It’s not hard to imagine why equal access to opportunity is still a major concern for women across the industry. Consider the boardrooms and executive leadership teams of major companies, and ask yourself: Who is often seen seated at the table?

Bridging the gender divide in 2022

The reality is that the number of women in the most senior roles has only marginally improved. To put this into perspective, a 2021 report by the Fintech Diversity Radar, commissioned by London-based data and analytics company Findable, revealed that women make up only 11% of all board members globally. Added to this, just 5.6% of all fintech CEOs are women, and less than 4% of women hold the C-level roles of chief innovation or technology officer. 

So, what practical steps can our industry take to break the bias in 2022 and drive greater change? First, it’s important to explore and address the subtle biases that exist, identifying where and what they are. This is especially important in traditionally male-skewed functions, such as Risk, Technology, and Finance as well as key leadership roles, where significant gender gaps are common. 

Across the industry, work is being done to raise awareness of where disparities exist. This includes addressing what is termed ‘affinity bias’, hiring or promoting people who are more like ourselves in appearance, beliefs and background, as well as ‘benevolence bias’, limiting an individual’s autonomy by presuming what’s best for them, even if it’s done in an effort to be kind. 

An example of this might be a conscious decision made by unconscious assumptions about motherhood which could result in a working mother receiving less encouragement and support to get to the next level in her career compared to a male colleague. 

To reduce the risk of unconscious bias, we need to recognise it exists and pursue proactive strategies to challenge the assumptions behind them. An obvious place to start is to look at how we’re structuring our recruitment framework and the processes for selecting new talent. Hiring systems are flawed and biases can pose an issue across the entire talent funnel. It’s important to consider all aspects of the talent management process and not only how to attract, develop, promote and retain female talent but also how to bring line managers along on the journey. 

Gender equity in the time of COVID-19

While the flexibility to work from home has been a great benefit to most, mandatory lockdown orders issued to mitigate the spread of the pandemic have also exacerbated deeply ingrained gender inequality as responsibilities for family well-being amid a global health crisis disproportionately fell upon women. Suddenly, many women and caregivers were catapulted into a scenario where they were forced to juggle the demands of their work alongside the additional tasks of caring for their children during school and nursery closures.

Now, with the restrictions of COVID-19 lifting, it is important we ensure that the pandemic does not leave behind a long-term negative legacy on the career trajectory of working women. As companies look to implement hybrid working models, they must also invest in opportunities for those who may find it less convenient to be in the office to ensure all employees remain visible.

Making time spent in the office more meaningful is key. We need to create more purposeful in-person opportunities that allow for those experiences that are less effective through on-screen interactions. These include networking events, informal coffee-break mentoring, and developing support networks among colleagues with similar challenges

Closing the entitlement gap

Overall, companies need to think openly about how they’re ushering in and achieving a balance between flexibility and visibility while establishing clear pathways for career advancement that are equal to their male counterparts. 

Initiatives rooted in supporting diversity, equity and inclusion and celebrations such as International Women’s Day do a great job of shining a spotlight on not only the wins but also drawing attention to the biases and specific challenges that women in the payments industry still experience today. 

The latest research from London-based women’s empowerment organisation The Female Lead indicates that the gender entitlement gap often stymies career progression among women in the workforce, particularly within the payments industry. The report draws attention to the fact that many women feel less entitled to ask for pay raises, promotions, professional support, and the ability to set healthy boundaries between work and home life, regardless of how well they are performing in their roles. 

Understanding that there is an entitlement gap is the first step. Closing the gap is about sharing stories and being bold enough to call out potential biases that this can create, including institutional policies and informal practices that perpetuate pay disparities and career outcomes for women. 

There is no overnight fix, but we can all advocate for more fundamental, enduring change. Payments is an incredibly exciting industry that continues to employ and attract a growing list of amazing female talent and leaders, but we have a long way to go. By coming together to recognise and talk about the reasons for the lack of representation, we can put more energy behind breaking through some of the barriers and creating an environment for women to thrive and transform the industry.

About the author: Paulette Rowe has led Paysafe’s Ecommerce & Integrated Solutions IES) division as its chief executive officer since January 2020. She has over 20 years of experience in the payments and financial services industries, and her leadership includes Facebook, Barclaycard, and Royal Bank of Scotland. 

As the payments industry whips itself into a frenzy around bitcoin, RegTech, and FinTech, the ‘good old reliable cheque’ is given an important new lease of life that the Government and the cheque clearing industry have been promising us for many years.

In our April edition, Finance Monthly speaks to Nathan Wain, Director at Solchar - the UK market leader in scalable payment and transactional imaging solutions, which was recently acquired by Hague Print, to find out what this means.

We have read recently in the press about the UK adopting an Image Clearing System, what exactly does this mean?

October 2017 will see all 11 member banks of the Cheque & Credit Clearing Company actually capture the image and data of cheques and use that electronic information to clear funds into payees’ accounts. With cleared money arriving into recipients’ hands no later than the next working day after deposit, the use of cheques suddenly becomes a different proposition. This change in legislation is significant for UK businesses, as the digital image of a cheque will replace the paper instrument and will substantially reduce clearing times from six to one working day. This will result in a huge cash flow benefit to individuals and businesses.

Nobody uses cheques any more though, do they?

