there's alot of stuff there that, as
you're entering here, thingsyou're going to read about the
payments industry which werequite relevant for five years, I
believe will transform in thenext two years.
So, being curious and being upto date, you know, be open to
change, be open to influence.
(17:57):
You know I've always livedthrough a couple of quotes my
father gave me, but one thing healways said to me was you know,
through a couple of quotes myfather gave me, but one thing he
always said to me was you know,resistance to change is a
barrier to influence.
So if you don't embrace change,if you don't be open to change
when you start your career, youknow you'll never be able to
influence, and I think that'sreally important.
And one thing I would saythere's a great book, the Power
(18:20):
of being Yourself, by JoePlumeri, and he talks about
always play in traffic.
What that means is get outthere, go to conferences, join
local payment groups or inAtlanta, I mentioned a few of
those here For women.
Women in Payment is an amazingknow.
(18:40):
Build your brand.
Having a brand is veryimportant.
Payments is actually quite asmall industry.
When you break it down, youknow there's pockets of people
and if you meet these pockets ofpeople and you have a brand,
it's like a spider network.
And you know play in traffic,be passionate, have a purpose,
be open to change and play intraffic and have fun.
(19:03):
You've got to enjoy what you do.
That's half the thing aboutlife.
You know you're going to spenda lot of your career working.
You've got to enjoy it.
You've got to be passionate andI love what I do.
I love coming to work and Ilove sharing my knowledge with
people and I think you know asyou get to your mid-50s, like me
, and I think you know as youget to your mid-50s, like me,
looking back, you know if youcan feel like that you've picked
(19:26):
the right industry.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Yeah, totally agree.
I think that's great advice.
Yeah, I want to double click onone thing before we wrap up.
You mentioned a little bitabout the future of the industry
and where it's headed.
Just curious if you want toexpand on that a little bit.
I mean, there's so much goingon in this space, but just kind
of curious your thoughts assomeone who's sort of a payments
expert.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
Yeah, as I mentioned, you know, technology will
always drive change in theindustry.
I think regulatory reviews willalso change the industry.
The role of Visa and MasterCard, the role of the big payment
processors.
You know, in Georgia we'reblessed with an amazing piece of
legislation, which is theMerchant Acquire Limited Bank
Charter.
You know where people are ableto become a processor without
(20:07):
being a bank?
You know, friserve have appliedfor, have been approved.
Stripe have just been approved.
We know there's two or threeother people applying.
How does that merge withstablecoin?
How does that merge withblockchain?
You know how does internationalpayments change when you have a
blockchain where you can do apayment now over a blockchain
(20:28):
with stablecoin in three minutes, whereas a wire takes five days
.
So all of thesetransformational changes, I
think, are something we've gotto be excited about, but also be
cautious about, because fraud,fraudsters they embrace this as
well.
So you know, we've always gotto be mindful of that.
You know how far do we go outwithout having the proper
(20:51):
controls in place?
How far do we go out withouthaving the proper regulatory
controls in place?
So it's an interesting balanceact.
Technology is moving way fasterthan regulation and it's a
catch up, you know, whereasbefore I always thought it was
like a year or two, the leaps intechnology are so fast.
Now, you know, we're talkingfive years jump.
(21:12):
So it really is a catch up catand mouse catch up race.
And I think, sitting on thefence and watching this, for
people who are starting theircareer, get involved early, be
educated, be curious and get outthere and play in traffic.
It's an amazing journey ahead.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Okay, well, jonathan, before we go, just want to open
the floor, see if there'sanything else that you wanted to
talk about.
Any subjects maybe we missed.
Just kind of see if there'sanything else you wanted to
discuss.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
I would just actually like to thank you, Greg.
I really do enjoy your podcastand I think for anybody who is
starting in their career andwant to get educated or learn
from people, I would encouragethem to go back and revisit some
of your old podcasts.
I think you've hit a milestonein terms of numbers at the
moment.
What are we at at the moment?
Speaker 2 (22:00):
About 425.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
Okay, Well, that's a lot of weekend listening, but I
would recommend people todefinitely listen to 400.
If you listen to 400, you'll bean expert in the past, in the
present and maybe you'll learnsomething from the likes of me
about the future.
So that was the only thing Iwould encourage people to do.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Well, I appreciate that.
