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, Kellie Johnson, SVP, Americas at RedCompass Labs, revealed how she “fell into” the payments industry but remains fascinated by the mechanics of it to this day. She also details why it is important to “never burn your bridges” and emphasises why it is always important to ask questions – even to yourself.
Where did you go to university and what did you study? What impact did this have on your current journey?
Not knowing exactly what I wanted to do, I studied business at Seneca Polytechnic in Toronto, and that foundation has had a huge impact on the path I’m on today. What drew me to the program was the mix of strategy, finance, and understanding how markets and consumers behave, skills that translate directly into the world of payments.
The program helped me see how important the financial system is as the engine that commerce and customer behavior relies on. It gave me a deep appreciation for how companies think about growth, risk, and operational efficiency, which is exactly the lens I see where payments fit and how the ecosystem is evolving.
It shaped how I approach my work today, from connecting market insight with client needs, translating complex concepts into practical outcomes, and always looking for where the industry is headed next. It’s the bridge between understanding how businesses operate and helping them navigate a rapidly changing payments landscape.
What first drew you to the payments industry and why have you stayed?
To be honest, I fell into payments. I had an opportunity for a summer job at one of the large financial institutions in Canada, working in their cash management and transaction banking teams, onboarding new corporate clients onto payment and related services.
I found it fascinating. Why did they use three different ways to move money, and why was it so important that their money moved smoothly and transparently? The link between liquidity management, smooth money movement, and transparency was so critical to a successful business, both from a growth and operational perspective.
25 years later, I’ve never regretted a moment. The industry has changed dramatically, especially in the last 10 years. I love the constant change, learning, growing, solving real problems like how does a family get an insurance payout as fast as possible for a flooded house, how does someone get paid after a shift instead of waiting for two weeks?
Are there any lessons from your first role in the industry which you still draw on?
One of the biggest lessons from my first role in the industry, and something I still draw on every single day, is that nothing in payments happens in isolation. Money movement is complex, and the only way you solve friction or move the industry forward is through collaboration. Progress happens when teams like product, operations, technology, and risk collaborate with each other and with the broader ecosystem of partners and providers.
Bringing teams together is when you actually make progress and have an opportunity to create solutions that work in the real world.
And the best advice I ever got was never burn your bridges. Payments is a surprisingly small industry, and you cross paths with people over and over again. The great part is that this industry is full of genuinely smart, passionate, and helpful people; relationships have become one of the best parts of my journey. You never know when someone from your past becomes a collaborator, a client, or the person who helps open the next door.
When was your first big break in the industry? Why was this such a significant moment for you?
This was definitely when I moved into one of my early product management roles at an international bank in the middle of building out their commercial cash management offering, and I was given a broad mandate across wires, bill payments, and cheque services like Positive Pay. It was a brand new team with a huge agenda, and we were essentially creating the value proposition from the ground up.
What made it such a significant moment was the environment I walked into. The bank was investing heavily in the market, hiring incredibly smart and ambitious talent, and was genuinely committed to significantly growing market share and becoming a dominant player.
We were in full build mode, working hard, moving fast, and learning even faster. It was fun, energising, and formative. I got to see firsthand how a focused, well aligned team with a passion for the industry can create real impact.
That experience shaped how I think about teams and what’s possible when people work together aligned towards a common goal and strategy.
Was there a moment you faced in the industry which really challenged you? How did you overcome this?
One of the biggest challenges in my career came when I stepped out of the comfort and familiarity of banking and moved into a fintech company that was leveraging a global payments platform and preparing to expand into a new market. Up until that point, I had always been firmly on the business side of the industry, focused on products, clients, and commercial outcomes. Suddenly, I was in the deep end of payment infrastructure and technology.
It pushed me to go well beyond what I’d done before. I had to get under the hood and truly understand what moves money inside a bank, how systems talk to each other, and where the opportunities lie in more modern, flexible architectures? It was a steep learning curve, but it completely reshaped my perspective.
What helped me overcome the challenge was being curious, asking a lot of questions, and surrounding myself with people who were generous with their expertise. Over time, I came to appreciate just how critical a strong foundation is when you’re trying to build new products or connect to new rails. That experience gave me a much deeper appreciation for the technical side of money movement.
What are some of the skills you deem essential to starting in your industry and how have yours developed over the years?
Curiosity, collaboration, and adaptability are important skills in payments. You have to be willing to dig in and understand how things really work, across teams, for your clients and stay comfortable in an industry that never stops changing.
Over the years, those skills have evolved for me, curiosity shifted from learning products to understanding infrastructure and challenges the industry has with modernising, collaboration grew into driving alignment with cross functional teams, and adaptability became about really being comfortable with change, and even energised by it, anticipating what’s coming next.
Who was your biggest role model – inside or outside of your industry – who continues to inspire you in your current career?
I’ve been extremely fortunate to “grow up” in payments surrounded by supportive, passionate, generous people. This industry attracts individuals who genuinely love what they do and are always willing to share their time, experience, and perspective.
I’m also lucky to have had one particular person who has shaped a huge part of my career. I’ve worked with her across multiple organisations, and every time I’ve had the chance to be on her team, I’ve had an opportunity to grow both professionally and personally. She’s smart, strong, resilient, and kind, one of those rare leaders who is both pragmatic and thoughtful, and who somehow always knows how to challenge you in exactly the right way.
To this day, she continues to push me to grow and helps me be a better version of myself. I count myself incredibly fortunate to be in an industry with so many champions, and peers who have inspired me along the way.
If you didn’t work in the industry, what other career option would you have pursued or would have loved to?
Funny enough, I was interested in criminology or something to do with making the world a safer place. I’ve always been fascinated by people, systems, and how things connect, and the idea of “catching the bad guys” appealed to me when I was younger.
What’s interesting is how much that early curiosity has come full circle in my current role. When I joined my current firm, I started understanding more about how deeply money movement is tied to financial crime.
Every payment tells a story, and the patterns behind those stories matter. It’s fascinating when you really stop to think about how payments and financial crime intersect, and how we can strengthen the system to protect people and businesses.
Lastly, what is some advice you would give to an aspiring person looking to get a start in your respective industry?
Ask lots of questions and dive in wherever you can, always connecting what you’re working on to solving a client challenge or looking to exceed their expectations. This industry is full of complexity and opportunity; look beneath the surface, and genuinely want to understand how things work. I still learn something new every day!
Also, build relationships. As mentioned, payments is a small, interconnected community, so invest in those connections, they matter more than you think.
If you stay open, engaged and collaborative, this industry will give you more opportunities than you can imagine.
