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Leaders In Payments
Leaders In Payments
Jonathan O'Connor, Division President, Third-Party Payments at Synovus | Episode 428
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.
Welcome to the Leaders in Payments podcast, where we talk to C-level leaders from across the payments landscape. We'll be discussing the products and services that impact the payment space today, as well as trends and predictions for the future of payments. We will also hear stories from our guests about their journeys to the top.
Speaker 2:Hello everyone and welcome to the Leaders in Payments podcast. I'm your host, greg Myers, and on 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 much for being here and welcome to the show.
Speaker 3:Hey, Craig, great to be here again and nice speaking. I think the last time we connected was 2002.
Speaker 2:It's been a while. It's been a while.
Speaker 3:I'm glad we're back together. So, if you don't mind, tell us a little bit about yourself, maybe a little personal and professional background. Yeah, as you probably can hear, I'm not from Dublin, georgia. I'm from Dublin, ireland, and I came 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 base here in Atlanta, georgia, and we love our life here in the South and you know, the kids have now all grown up there and really enjoying the SEC experience and I'm also enjoying the college fee expenditure. So that definitely is an experience for me. But you know, in terms of our life here, you know, from my own point of view, went through college, started in a financial kind of accounting space first and then took a master's in IT for strategic management, and I really have a passion for both payments and fintech and that's really a big thing about me From a personal standpoint. I like to play the drums, I'm a drummer, so I take percussionist, payments and fintech all in one.
Speaker 2:That's great. That's great. Well, if you don't mind, tell us a little bit about Synovus. Maybe give us the high level and then we'll kind of dive deep into exactly what you're responsible for.
Speaker 3:Sure, absolutely. Well, listen, synovus is the oldest bank in Georgia and, I believe, the best bank in Georgia 61 billion in assets. We're really all about community. We're about 244 branches strong, 4,900 employees and really you know what makes Synovus really special is its people, its passion to serve its customers, and I've really grown to respect the bank over the way it listens to its customers and the power of community.
Speaker 3:How I add value inside the bank is I lead a team called Third Party Payments and inside that group we manage the merchant services business where we support our bankers on enabling additional value to our bank customers If they have a business and if they have a loan or a deposit with the bank. We'll then support our bankers to introduce merchant services and add more value to the relationship for the bank. We also have a second division called the Sponsorship Bank Division and inside there we enable ISOs, payfax and even Fintechs to process Visa and MasterCard transactions. So you know a very, very well-established business. We're the largest ISO team in the industry 14-plus amazing people who were all really thesis people, and what really impressed me when I got to the bank was their experience. You know 25, 30 years experience in this industry and that intellectual capital is really something that's very special. Also, our risk and our AML BSA teams, their understanding of the industry and how we can protect the bank against residual operational reputational risk is something really special.
Speaker 2:OK, so a couple of follow on questions. So in the merchant services business, is that mostly small business or is it across the board?
Speaker 3: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 any community and I really feel very passionate about that. You know how we can help the small business in our communities, you know, with payment acceptance, but not only just payment. You know how can we help them differentiate themselves through data or through other forms of payment. You know, enable them through ACH, through credit card. We've got a great treasury product as well AR and AP. So you know how collectively can Synovus enable that business to not only grow their business but maybe also protect their business, because today, as we all know, fraud is a problem for everybody and for small business in particular. We want to be that trusted advisor as they want to grow their business and, particularly from a payments point of view, we lead from the front to do that.
Speaker 2:Okay, okay. So when I started in payments 20 years ago it was Chase Payment Tech, so we worked with the Chase branches right, and kind of the way the model worked then was a business walked into a branch, opened a checking account 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:I would say that you know the model hasn't changed that much. Primarily a bank is. You know we drive a lot of our focus around loan growth, deposit growth and auxiliary services. I sit in a bucket for really non-interest revenue. So you know we sit there and, as I said, we're all about enabling a more holistic relationship with the customer. So merchant would form part of that value add. I would say at the moment with treasury and other markets.
Speaker 2:Okay, so the ISO business, kind of that part of the business are there sizes of companies you work with or is it pretty much across the board?