So, Jonathan, thank you so muchfor being on the show today.
I know your time is veryvaluable, so again, thank you so
much for being on the showtoday.
I know your time is veryvaluable, so again, thank you
for being here.
Thank you, sir, I greatlyappreciate it, and to all your
listeners out there, I thank youfor your time as well, and
until the next story.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Thank you for joining us this week on the Leaders in
Payments podcast.
Make sure you visit our websiteat leadersinpaymentscom, where
you can subscribe to the showand where you'll find our show
notes.
If you enjoyed listening,please share on your social
channels as well.
Welcome to the Leaders in Payments podcast,
where we talk to C-level leadersfrom across the payments
landscape.
We'll be discussing theproducts and services that
impact the payment space today,as well as trends and
predictions for the future ofpayments.
We will also hear stories fromour guests about their journeys
to the top.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Hello everyone and welcome to the Leaders in
Payments podcast.
I'm your host, greg Myers, andon today's show we have a very
special guest, jonathan O'Connor, the division president,
third-party payments at Synovus.
So, jonathan, thank you so muchfor being here and welcome to
the show.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Hey, Craig, great to be here again and nice speaking.
I think the last time weconnected was 2002.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
It's been a while.
It's been a while.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
I'm glad we're back together.
So, if you don't mind, tell usa little bit about yourself,
maybe a little personal andprofessional background.
Yeah, as you probably can hear,I'm not from Dublin, georgia.
I'm from Dublin, ireland, and Icame here 15 years ago with the
first day to IPO.
I moved over with my wife,three children, we even brought
the dog over and set up basehere in Atlanta, georgia, and we
love our life here in the Southand you know, the kids have now
(01:05):
all grown up there and reallyenjoying the SEC experience and
I'm also enjoying the collegefee expenditure.
So that definitely is anexperience for me.
But you know, in terms of ourlife here, you know, from my own
point of view, went throughcollege, started in a financial
kind of accounting space firstand then took a master's in IT
(01:26):
for strategic management, and Ireally have a passion for both
payments and fintech and that'sreally a big thing about me From
a personal standpoint.
I like to play the drums, I'm adrummer, so I take
percussionist, payments andfintech all in one.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
That's great.
That's great.
Well, if you don't mind, tellus a little bit about Synovus.
Maybe give us the high leveland then we'll kind of dive deep
into exactly what you'reresponsible for.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Sure, absolutely.
Well, listen, synovus is theoldest bank in Georgia and, I
believe, the best bank inGeorgia 61 billion in assets.
We're really all aboutcommunity.
We're about 244 branches strong, 4,900 employees and really you
know what makes Synovus reallyspecial is its people, its
passion to serve its customers,and I've really grown to respect
(02:13):
the bank over the way itlistens to its customers and the
power of community.
How I add value inside the bankis I lead a team called Third
Party Payments and inside thatgroup we manage the merchant
services business where wesupport our bankers on enabling
additional value to our bankcustomers If they have a
business and if they have a loanor a deposit with the bank.
(02:36):
We'll then support our bankersto introduce merchant services
and add more value to therelationship for the bank.
We also have a second divisioncalled the Sponsorship Bank
Division and inside there weenable ISOs, payfax and even
Fintechs to process Visa andMasterCard transactions.
So you know a very, verywell-established business.
(02:59):
We're the largest ISO team inthe industry 14-plus amazing
people who were all reallythesis people, and what really
impressed me when I got to thebank was their experience.
You know 25, 30 yearsexperience in this industry and
that intellectual capital isreally something that's very
special.
Also, our risk and our AML BSAteams, their understanding of
(03:23):
the industry and how we canprotect the bank against
residual operationalreputational risk is something
really special.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
OK, so a couple of follow on questions.
So in the merchant servicesbusiness, is that mostly small
business or is it across theboard?
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Yeah, primarily we're a small business.
You know, as a community bank,our heritage is really a
supporting small business.
They're the lifeblood of anycommunity and I really feel very
passionate about that.
You know how we can help thesmall business in our
communities, you know, withpayment acceptance, but not only
just payment.
You know how can we help themdifferentiate themselves through
(04:01):
data or through other forms ofpayment.
You know, enable them throughACH, through credit card.
We've got a great treasuryproduct as well AR and AP.
