In partnership with global professional services organisation, PwC, we recently hosted an industry event dedicated to inspiring the next generation of leaders in the UK payments industry.
Hosted by Indrani Gardner, Head of Communications at Pay.UK and Yulia Baynham, Director at PwC UK (Payments Practice), the interactive evening of networking, learning and growth welcomed eight speakers from across the payments, public relations, and technology industries to lead discussions around the event’s theme – Empowering leadership and payments.
Held at the PwC UK offices in London and attended by more than 100 attendees of all levels, the event was divided into three key panel sessions that explored:
- Personal branding and storytelling
- The future of fraud
- Innovation in payments
Personal branding and storytelling
Moderator, Emily Wigston kicked off the personal branding and storytelling conversation with speakers Olivia Law and Verity Dephoff, explaining that one of the most powerful tools we have is our personal story. It makes us unique and helps us to build connections. To make this compelling, the panel agreed that it is important not to lose our personality within our personal brand. When making connections both in person and online, attendees were challenged to think about their story, who they are, what they do and why they matter.
The panel discussed the importance of building on the pieces that form us as a person and being clear on the impression we want to leave behind. This doesn’t have to be a rigid story and can change as we do in our personal and professional lives – the most important thing is that our story is authentic.
The panellists further debated how we can navigate spaces where we feel like an imposter, for example, in meetings where we may be more junior than everyone else the room. Our speakers provided some excellent advice, encouraging the audience, whatever their level, to be clear on the agenda of the meetings they are invited to and the perspectives of those in attendance. This knowledge will, in turn, set a foundation on which to build confidence, enabling us to ‘take up the space’ we have been given in the room, to proactively speak up and have our say.
The future of fraud
Pay.UK’s Maria Kiero-Watson led the discussion on the future of fraud with speakers, Helen Fairfax-Wall, Alex West and Anuradha Raman. As an introduction, the panel summarised the current state of fraud in the UK, highlighting that it represents over 40% of all reported online crime, and equally concerning, that 86% of fraud goes unreported. Nevertheless, the UK payments industry continues to work tirelessly to develop new fraud prevention, detection and mitigation solutions, such as Pay.UK’s expansion of our account name-checking service, Confirmation of Payee, the recent launch of our Reimbursement Claims Management System, and the development of our new fraud detection and prevention overlay service following a successful proof of concept last year.
The panellists went on to discuss how collaboration is key to staying one step ahead of fraudsters. Helen explained that fraud is a complex operation, which targets hundreds of thousands of victims each day as part of wider organised crime. Understandably this has severe adverse effects on UK and international economies and is therefore a key priority for both the financial and payments industries. However, the problem extends far beyond this, and it is paramount that all industries and sectors, including technology, telecommunications, public, and beyond, recognise that fraud is part of a far more reaching issue.
In conclusion, the panel agreed that the path to tackling fraud is not about finding one solution. It is about building the ecosystem to finding a way to enable collaboration and the sharing of data to develop agile and scalable ways to stop fraud before it occurs.
Innovation in payments
PwC’s Charlie Neuner summarised his team’s work on emerging technologies for data utilisation, such as virtual, augmented, and mixed reality. Everyone recognises the large headsets that are associated with the use of virtual reality (VR), but Charlie explained that increasingly technology companies are moving towards the use of VR glasses, such as Apple Vision Pro. This makes it easier to overlay our world with data, and to enable data-driven decision making as part of our everyday lives. Using the tool, PwC can study the complexities of the payments process, spatially, and interrogate and compare it collaboratively across the ecosystem. Following Charlie’s presentation, attendees were able to take part in a demonstration of the Apple Vision Pro VR tool.
Indrani Gardner commented, “Our event was a fantastic opportunity for everyone, whatever their level, to meet new people, build networks and learn new things. Our expert speakers provided some excellent tips, tricks and insights into creating an authentic and engaging personal brand, whilst raising awareness of hot topics affecting the payments industry, now and in the future. I left the event feeling inspired and informed, and looking forward to continuing our work with PwC to empower leadership in payments.”
Yulia Baynham, said, “Our event with Pay.UK highlighted the power of bringing together diverse talents from across the industry to foster growth, innovation, and collaboration. It was great to see over 100 professionals engage with discussions on personal brand development, future fraud trends, and technological advancements. Each session offered invaluable insights, equipping our emerging leaders with the tools and confidence to navigate and shape the future of payments. We are committed to nurturing this momentum, empowering everyone to step boldly into their roles and build their networks. We look forward to continuing this partnership with Pay.UK and the industry, and to hosting more events that inspire and elevate our community.”