Speaker 3:You know we're very selective in who we work with. You know we number one we protect the brand. You know Synovus is a well-established brand in the sponsorship business for over 20 years actually. You know a lot of other banks may have, you know, some challenges with regulatory issues and you know will damage their brand. So we don't go and work with everybody who's available to engage in a process with us. We're selective so we would probably work with, you know, six to eight clients a year and we're very happy with that because we have a very established methodology for onboarding.
Speaker 3:We have a very established methodology for review, not only protecting the bank, but we're also educating ISOs. We're also educating Payfax. We're also educating FinTechs around. You know how your policies and procedures should stand not only against Visa and MasterCard regulations, but also as they grow. They need to have this oversight, maturity and I think that's something very special that we bring, because, as I look out at the industry, I don't think not everybody does that. And for everybody to grow, you know growing commercially is very important, but also growing your framework inside your company is very important and we give that as a consultative sale to our prospective clients.
Speaker 2:Okay, and you have a third part of the business right, I think, the banking as a service. Is that still part of what you do?
Speaker 3:Yeah, we do. We also have a third part of our business called Mass and that was really our money as a service product. You know, while we're still active in the area, we're kind of waiting for the, I think, the industry to mature a little bit more from a regulatory standpoint. We're very encouraged by what's developing in the market, but we really feel that, you know, we'll pause, probably for the remainder of this year and probably the first half of 26. But I think I'm encouraged by what I'm seeing that we will probably get active again in that area towards the second half of 26.
Speaker 2:Okay. Well, what would you say, differentiates your company and your services from your competitors out there?
Speaker 3:I would say, you know, as we go back to, about the power of the community, we're very active in hiring commercial bankers in all of our regions and I believe in that myself. People buy off people, customers through our product innovation, through our willingness to listen to their business models, their growth ambitions and helping them through that. I really think that personal consultative approach makes Sanova stand out in the Southeast region banking network.
Speaker 2:Okay, you mentioned something I want to double click on and it's something that I think a lot of payments companies don't provide is that consultative selling right. You're out there helping them understand their business and how to improve their business, so can you touch on maybe, how that's part of a maybe core to what you do?
Speaker 3:Sure, look, we've invested in. Probably 80% of our team are new talent, passionate talent, but very experienced talent, who have come from processors and other banks. We've harnessed that expertise to bring it into our talk track and our DNA with our customers, where we look at not only the payment acceptance, we look at their business model, we look at how we can help with data, we look at how we can help with chargebacks. You know that's a problem and I mentioned risk earlier as well. So it's really, you know, as they have ambitions to grow, we work with them not only on payment acceptance but, you know, are they getting the right data for their reporting, for their financial packaging? Have they got the right controls in place for risk management? Have they got the appropriate chargeback management tools and do they understand the process when they get chargeback? So it's really bringing them through the full life cycle of payment and ensuring that, as a small business, they're adequately, sufficiently trained or have enough access to appropriate tools to manage their business and grow.
Speaker 2:Okay, all right. Well, let's switch gears a little bit and talk about you. So maybe walk us through your professional journey and how you ended up at Synovus, and maybe why you are at Synovus.
Speaker 3:Bank. I did the Y2K review for an Irish company actually and traveled most of Africa in 1998, 1999, you know, looking at payment systems and that was amazing. From there I was employee number six actually in EuroConnects, which was Elevant. So I was part of Bank of Ireland, 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 in e-commerce, cross-border acquiring dynamic currency conversion. I was the first acquirer for, like Adyen, which was Bibbit at the time, and Global Collect all these companies from Holland which really transformed the industry and also pay safe when they were surefire, you know, right back to the days when these guys were starting. So that was an amazing experience. And then first day they came knocking on my door and I relocated to the UK and ran their European business for e-commerce and also the EMEA business for e-com and was involved in multiple joint ventures, you know, in the UK with FDMS, aibms in Ireland, bnlp in Italy. So got to really travel a lot and, you know, culturally got exposed to a lot of different cultures and business methodologies and that was a great grounding, you know, to not only evolve my professional growth but also, you know, from a business leadership perspective. You know from a business leadership perspective. You know, be aware and work with so many cultures. I found that very intriguing.