So you know how collectivelycan Synovus enable that business
to not only grow their businessbut maybe also protect their
business, because today, as weall know, fraud is a problem for
(04:23):
everybody and for smallbusiness in particular.
We want to be that trustedadvisor as they want to grow
their business and, particularlyfrom a payments point of view,
we lead from the front to dothat.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Okay, okay.
So when I started in payments20 years ago it was Chase
Payment Tech, so we worked withthe Chase branches right, and
kind of the way the model workedthen was a business walked into
a branch, opened a checkingaccount and then payments were
kind of sold to them.
So I'm kind of curious, I mean,is that the same model, or has
it changed a lot since then?
Speaker 3 (04:53):
I would say that you know the model hasn't changed
that much.
Primarily a bank is.
You know we drive a lot of ourfocus around loan growth,
deposit growth and auxiliaryservices.
I sit in a bucket for reallynon-interest revenue.
So you know we sit there and,as I said, we're all about
enabling a more holisticrelationship with the customer.
(05:16):
So merchant would form part ofthat value add.
I would say at the moment withtreasury and other markets.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Okay, so the ISO business, kind of that part of
the business are there sizes ofcompanies you work with or is it
pretty much across the board?
Speaker 3 (05:30):
You know we're very selective in who we work with.
You know we number one weprotect the brand.
You know Synovus is awell-established brand in the
sponsorship business for over 20years actually.
You know a lot of other banksmay have, you know, some
challenges with regulatoryissues and you know will damage
their brand.
(05:50):
So we don't go and work witheverybody who's available to
engage in a process with us.
We're selective so we wouldprobably work with, you know,
six to eight clients a year andwe're very happy with that
because we have a veryestablished methodology for
onboarding.
We have a very establishedmethodology for review, not only
(06:10):
protecting the bank, but we'realso educating ISOs.
We're also educating Payfax.
We're also educating FinTechsaround.
You know how your policies andprocedures should stand not only
against Visa and MasterCardregulations, but also as they
grow.
They need to have thisoversight, maturity and I think
that's something very specialthat we bring, because, as I
(06:33):
look out at the industry, Idon't think not everybody does
that.
And for everybody to grow, youknow growing commercially is
very important, but also growingyour framework inside your
company is very important and wegive that as a consultative
sale to our prospective clients.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Okay, and you have a third part of the business right
, I think, the banking as aservice.
Is that still part of what youdo?
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Yeah, we do.
We also have a third part ofour business called Mass and
that was really our money as aservice product.
You know, while we're stillactive in the area, we're kind
of waiting for the, I think, theindustry to mature a little bit
more from a regulatorystandpoint.
We're very encouraged by what'sdeveloping in the market, but
we really feel that, you know,we'll pause, probably for the
(07:19):
remainder of this year andprobably the first half of 26.
But I think I'm encouraged bywhat I'm seeing that we will
probably get active again inthat area towards the second
half of 26.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Okay.
Well, what would you say,differentiates your company and
your services from yourcompetitors out there?
Speaker 3 (07:37):
I would say, you know , as we go back to, about the
power of the community, we'revery active in hiring commercial
bankers in all of our regionsand I believe in that myself.
People buy off people,customers through our product
(08:03):
innovation, through ourwillingness to listen to their
business models, their growthambitions and helping them
through that.
I really think that personalconsultative approach makes
Sanova stand out in theSoutheast region banking network
.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Okay, you mentioned something I want to double click
on and it's something that Ithink a lot of payments
companies don't provide is thatconsultative selling right.
You're out there helping themunderstand their business and
how to improve their business,so can you touch on maybe, how
that's part of a maybe core towhat you do?
Speaker 3 (08:30):
Sure, look, we've invested in.
Probably 80% of our team arenew talent, passionate talent,
but very experienced talent, whohave come from processors and
other banks.
We've harnessed that expertiseto bring it into our talk track
and our DNA with our customers,where we look at not only the
(08:51):
payment acceptance, we look attheir business model, we look at
how we can help with data, welook at how we can help with
chargebacks.
You know that's a problem and Imentioned risk earlier as well.
So it's really, you know, asthey have ambitions to grow, we
work with them not only onpayment acceptance but, you know
, are they getting the rightdata for their reporting, for
(09:12):
their financial packaging?
Have they got the rightcontrols in place for risk
management?
