Fintech South 2024, hosted by the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG), took place on Aug. 27-28 at the Woodruff Arts Center and Atlanta Symphony Hall. This year’s theme was “Fintech Lives Here!”
Sarah Williams, Co-Founder of IronPay, is an industry expert in the world of corporate payments.
Sarah’s career has spanned twenty years, managing Strategic Channels and Alliances for several B2B Payment Processing companies, where her combined portfolio across those organizations reached more than $250 MM in annual revenue.
Sarah also acts as a strategic advisor to several Fortune 500 companies.
Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn.
This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.
TRANSCRIPT
Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studio in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio, brought to you by Kennesaw State University’s Executive MBA program, the accelerated degree program for working professionals looking to advance their career and enhance their leadership skills. And now, here’s your host.
Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here, broadcasting live from Fintech South at the Woodruff Arts Center. So excited to be talking to our next guest, Sarah Williams, the co-founder of IronPay. Welcome.
Sarah Williams: Thank you.
Lee Kantor: Well, before we get too far into things, tell us about IronPay.
Sarah Williams: So IronPay is a B2B payments company. So we work with corporations and enable them to automate their payments And we also work with their suppliers for them to accept different versions of digital payments. So believe it or not, corporate America, especially in the mid-market check, is still the predominant form of payment. We as consumers are so used to being paid electronically and using digital forms of payment, it seems hard to believe that you know, there’s still 70% paper check in the in the in the main middle market business space, and maybe even more so in the smaller business space. So we help to kind of optimize how companies make payments. We digitize those payments for them. And we also generate revenue in the process. And we we actually share some of that revenue back with our clients. So it’s a real win win for companies and AP departments across the country.
Lee Kantor: So what is the fear like? Why? Why aren’t they switching to digital?
Sarah Williams: It’s not a fear. It’s you know several different things. Number one AP in corporate America is not a priority necessarily. It’s not a prime business function. People are in business to do what they do not make a payment, right. And so often it’s neglected as something that they want to invest in. And paper checks still work. The other issue is that it’s a data issue with ACH, which is another form of electronic payment. You can only send about 72 characters in the addendum within an ACH, and that’s not enough information to allow for a company in their accounts receivables department to identify and reconcile that transaction. So in other parts of the world, like Europe, for example, they are almost 100% ACH, because when the euro was created, it was mandated that they had to pay each other electronically, but they also mandated how the data was sent. They had three versions of EDI that they agreed upon. In America, we don’t have any agreed upon standard for data exchange, and the ACH doesn’t allow for data to really be a part of the transaction. So because of those limitations, we’ve, you know, relied on check and continue to rely on check. Um, we as a company will take in invoice based data and we will transmit that information to our supplier clients in a digital format that allows for them to reconcile that transaction, whether it’s an ACH or we have a virtual credit card that also allows for them to receive that information and upload it into their accounts receivable system and auto reconcile. So we kind of we’re middleware that allows for that digital transaction to occur.
Lee Kantor: So now what’s the benefit for them? Like why why if they’re happy with checks. Like what?
Sarah Williams: No one’s happy with checks.
Lee Kantor: No one’s happy. They’re just tolerating it.
Sarah Williams: They’re tolerating it because, you know, it’s fairly low cost. And, you know, it’s it’s still accepted. Um, there has been an instance within the Affordable Care Act. A lot of people don’t know this, but actually the biggest thing that happened with the Affordable Care Act, it was mandated that doctors and, well, health insurance payers like Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, etc., they they had to be able to send information digitally to hospitals and doctors. We call them providers. So this happened in 2011. They created a standard for EDI which was called it’s called an 835. Um, and so everyone was able to transmit data back and forth in an effective way. And then ACH became the standard. And they do charge 1% in that industry. But that is the only iteration in the domestic US where that is. There’s a mandate, there’s a data standard. Um, so that’s why we’re still paying with checks because, you know, there’s no standard and ERPs, you know, financial applications, accounting systems, they don’t have a standard either. Um, it’s this really unique space in the market where we’re still very paper based and ERPs are, you know, are not investing in it because there’s a big service component required to make these payments and, and manage communication between buyers and suppliers and ERPs, as you may know or not know, they don’t really provide services. Um, they sell through Vars, value added resellers. They expect those vars to do the work and the implementation, etc. So, um, it’s a really fascinating Fighting piece of the American business landscape that is still very manual.