Speaker 3:And then around 2012, ed Labrie, ceo first day at the time, probably wanted somebody who speaks funny to come over to the US and help them with the IPO and work closely with Barry McCarthy and other people there in the early days. And was also set up their emerging markets Verticals ran about 12 of the lines of business there and set up the gaming and gambling business, did the first transactions for FanDuel and DraftKings. I sat on the board of Telecheck and kind of revolutionized check cashing to be in the casinos. So that was an amazing experience as well. And then I got interested in crypto and got dragged back to Europe for a couple of years and took a company out of liquidation, secure trading and developed trust payments and grew that into a 40% quarter-on-quarter growth business and we did a lot in crypto in Malta.
Speaker 3:And then from there came back to the US, consulted with Barry McCarthy for a year in Deluxe and really helped them transform a little bit around their merchant business and also their treasury business and then ended up in Synovus. I really wanted to get exposed to banking as a service but also really get an education in banking but also bring my expertise in payments. I really admired Synovus as a forward-thinking bank because not many banks were doing banking as a service, you know, three years ago and not many banks have got the reputation and sponsorship that Synovus have done. So I really admired the bank for those two things and got to connect with some people like Wayne Akins and took on this journey, brought in a few folks from my previous adventures in business and we put together a great team and we're delivering double digit growth now every quarter in our businesses and we're challenging the norm and we get to win and work in a great bank every day.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, what are some things you're passionate about? So, maybe one work-related passion and one personal passion. You already mentioned drumming, but maybe there's something else. So maybe a couple of your passions.
Speaker 3: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 team to do that daily From a personal standpoint, building that bridge between, I think, banking traditional banking and fintech. As I mentioned today, I sit on the ATPC board. You know which we really look at policy in DC. I'm vice chairman of fintech Atlanta, where we're really trying to, you know, evolve and grow companies in Atlanta. We've over 244 FinTech companies here and you know 70% of all payments, global payments, come through Atlanta. So you know this is really an amazing hub spot and one of my ambitions is to make Synovus the bank of transaction alley and you know that excites me. That's one of my passions is really building that bridge between technology and banking.
Speaker 3:And you know, from a personal standpoint, obviously you know my family, you know my faith and really you know, I think from a personal standpoint, is trying to make a difference. You know, give back. When you're 25 years in an industry, giving back is a great thing. You know, one of the things I'm doing at the moment is I'm mentoring four kids out of UGA they're launching a payments company and to watch their ambition. You know their intellectual curiosity and you know they're about to go live in August with a product in Athens, in Georgia, and we're supporting the bank is supporting them, and to be part of that is truly amazing. You know, and it's one thing I've I've really enjoyed over the last 12 months, as I give back to particularly, atlanta has been a great city for me and my family and that's been great. Maybe I'm giving back a little too much. I'm now chairman for FinTech South, but also the MC, so my wife has told me to stop saying yes to everything.
Speaker 2:Well, I think we talked a few months ago and I think you had just been to Washington and on a trip there. Do you want to talk about that a little bit?
Speaker 3:Yeah, look part of the ATPC is we do a DC fly-in and we get to meet a lot of the legislators and state representatives and you know, to see the to be there as part of the Genius Act was was being, you know, been walked around and discussed, and, as a very passionate person of stablecoins and crypto, that was truly amazing. To see and to witness the passion around a payment caucus where hopefully someday we'll have some payment leaders involved at a regulatory and judicial level, I think is truly amazing. So there's plenty of organizations ETA, atpc. What everybody is doing is the right thing to bring more voice for the payments industry, for banks, for payment processors, for ISOs and for merchants. You know we are the lifeblood of the last mile solution for every transaction and I really feel that with the environment we're in now, hopefully from a less regulatory perspective, will allow innovation shine a little bit more and my hope is that we'll see that evolve now over the next two to three years.
Speaker 2:Okay, all right. Well, one final question, and it's going to be interesting to hear your answer because of what you're doing with the UGA students. But if someone's maybe they're graduating from college or maybe they're want to move out of an industry 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 this industry?