Have they got the appropriatechargeback management tools and
do they understand the processwhen they get chargeback?
So it's really bringing themthrough the full life cycle of
payment and ensuring that, as asmall business, they're
adequately, sufficiently trainedor have enough access to
(09:34):
appropriate tools to managetheir business and grow.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Okay, all right.
Well, let's switch gears alittle bit and talk about you.
So maybe walk us through yourprofessional journey and how you
ended up at Synovus, and maybewhy you are at Synovus.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Bank.
I did the Y2K review for anIrish company actually and
traveled most of Africa in 1998,1999, you know, looking at
payment systems and that wasamazing.
(10:08):
From there I was employeenumber six actually in
EuroConnects, which was Elevant.
So I was part of Bank ofIreland, going right back to Ed
Grazinski and Nova Corporation,so we were the founders of
Elevant.
That was an amazing experience.
And I got to be very early ine-commerce, cross-border
(10:28):
acquiring dynamic currencyconversion.
I was the first acquirer for,like Adyen, which was Bibbit at
the time, and Global Collect allthese companies from Holland
which really transformed theindustry and also pay safe when
they were surefire, you know,right back to the days when
these guys were starting.
So that was an amazingexperience.
(10:50):
And then first day they cameknocking on my door and I
relocated to the UK and rantheir European business for
e-commerce and also the EMEAbusiness for e-com and was
involved in multiple jointventures, you know, in the UK
with FDMS, aibms in Ireland,bnlp in Italy.
So got to really travel a lotand, you know, culturally got
(11:11):
exposed to a lot of differentcultures and business
methodologies and that was agreat grounding, you know, to
not only evolve my professionalgrowth but also, you know, from
a business leadershipperspective.
You know from a businessleadership perspective.
You know, be aware and workwith so many cultures.
I found that very intriguing.
And then around 2012, ed Labrie,ceo first day at the time,
(11:31):
probably wanted somebody whospeaks funny to come over to the
US and help them with the IPOand work closely with Barry
McCarthy and other people therein the early days.
And was also set up theiremerging markets Verticals ran
about 12 of the lines ofbusiness there and set up the
gaming and gambling business,did the first transactions for
(11:52):
FanDuel and DraftKings.
I sat on the board of Telecheckand kind of revolutionized
check cashing to be in thecasinos.
So that was an amazingexperience as well.
And then I got interested incrypto and got dragged back to
Europe for a couple of years andtook a company out of
liquidation, secure trading anddeveloped trust payments and
(12:13):
grew that into a 40%quarter-on-quarter growth
business and we did a lot incrypto in Malta.
And then from there came back tothe US, consulted with Barry
McCarthy for a year in Deluxeand really helped them transform
a little bit around theirmerchant business and also their
treasury business and thenended up in Synovus.
I really wanted to get exposedto banking as a service but also
(12:39):
really get an education inbanking but also bring my
expertise in payments.
I really admired Synovus as aforward-thinking bank because
not many banks were doingbanking as a service, you know,
three years ago and not manybanks have got the reputation
and sponsorship that Synovushave done.
So I really admired the bankfor those two things and got to
(13:01):
connect with some people likeWayne Akins and took on this
journey, brought in a few folksfrom my previous adventures in
business and we put together agreat team and we're delivering
double digit growth now everyquarter in our businesses and
we're challenging the norm andwe get to win and work in a
great bank every day.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Okay, well, what are some things you're passionate
about?
So, maybe one work-relatedpassion and one personal passion
.
You already mentioned drumming,but maybe there's something
else.
So maybe a couple of yourpassions.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Sure, look, I think you know what gets me out of bed
in the morning is to win and,you know, to move forward in
business and I motivate my teamto do that daily From a personal
standpoint, building thatbridge between, I think, banking
traditional banking and fintech.
As I mentioned today, I sit onthe ATPC board.
(13:54):
You know which we really lookat policy in DC.
I'm vice chairman of fintechAtlanta, where we're really
trying to, you know, evolve andgrow companies in Atlanta.
We've over 244 FinTechcompanies here and you know 70%
of all payments, global payments, come through Atlanta.
So you know this is really anamazing hub spot and one of my
(14:14):
ambitions is to make Synovus thebank of transaction alley and
you know that excites me.
That's one of my passions isreally building that bridge
between technology and banking.
