Elavon shines at Women in Payments Symposium 

Atlanta (February 24, 2021) - Elavon recently provided insights on important industry trends, shared career experiences and earned recognition at a U.S. Virtual Symposium hosted by Women in Payments, a global association dedicated to connecting, inspiring and championing women across the industry.

Terra Wallace, head of education and engagement for Elavon’s revenue team in North America, received the Women in Payments Change Agent Award for her work to transform sales training, employee engagement and the onboarding experience for new hires. Wallace is also recognized for championing diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace and in the community.

Pelwasha ‘Pel’ Faquiryan, who oversees the services Elavon provides to U.S. Bank customers, was a finalist in the Distinguished Payments Professional category. Joy Lyons, who oversees customer service for Elavon in North America, was a nominee in the Educator Award category.

Insights on Payments industry trends

Elizabeth Hoemeke, who manages information technology strategy and global business services for Elavon, spoke about innovation in payments and what the customer experience will look like in the post-COVID-19 world. Hoemeke highlighted how Elavon was accelerating adoption and moving to an agile delivery service.

“Consumer behavior has forever changed due to the pandemic. Right now, we see contactless ordering and payment, at-home delivery for groceries and restaurant meals, and retail using virtual shopfronts as the new normal. In this shift to ecommerce, more merchants and partners rely exclusively on APIs and SDKs to remain competitive. Elavon saw a 60% increase in these integration methods. We were able to react quickly, leveraging our agile delivery capabilities to accelerate our digital transformation,” she said, which includes do-it-yourself (DIY) and do-it-together (DIT) capabilities to help customers who want to self-service.

Hannah Fitzsimons, president and general manager of Elavon Merchant Services in Europe, was featured in a session on career growth and personal experience during the pandemic.

On leadership, she said: “It’s important to challenge yourself and have the confidence to manage uncertainty to progress your career. When I asked to move from a technical to a commercial role, I navigated this change with the trust of my team. We were able to bring together specialist expertise, learn together, and ultimately, deliver excellent results.”

Pel Faquiryan spoke to how the pandemic had shifted payments to digital commerce and accelerated contactless technology. She described how the pandemic has changed the conversation around cash, “as touchless payment and digital wallets become ever more accessible to consumers, you see more widespread adoption from merchants.”

Future opportunities

Elavon is a gold-level sponsor of Women in Payments and will be working with them throughout the year to provide opportunities for women professionals to grow and learn, while also sharing insights with peers across the industry.

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is both a commitment and business imperative for Elavon, part of U.S. Bank.

“Women in Payments’ mission reflects our action-oriented approach to embed DEI into our plans for growth. We are actively developing women professionals to help them build connections to progress their careers and drive positive change in payments across financial services,” adds Jamie Walker, Elavon CEO.

Elavon will be taking part in the Women in Payments symposium in Europe in April, and will be engaged with awards and mentoring opportunities in the United States, Europe, and Canada.

“We are extremely pleased to have Elavon participate as a Gold sponsor to help women realize their career aspirations in payments,” said Kristy Duncan, CEO and founder of Women in Payments. “It’s an exciting time for women to lead, innovate, and build careers in fintech with the rapid transformation occurring across our industry.”