Driving innovation in North American payments

Annie Donovan shares her thoughts on the future of Checkout.com's North American business, insights into her journey in the payments industry, and her vision for navigating the complexities of the local payments landscape.

A journey into payments

Annie's career has been marked by transformative roles in scaling international operations and forging strategic partnerships across major tech giants. From spearheading UberEats' entry into Japan while at Adyen, to managing Klarna’s largest partnerships, Annie brings a wealth of experience in driving revenue growth and expanding market reach.

Reflecting on her transition to Checkout.com, Annie underscores her fascination with payments and the company's ethos of payments performance and insights. She highlights the collaborative environment at Checkout.com where she continues to learn from fellow seasoned payments experts.

Challenges and opportunities in the US market

Annie's primary focus at Checkout.com is expanding the company's footprint in North America through the expansion of existing, and forging of new, strategic partnerships. In parallel, she is building the foundations of a partnerships program and enablement strategy that’s scalable across the growing portfolio. She emphasizes the importance of identifying partners that are key to driving merchant growth and fostering innovation in payment solutions.

Annie identifies the unique specificities in the US payments landscape, particularly the dominance of traditional card methods and the slower adoption of alternative payment methods (APMs) compared to regions like EU or APAC. Checkout.com is positioned strategically to manage such intricacies, offering a diverse range of payment solutions to optimize merchant cost and increase acceptance rates.

Despite a crowded marketplace, Annie believes Checkout.com stands out by focusing on partnerships that enhance the consumer checkout experience and drive higher conversion rates. She highlights recent initiatives, particularly the one-click checkout option launched in partnership with Bolt, as examples of Checkout.com continuing to meet their merchants’ ever-evolving consumer expectations. Annie also touches on the importance of partnerships with ecommerce platforms, like Zuora or BigCommerce, that grant merchants the ability to quickly integrate Checkout.com’s solutions and seamlessly scale their payments. Finally, Annie refers to her work with top industry consultants such as Glenbrook Partners. With a similar focus on payments education programs, Glenbrook works with Checkout.com to articulate the value of Checkout.com’s solutions to merchants.

Thriving starts with education: Advice for future payments professionals

Annie discusses Checkout.com's commitment to advancing payments education through initiatives like the MRC Payment Essentials sponsorship. This partnership aims to empower merchants with essential payments knowledge, thereby enabling them to thrive in the digital economy. 

Tomorrow's payments professionals stand to benefit greatly from initiatives like the MRC Payment Essentials course. By gaining a comprehensive understanding of payment fundamentals, including cost optimization and enhanced acceptance strategies, aspiring professionals can effectively navigate and contribute to the evolving payments landscape. 

This formal training equips professionals with the insights and skills needed to innovate within their roles, ensuring they are well-prepared to tackle the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in the fast-paced world of digital payments.

The future of payments

Looking ahead, Annie sees collaboration between payments partners as pivotal to driving innovation in the payments profession. She envisions a future where success hinges on the ability of payments professionals to think creatively in both the formation and prioritization of partnerships. She recommends fostering those with a future-proof mentality and willingness to collaboratively build new payment offerings of value greater than what each organization individually offers.

Annie Donovan's work in her role as strategic partnerships manager exemplifies Checkout’s vision for driving growth and innovation in North American payments. Her journey underscores the importance of expertise, collaboration, and a commitment to advancing the payments landscape through education and partnerships.