And you know, from a personalstandpoint, obviously you know
my family, you know my faith andreally you know, I think from a
personal standpoint, is tryingto make a difference.
(14:35):
You know, give back.
When you're 25 years in anindustry, giving back is a great
thing.
You know, one of the things I'mdoing at the moment is I'm
mentoring four kids out of UGAthey're launching a payments
company and to watch theirambition.
You know their intellectualcuriosity and you know they're
about to go live in August witha product in Athens, in Georgia,
(14:58):
and we're supporting the bankis supporting them, and to be
part of that is truly amazing.
You know, and it's one thingI've I've really enjoyed over
the last 12 months, as I giveback to particularly, atlanta
has been a great city for me andmy family and that's been great
.
Maybe I'm giving back a littletoo much.
I'm now chairman for FinTechSouth, but also the MC, so my
(15:18):
wife has told me to stop sayingyes to everything.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Well, I think we talked a few months ago and I
think you had just been toWashington and on a trip there.
Do you want to talk about thata little bit?
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Yeah, look part of the ATPC is we do a DC fly-in
and we get to meet a lot of thelegislators and state
representatives and you know, tosee the to be there as part of
the Genius Act was was being,you know, been walked around and
discussed, and, as a verypassionate person of stablecoins
and crypto, that was trulyamazing.
To see and to witness thepassion around a payment caucus
(15:53):
where hopefully someday we'llhave some payment leaders
involved at a regulatory andjudicial level, I think is truly
amazing.
So there's plenty oforganizations ETA, atpc.
What everybody is doing is theright thing to bring more voice
for the payments industry, forbanks, for payment processors,
for ISOs and for merchants.
(16:14):
You know we are the lifebloodof the last mile solution for
every transaction and I reallyfeel that with the environment
we're in now, hopefully from aless regulatory perspective,
will allow innovation shine alittle bit more and my hope is
that we'll see that evolve nowover the next two to three years
.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Okay, all right.
Well, one final question, andit's going to be interesting to
hear your answer because of whatyou're doing with the UGA
students.
But if someone's maybe they'regraduating from college or maybe
they're want to move out of anindustry and they want to move
into payments or fintech,obviously, as someone that's so
passionate about the industry,what advice would you give them
to be successful in thisindustry?
Speaker 3 (16:54):
First thing I would say is be passionate.
You know I'm quite a passionateperson, but you always got to
link passion with purpose.
So always have a purpose in howyou're going to be passionate
about and I think then you cando really extraordinary things.
Be aware and be curious all thetime.
You know payments is anever-changing industry, but I
(17:14):
really feel we're on the nextphase of really transformational
change.
We read about agentic AI.
We read about ambient commerce.
We read about crypto.
We read about stable coins.
You know these are all going toredefine payment.
They're going to redefinetraditional models like the
payment gateway, the paymentpage, all these things we take
(17:36):
for granted.
You know we'll have agentsdoing that stuff now.
So I think you know there's alot of stuff there that, as
you're entering here, thingsyou're going to read about the
payments industry which werequite relevant for five years, I
believe will transform in thenext two years.
So, being curious and being upto date, you know, be open to
change, be open to influence.
(17:57):
You know I've always livedthrough a couple of quotes my
father gave me, but one thing healways said to me was you know,
through a couple of quotes myfather gave me, but one thing he
always said to me was you know,resistance to change is a
barrier to influence.
So if you don't embrace change,if you don't be open to change
when you start your career, youknow you'll never be able to
influence, and I think that'sreally important.
And one thing I would saythere's a great book, the Power
(18:20):
of being Yourself, by JoePlumeri, and he talks about
always play in traffic.
What that means is get outthere, go to conferences, join
local payment groups or inAtlanta, I mentioned a few of
those here For women.
Women in Payment is an amazingknow.
(18:40):
Build your brand.
Having a brand is veryimportant.
Payments is actually quite asmall industry.
When you break it down, youknow there's pockets of people
and if you meet these pockets ofpeople and you have a brand,
it's like a spider network.
And you know play in traffic,be passionate, have a purpose,
be open to change and play intraffic and have fun.
(19:03):
You've got to enjoy what you do.
That's half the thing aboutlife.
You know you're going to spenda lot of your career working.
You've got to enjoy it.
