Why your business needs a Chief Payments Officer

Ten years ago, most businesses didn't have designated payments roles. As one payments professional at a leading retail brand told me, “Payments wasn’t ‘a thing’ when I started my career, but one day, the need for an expert arose, and that was my calling. I learned on the job and never looked back”. Last summer I gave a guest lecture on payments and its career path to a group of ambitious and highly engaged students from the prestigious Paris Dauphine University. How times have changed.

Of course, payments have always existed - the exchange of value is as old as time. What we really mean is that digital payments were not yet dominant. But as digital payments proliferated and e-commerce went mainstream, businesses needed experts who could deal with its complexities, fix problems fast and crucially, optimize performance, and harness the growth opportunities that come with the intelligent deployment of digital payments strategies.

Businesses have payments ambition… but not enough

When we think of some of the world’s leading brands today, frequently those born as apps in our pockets, payments tech is at the heart of their model and ubiquitous reach. And yet, all too often, the notion that payments are little more than a hasslesome cost center persists in other businesses, despite growing evidence that payments can drive profitability. While it's positive news that a recent survey of senior executives reveals that 61% believe payments leadership roles are of growing relevance in their business, I don’t think it’s anywhere near ambitious enough. Instead, I’d argue that within another ten years, we should expect to see a Chief Payments Officer taking a seat in most C-suites. 

Custodians of your customer relationship 

Payments are more than a transaction—they’re the critical touchpoint that ties together your tech stack, product suite, finance flows, compliance, and operations. The marketing budget you invest in acquiring customers ultimately hinges on what happens at the digital checkout. 

That makes payments a pivotal moment. It also makes your payments leader an incredibly informed, wide-ranging expert and connector. They work closely with the COO, CTO, CFO, CCO, CMO, and CPO, bridging each function to deliver what your customer needs at this decisive stage. They should be an integral part of shaping your strategy, not just supporting it. 

Their role spans two essential remits: driving customer conversion and loyalty on the frontlines, while also interrogating the bottom line. They’re relentless in chasing down basis points to maximize revenue capture and cut costs. They think big and understand the broader picture, but they’re equally obsessed with the smallest details—because in payments, minor details can have the biggest impact. 

If they’re not already sitting in your boardroom, it’s time to make room for them. 

Drivers of your growth strategy

Planning an expansion into a new geography? I’ve heard stories of businesses depriving themselves of billions in revenue simply because no one in the leadership team understands how payments unlock revenue in cross-border markets. A payments leader ensures you’re not just entering new markets but also maximizing conversion rates and avoiding hidden costs that can undermine your growth. 

Integrating new tech solutions or building a new product suite? A knowledgeable payments leader bridges the gap between your executive team’s vision and the intricacies of your payment systems. They’ll ensure these iterations enhance your ability to deliver smooth payment experiences, optimize conversion rates, and capture critical transaction data to fuel your commercial strategy and financial strategy. 

The right payments leadership ensures your business stays ahead of evolving regulations while capitalizing on emerging opportunities to optimize performance. 

Unlocker of new sales channels, business models and revenue streams

The truth is that whether you’re a B2C or a B2B company, as the nature of your business becomes ever more digitized and global, payments inevitably sit at the heart of more and more of what you do and how you do it. Consider the vast number of brands that have built a subscription model into their offering in recent years, developed an app, activated social sales channels, or built a marketplace platform to foster and ‘own’ a community of buyers and sellers. All are possible only thanks to payments technology. The full potential for payments to fundamentally improve and modernize business models is only beginning to be explored. 

Having a digital payments strategy led from the top will also allow you to build out further financial products such as loyalty schemes, customer credit, and even card issuing - all of which can unlock new revenue streams whatever your traditional Line of Business. But that demands having somebody who knows enough about the complex and fast-paced field of payments to imagine new possibilities that make sense for your business. 

Connector of your end-to-end financial flows

Digital payments infrastructure also means gone are the days when money in and money out were entirely operationally distinct  - handled by siloed departments at either end of your business. Today’s payments leader can unlock value and efficiency by overseeing every touchpoint as money enters and leaves your business. 

Connecting the end-to-end movement of money on the digital rails that power local and international payments means your payments chief can improve your cash visibility, liquidity, and control, they can help you secure optimal FX rates for pay-ins and payouts, they can bring new, fast and competitive solutions for delivering disbursements to your customers and suppliers - such as real-time pay to card offerings. 

A steady hand on the tiller

But here’s the flip side of all this vast opportunity: Digital payments and fintech is a wildly fast-paced space. Innovation is everywhere. Sometimes there’s hype. Some things will win and stick. Others will drop away. Some hot new innovations will make sense for your business. Others really won’t.  It takes remarkable knowledge, leadership and insight to steer the ship and ensure that your company adopts the correct payments strategy and sees through a long-term plan. In this space, the winds of change make it too easy to be sent off course. 

This leadership will also take the form of holding ecosystem players to account. When Chief Payments Officers reach a critical mass, they will form a collective voice, which will put ever more tremendous pressure on schemes and regulators to deliver a fairer and better landscape for merchants when it comes to fees, rules and so on. How do I know? Because it is already happening to an extent among payments professionals. They’re forming communities to ensure fee transparency and to align on lobbying positions; they understand that their power is multiplied when they join forces and that, in doing so, all of their businesses stand to benefit. 

Identifying your CPAYO talent

So what does it take? Who is she? This is a person who understands your customers, understands finance and compliance, understands technology at its most sophisticated, and understands products. Tomorrow's Chief Payments Officers are already in the making today. They are problem solvers and inquisitive minds who are unpicking payments complexity like detectives. Their intellectual curiosity and determination take them on a daily journey around the business and well beyond as they follow every lead to its source so that they really understand how each piece of the payments puzzle fits together. 

They are planning for the post-cash world, where traditional POS terminals are replaced with new digital devices. And they’re planning for a world where ever tighter margins will be mitigated by payments tech, improving revenue and slashing costs. 

A career in payments has already transitioned from an ‘accidental profession’ to a highly competitive and intentional one. Its sheer range and complexity draw top-tier talent. There is a gap, therefore, in terms of professional bodies and qualifications to support what is clearly a career path that is more than worthy of its own dedicated communities and education. I anticipate a lot of activity in this domain within the next few years.

Payments are a serious matter for serious minds, and businesses need a strong and flowing talent pool armed to the hilt with a range of knowledge and skills. Yes, it’s excellent that payments people are busy educating themselves on the job. Still, when you have your Chief Payments Officer at the table, they and their team will need all the time they have to drive your company’s growth and resilience. That’s why at Checkout.com, we are focused on helping businesses maximize their acceptance rates. By providing actionable insights, advanced analytics, and expert support, we empower your payments team to optimize performance and capture every possible transaction.