Physical cheques still represent 10% and circa £1trn of all payments made. Nine out of every ten businesses still process physical cheques. There is a large demographic of people and companies that still prefer to use cheques. Now, with the introduction of cheque imaging, a much larger proportion of the population will be able to use this method of payment with ease and will not be limited by receiving payment through BACS or card payment. More importantly, it will also result in people not having to hand over their private banking details to unknown people.

Will this lead to more cheque fraud?

Cheque imaging provides new opportunities to combat fraud and tackle security threats that currently affect cheque users. Due to reducing the time lag, between when a cheque is written and money is being moved between accounts, cheque imaging helps eliminate types of cheque fraud that could take place within this time. Furthermore, similarly to what happens with card payments, banks will be able to contact the customer if they detect any suspicious behaviour, regarding cheque imaging.

Will the UK clearing system be ready in time?

Solchar has conducted trials with a large cross section of cheque users over the past few years. The trial has been an enormous success and we are currently working with many building societies and agency banks to make sure they too are ready. Electronic transfer of data and digital images enables payments to be sorted by computerised system at the clearing centre and directly transferred to corresponding payee via their paying bank. The process of data matching works better with the digital images instead of paper copies.

In summary, not only will each clearing institution be in possession of proof of transaction and able to perform dual control in verifying and authenticating financial transactions, but they will also save a significant amount of money and time by avoiding the need of processing, transportation and storage of physical cheques. More importantly, electronic cheque archives can be easily backed up and retrieved at any time, eliminating the risk of data loss.

So is this just helping the big financial institutions save money?

No, the real benefit to this change in legislation is the ability of individuals, small businesses, corporates and agency banks to use mobile or desktop scanners to remotely deposit cheques as soon as they are received. This means it is processed from the work desk or home without the need to physically go to the bank or building society. The ‘Remote Deposit Capture’ (RDC) concept, which first swept North America, will be a major benefit for UK businesses and consumers. Solchar are the only UK company to work with the 3 major cheque scanning companies – Digital Check, Panini and Cannon to provide a scalable solution for financial institutions and corporate customers alike.

Any final thoughts?

The cheque market has moved on, this all important and dependable payment method is meeting with new found enthusiasm, which will make life for UK cheque users far more efficient.

About Hague Print

Hague Print is a leading UK print solutions provider established in 1980, privately owned and a founder member of the Independent Print Industries Association (IPIA).

Offering an extensive range of business printing solutions, Hague is also a full member of the International Hologram Manufacturers Association (IHMA) and our management procedures are fully compliant with BS EN ISO 2015. At Hague we offer our customers outstanding, end-to-end solutions and printed documents for clients across the globe that offer the highest levels of security currently available on the market today. Operating in more than 50 countries worldwide, Hague offers a single point of contact for high quality and innovative bespoke print solutions to blue chip clients, international banks, governments, universities and sporting venues across the globe.

Design, innovation and software development sit at the heart of everything Hague does, we provide the most comprehensive range of brand protection, secure printing and cheque imaging solutions available in the market today.

CPRAS are the UK’s pre-eminent payment processing consultancy. They have designed and delivered Europe’s first Payment Services Framework to be available not just for governments but for private sector enterprises as well. In this interview with Finance Monthly, Andy Flavell (CPRAS’ Partnerships Director) explains how their vision for local councils and trade associations is changing the UK payments landscape. 

There is a lot of talk about the CPRAS Payment Service Framework. I know that, in most interviews, you like to focus on the innovative aspects of the Framework which allow the public sector to effectively remove themselves from PCI DSS compliance, but could you tell us more about how and why you set up a Public Sector Framework with a Private Sector mirror image?

The payments industry tends to surround itself in mystique, but under the surface it’s just like any other. If you are a massive client placing a huge order, then you can negotiate better quality and price deals than the small business can ever hope to get.

When we were building the PSF, we were actually putting together probably the biggest tender for payment services in EU history. We knew that we would get the best value service packages ever seen in the Public Sector and it seemed obvious to create the mechanisms that would allow Private Sector businesses to access these market-beating packages.

And what are those mechanisms?

We call it the Optimiser. Essentially, it’s an app which cuts through all the complexity around payment services.

The problem is that there is a very real difference between providing payment processing services to a business than to a government office. Processing payments carries risk – for example, a furniture business could close after taking deposits but before delivering the goods. In that case, the processor would have to repay the business’ debts. Risk costs – more “risky” processing will always be more expensive.

In the PSF, we asked the service providers to give a cost matrix for every type and size of business. In fact, the PSF had over 200,000 cost input options.

When we give an Optimiser to a Local Council, they can use it to identify and introduce the best payment processing rates and service packages available for any local business, from a corner shop to a global corporation. The Optimiser provides that business with a detailed breakdown of all the savings that they could achieve.

It’s all risk-free, but when businesses select a PSF service package, the provider will pay the Local Council a small % of the processing fee – for every transaction processed. Everyone wins: The Council has more profitable local businesses which recognise the additional help they have provided. The business benefits from service packages that have been based on one of the largest tenders in history. Even the service provider benefits, as they get new customers across a broad range of risk profiles.

So businesses should ask their local council if they have a CPRAS Optimiser?

Yes, or they could ask us who has an Optimiser that they could use. We are providing Optimisers to accountancy firms, Trade Associations and business support organisations.

The payments industry seems to be changing far more rapidly than ever before. Obviously CPRAS are right at the front of this FinTech explosion so what’s next on the horizon for you?

Christmas.