Payment Expert’s ID Check: Payments Professionals offers insight from industry leaders and experts on how they got their start in the financial industry, from their early years in education, to how they have been able to climb the corporate ladder.
This week, Eimear O’Connor, Chief Product Officer at Form3, explores her journey from the foundations of understanding that ‘every business is a people business’, to learning that if you prove your capability and value to a company, you will be rewarded with more responsibility and opportunities.
Where did you go to university and what did you study? What impact did this have on your current journey?
I went to University College Cork in Ireland, where I studied a degree in Finance, then I obtained a Master’s degree in Strategic Management and Planning at the Smurfit Graduate School of Business in Dublin.
In terms of the impact going to university had on my current journey, it gave me a huge understanding of the financial markets, such as econometrics, accounting, investment banking and trading. Then, studying for my Master’s degree, I gained valuable insight into strategic business management and planning in financial services.
It also helped me to decide that I wanted to go into the financial sector for my career. Having grown up in Fermoy, a small town in Ireland, it was a big ambition of mine to move to London, to understand what the city culture was all about – and my higher education enabled me to achieve this.
Did you have any jobs outside of the industry before making your start in it and was this experience a motivation to get into the industry you aspired to be in?
Before going into financial services, I had a lot of part-time summer jobs, such as working behind the counter at my grandad’s bakery, working in a local supermarket and a newsagent. Then, during my university years, I worked there supporting the postgraduate team in an administration role – I even managed to work for Cork County Council issuing driving licences.
On reflection, these jobs helped me to understand the importance of how you interact and deal with people. I think fundamentally that understanding every business is a people business has proven to be very valuable.
So no matter what you do, whether that’s interacting with your colleagues, customers or suppliers, everything you do in every business is about interacting with people. These are skills that are transferable and have benefitted my current career in fintech and payments.
What was the first job you had in the industry and are there any lessons from this you still draw on?
My first job in the industry was as a management consultant with a small consultancy practice called Capco. When I joined, I was part of an undergraduate training programme.
I think what was very beneficial to me was that it was a small consultancy. So it was very much a case of once you prove yourself to be capable, you can then take on more opportunities and responsibility – this still resonates with the work I do today.
I think this contrasted massively with other peers of mine who went through graduate training courses in much larger organisations. That path was much more of a steady kind of growth, whereas I think by joining a small consultancy it really opened the door for me to take on a lot of responsibility very early on.
We also got to do a lot of travel which was fantastic. I went to Asia, Hong Kong, Singapore, visiting many financial institutions throughout the UK and Europe.
Who was your biggest role model outside of the payments industry who continues to inspire you in your current career?
My biggest role model is Christine Lagarde, the President of the European Central Bank, and former Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
I am hugely inspired by her intellect and her bravery of decision too. She is a person who demonstrates a real dedication to being able to articulate what she believes in – and this then drives institutions to make decisions driven by those beliefs.
She has such an eloquent style of communication – especially in relation to policy decisions – enabling her to clearly explain the impact of why they’re necessary. I think she does a fantastic job of doing that in a very difficult environment.
I think she has proven to be successful in what is traditionally perceived to be a male-dominated industry. She’s also been impressive in her support for pushing forward the needs of women in the financial services industry.
When was your first big break in the payments industry? Why was this such a significant moment for you?
My first big break in payments was with my role at Capco. The company decided to set up a payments practice which hadn’t existed before, and I was chosen to work on this project.
This was quite a new departure for the organisation at the time. Payments was an area that the company didn’t know a huge amount about, and Capco had brought people in to try and build up the practice. That really morphed quickly, and I was provided huge opportunities to grow as I worked on that project.
This was a significant moment for me, as this work allowed me to be seen as a subject matter expert very quickly, and someone who could get things done. As payments were something new to the organisation, it wasn’t a traditional strength, and therefore, it allowed me to quickly demonstrate my potential and my ownership of this business area.
Then, when the time came to move on from Capco, I could already demonstrate a specific kind of subject matter expertise in payments, and this helped me in the next stage of my career.
Was there a moment you faced in the industry that really challenged you? How did you overcome this?
I think this challenge came in my first role at Form3 when I was its Chief Operating Officer. This was a huge and significant challenge, and it was also at the same time very exciting, as I had never operated in a startup company before.
In this type of role, you’re stepping in at an executive level where the expectation is that you are operating autonomously, to solve big challenges.
I overcame this challenge by looking to my user network for ideas and collaborative thinking. I spent a lot of time picking people’s brains, talking to people who had done this work before me, to tap into their specific areas of expertise.
Ultimately, when you’re in a challenging work situation, it’s about being able to put your hands up to ask for help and finding ways of using other people’s network for support.
Lastly, what is some advice you would give to an aspiring person looking to get a start in your respective industry?
I think from an individual point of view, I would say be bold, brave, courageous and be willing to make mistakes, as you will learn from this. I often say about myself that I’ve always operated best where I am in equal parts scared as excited.
In the payments industry, aim to be someone who colleagues can turn to when they know that you will get the job done, whatever that job is. It’s about what value you can bring to that organisation, because that is a huge skill that senior leaders will recognise, and that actually provides a huge amount of value very quickly.
I think one of the positives about selecting a career today is that there are so many resources available online. I would encourage anyone wanting to start a career in payments to attend free webinars and talks, and research the industry via LinkedIn.
Try also to understand the language and terminology of the business, so if you do get that lucky break, you’ll be able to understand what is happening in meetings and in the office culture.