Lee Kantor: Right. And but in Europe and now health care are kind of on the same page. They are? Yes. So is this something that eventually is going to switch or is it just, you know, you’re going to be there to help this until it changes?
Sarah Williams: So I think it’s always going to be up to middleware companies to bridge the gap until ERPs start investing in us in our companies. So like SAP bought Ariba and concur. So to a degree they’re doing what we do. Um, you know, in several other ERPs are working with us, but they haven’t bought companies necessarily. So until that occurs, um, we’re here to stay. And I’ve been in this industry since 2005, and I thought it would be over in three years. And it’s not over. It was 90% pay per check in 2005, and now.
Lee Kantor: We’re at 70.
Sarah Williams: And now we’re at 70. Wow. That’s how. That’s the needle that’s moved. But I mean, talk about career security. It’s been awesome.
Lee Kantor: So, um, what do you need more of? How can we help you?
Sarah Williams: Well, look, if you’re if there’s a company out there that is struggling with manual paper based payments, Covid did highlight this issue because the only people that went into the office were were the guys cutting the checks and receiving the mail. Those were the only people in the office. So we have seen a boom in and adoption of, you know, payments solutions like ours in the last few years because Covid really did demonstrate that this is a problem. But, um, if you’re continuing to to struggle with paper based checks you know, work with a company like ours, we do not charge for integrations. Um, we actually pay you back for what we do because we try to send as much money through the virtual card network, which has an interchange of 2.65 associated with it, 265 basis points. And we share that back with the client. So it pays for itself. Um, it’s really a no brainer. It’s just a matter of an organization knowing we exist and other companies like ours exist and and leveraging us.
Lee Kantor: So now from their standpoint, like where is the pain point that you see clearly that they just might be tolerating?
Sarah Williams: Well, it’s paper tracks, right.
Lee Kantor: So if you’re sending a paper check and you don’t have a solution like Iron Pay, then you should call iron Pay.
Sarah Williams: You should call iron pay.
Lee Kantor: Right. Like so. It’s that it’s really that simple. It’s that.
Sarah Williams: Simple. It’s the easiest thing. So when I started working, I worked for Accenture and we were coding ERP. It was Anderson back then, in 1999, we literally had nap rooms. We worked around the clock. Then I sold mainframes for Unisys to banks. So I’ve always been in fintech. Um, when I started working in this industry, I was like, I’ll never have to learn anything new again. This is amazing. I’m in technology, but I don’t have to learn anything. It’s such an antiquated aspect of how companies work in the in the US. It’s fascinating, but we’re here to help. Um, and and, you know, it’s it’s free, guys.
Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on the team.
Sarah Williams: Absolutely. You can find us on our website, ironport inc.com. Or reach out to me directly via LinkedIn. Sarah Williams on LinkedIn ironport inc.com.
Lee Kantor: So now why is this Fintech South Conference important to you?
Sarah Williams: So I’ve been attending this conference for 8 or 9 years, and I actually earlier on when it was used to be at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, I was on the board to recruit people. What I love about Fintech South is it’s very diverse and it’s representation of technology and certainly fintech. Um, and it really highlights that Atlanta is transactionally. Um, and it’s it really highlights what makes Atlanta so great for our particular industry. And I go to fintech conferences around the country and even in Europe. And this to me, this conference is is the most it gives. It gives us the greatest opportunity to meet people in our specific industry out of any other conference, um, that I attend.
Lee Kantor: Good stuff. Well, Sarah, thank you so much for sharing your story. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.
Sarah Williams: Thank you so.
Lee Kantor: Much. All right. This is Lee Kantor back in a few. At Fintech South.