Speaker 3:First thing I would say is be passionate. You know I'm quite a passionate person, but you always got to link passion with purpose. So always have a purpose in how you're going to be passionate about and I think then you can do really extraordinary things. Be aware and be curious all the time. You know payments is an ever-changing industry, but I really feel we're on the next phase 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 to redefine payment. They're going to redefine traditional models like the payment gateway, the payment page, all these things we take for granted. You know we'll have agents doing that stuff now. So I think you know there's a lot of stuff there that, as you're entering here, things you're going to read about the payments industry which were quite relevant for five years, I believe will transform in the next two years. So, being curious and being up to date, you know, be open to change, be open to influence. You know I've always lived through a couple of quotes my father gave me, but one thing he always said to me was you know, through a couple of quotes my father 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, you know you'll never be able to influence, and I think that's really important.
Speaker 3:And one thing I would say there's a great book, the Power of being Yourself, by Joe Plumeri, and he talks about always play in traffic. What that means is get out there, go to conferences, join local payment groups or in Atlanta, I mentioned a few of those here For women. Women in Payment is an amazing know. Build your brand. Having a brand is very important.
Speaker 3:Payments is actually quite a small industry. When you break it down, you know there's pockets of people and if you meet these pockets of people 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 in traffic and have fun. You've got to enjoy what you do. That's half the thing about life. You know you're going to spend a lot of your career working. You've got to enjoy it. You've got to be passionate and I love what I do. I love coming to work and I love sharing my knowledge with people and I think you know as you get to your mid-50s, like me, and I think you know as you get to your mid-50s, like me, looking back, you know if you can feel like that you've picked the right industry.
Speaker 2:Yeah, totally agree. I think that's great advice. Yeah, I want to double click on one thing before we wrap up. You mentioned a little bit about the future of the industry and where it's headed. Just curious if you want to expand on that a little bit. I mean, there's so much going on in this space, but just kind of curious your thoughts as someone who's sort of a payments expert.
Speaker 3:Yeah, as I mentioned, you know, technology will always drive change in the industry. I think regulatory reviews will also change the industry. The role of Visa and MasterCard, the role of the big payment processors. You know, in Georgia we're blessed with an amazing piece of legislation, which is the Merchant Acquire Limited Bank Charter. You know where people are able to become a processor without being a bank? You know, friserve have applied for, have been approved. Stripe have just been approved. We know there's two or three other people applying.
Speaker 3:How does that merge with stablecoin? How does that merge with blockchain? You know how does international payments change when you have a blockchain where you can do a payment now over a blockchain with stablecoin in three minutes, whereas a wire takes five days. So all of these transformational changes, I think, are something we've got to be excited about, but also be cautious about, because fraud, fraudsters they embrace this as well. So you know, we've always got to be mindful of that.
Speaker 3:You know how far do we go out without having the proper controls in place? How far do we go out without having the proper regulatory controls in place? So it's an interesting balance act. Technology is moving way faster than regulation and it's a catch up, you know, whereas before I always thought it was like a year or two, the leaps in technology are so fast. Now, you know, we're talking five years jump. So it really is a catch up cat and mouse catch up race. And I think, sitting on the fence and watching this, for people who are starting their career, get involved early, be educated, be curious and get out there and play in traffic. It's an amazing journey ahead.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, jonathan, before we go, just want to open the floor, see if there's anything else that you wanted to talk about. Any subjects maybe we missed. Just kind of see if there's anything else you wanted to discuss.
Speaker 3:I would just actually like to thank you, Greg. I really do enjoy your podcast and I think for anybody who is starting in their career and want to get educated or learn from people, I would encourage them to go back and revisit some of your old podcasts. I think you've hit a milestone in terms of numbers at the moment. What are we at at the moment?
Speaker 2:About 425.
Speaker 3:Okay, Well, that's a lot of weekend listening, but I would recommend people to definitely listen to 400. If you listen to 400, you'll be an expert in the past, in the present and maybe you'll learn something from the likes of me about the future. So that was the only thing I would encourage people to do.
Speaker 2:Well, I appreciate that. So, Jonathan, thank you so much for being on the show today. I know your time is very valuable, so again, thank you so much for being on the show today. I know your time is very valuable, so again, thank you for being here. Thank you, sir, I greatly appreciate it, and to all your listeners out there, I thank you for your time as well, and until the next story.
Speaker 1:Thank you for joining us this week on the Leaders in Payments podcast. Make sure you visit our website at leadersinpaymentscom, where you can subscribe to the show and where you'll find our show notes. If you enjoyed listening, please share on your social channels as well.