You've got to be passionate andI love what I do.
I love coming to work and Ilove sharing my knowledge with
people and I think you know asyou get to your mid-50s, like me
, and I think you know as youget to your mid-50s, like me,
looking back, you know if youcan feel like that you've picked
(19:26):
the right industry.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Yeah, totally agree.
I think that's great advice.
Yeah, I want to double click onone thing before we wrap up.
You mentioned a little bitabout the future of the industry
and where it's headed.
Just curious if you want toexpand on that a little bit.
I mean, there's so much goingon in this space, but just kind
of curious your thoughts assomeone who's sort of a payments
expert.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
Yeah, as I mentioned, you know, technology will
always drive change in theindustry.
I think regulatory reviews willalso change the industry.
The role of Visa and MasterCard, the role of the big payment
processors.
You know, in Georgia we'reblessed with an amazing piece of
legislation, which is theMerchant Acquire Limited Bank
Charter.
You know where people are ableto become a processor without
(20:07):
being a bank?
You know, friserve have appliedfor, have been approved.
Stripe have just been approved.
We know there's two or threeother people applying.
How does that merge withstablecoin?
How does that merge withblockchain?
You know how does internationalpayments change when you have a
blockchain where you can do apayment now over a blockchain
(20:28):
with stablecoin in three minutes, whereas a wire takes five days
.
So all of thesetransformational changes, I
think, are something we've gotto be excited about, but also be
cautious about, because fraud,fraudsters they embrace this as
well.
So you know, we've always gotto be mindful of that.
You know how far do we go outwithout having the proper
(20:51):
controls in place?
How far do we go out withouthaving the proper regulatory
controls in place?
So it's an interesting balanceact.
Technology is moving way fasterthan regulation and it's a
catch up, you know, whereasbefore I always thought it was
like a year or two, the leaps intechnology are so fast.
Now, you know, we're talkingfive years jump.
(21:12):
So it really is a catch up catand mouse catch up race.
And I think, sitting on thefence and watching this, for
people who are starting theircareer, get involved early, be
educated, be curious and get outthere and play in traffic.
It's an amazing journey ahead.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Okay, well, jonathan, before we go, just want to open
the floor, see if there'sanything else that you wanted to
talk about.
Any subjects maybe we missed.
Just kind of see if there'sanything else you wanted to
discuss.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
I would just actually like to thank you, Greg.
I really do enjoy your podcastand I think for anybody who is
starting in their career andwant to get educated or learn
from people, I would encouragethem to go back and revisit some
of your old podcasts.
I think you've hit a milestonein terms of numbers at the
moment.
What are we at at the moment?
Speaker 2 (22:00):
About 425.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
Okay, Well, that's a lot of weekend listening, but I
would recommend people todefinitely listen to 400.
If you listen to 400, you'll bean expert in the past, in the
present and maybe you'll learnsomething from the likes of me
about the future.
So that was the only thing Iwould encourage people to do.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Well, I appreciate that.
So, Jonathan, thank you so muchfor being on the show today.
I know your time is veryvaluable, so again, thank you so
much for being on the showtoday.
I know your time is veryvaluable, so again, thank you
for being here.
Thank you, sir, I greatlyappreciate it, and to all your
listeners out there, I thank youfor your time as well, and
until the next story.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Thank you for joining us this week on the Leaders in
Payments podcast.
Make sure you visit our websiteat leadersinpaymentscom, where
you can subscribe to the showand where you'll find our show
notes.
If you enjoyed listening,please share on your social
channels as well.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Cardiac Cowboys
The heart was always off-limits to surgeons. Cutting into it spelled instant death for the patient. That is, until a ragtag group of doctors scattered across the Midwest and Texas decided to throw out the rule book. Working in makeshift laboratories and home garages, using medical devices made from scavenged machine parts and beer tubes, these men and women invented the field of open heart surgery. Odds are, someone you know is alive because of them. So why has history left them behind? Presented by Chris Pine, CARDIAC COWBOYS tells the gripping true story behind the birth of heart surgery, and the young, Greatest Generation doctors who made it happen. For years, they competed and feuded, racing to be the first, the best, and the most prolific. Some appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, operated on kings and advised presidents. Others ended up disgraced, penniless, and convicted of felonies. Together, they ignited a revolution in medicine, and changed the world.