Acknowledging womens value and qualities across payments (and more) – EWPN awards

Sometimes women are left aside due to gender imparity and it is difficult to spot their talent, dedication, the value they bring to their profession (and family), and acknowledge it. However today it is not about all these difficulties, but about ways to overcome them and about celebrating individuals and organisations that stand out and do incredible things to make our payments industry a diverse and inclusive industry.

For the last three years, EWPN has been acknowledging and awarding outstanding women and leaders who can demonstrate clear leadership, mentorship, integrity, ethical standards, and professionalism and continue to make a positive contribution to the industry. The Paypers has sat with some of these winners to find out what gives them energy every day to stay positive and creative.

Young Innovator Award

Erika Dietrich is a VP Global Fraud Prevention Risk Services at ACI Worldwide. Erika is a sought-after industry expert, public speaker, and consultant. She has been recognized as a contributor to and advocate for the Women in Payments initiative, and successfully empowers her globally-operating team to develop and deploy cutting-edge fraud management solutions for the payments industry. She has also developed and applied for a patent for what would be revolutionary fraud identification tool.

As Director of Payments Risk Management, Erika manages a global team of 30 financial risk analysts, and acts as senior consultant on ACIs top ten key card-not-present accounts. She is an integral part of the ACI Payments Risk Management account team, recognized by ACI customers and her own peers as an unwavering advocate in the battle against payments fraud. Bringing her expertise to the wider industry, Erika is a payments advisor and serves on the North American Merchant Risk Council Advisory Board.

Laura Murphy is a Senior Legal & amp; Regulatory Counsel at Paysafe Group, based in London. She joined Paysafe in July 2016 and works at group level, advising the business on a wide range of regulatory topics and assisting with innovative new product launches. Prior to this, she has worked for a number of top-tier law firms and financial services organisations both the UK and Ireland, including Dentons, Deloitte and Mason Hayes & Curran, focusing on the regulatory aspects of financial services law.

Laura is a passionate ambassador for diversity and inclusion, both at Paysafe and within the wider payments and legal industries. In 2018, she was awarded the inaugural “Young Innovator” award at the annual European Women in Payments Network conference. Laura is qualified to practice law in Ireland, England and Wales and has a Business and Law Degree from University College Dublin.

Congratulations on winning The Young Innovator (TYI) prize! Could you please briefly explain what what were the strengths and qualities that enabled you to win this prize and the biggest challenge to overcome?

Laura Murphy: Thank you! Passion, courage and resilience. I have always been a strong proponent for diversity and inclusion, with a particular interest in gender equality. Whenever I have the opportunity, I talk about diversity and inclusion; whether that’s within my own company or the wider payments industry. All of this is done with one ultimate goal in mind - moving the diversity and inclusion agenda forward in a meaningful way. I haven’t been afraid to proactively seek support from senior figures to further this ultimate goal. I must admit that, at Paysafe, I didn’t have to face any resistance or challenge for the changes I wanted to make as the company had already started to focus on including women in the business environment. Outside of that, the macro challenges to overcome are perception and communication around diversity and inclusion. We need to find more ways to help men and women understand why it is important and how small changes can make a difference.

Erika Dietrich: Thank you! I guess that a strength or quality that enabled me to win this prize is my natural dedication on following-through on ideas and/or finding solutions to problems. This constitutes a fuel for continued advancement.

Some of the biggest challenges I had to overcome was (and is sometimes) obtaining resources and/or funding for product advancement given competing projects and resources, as every company doesn’t have unlimited resources a common challenge peers sympathise with.

On June 4th 2019, EWPN will host an Awards Dinner where different awards will be awarded to women and organisations in the fintech/ paytech industry. What advice would you give to women who want to be a part of it?

LM: My main advice would be “buy a ticket and book your travel!”. The EWPN Awards Dinner & Conference is (and will continue to be) a firm fixture on my calendar ever since I first attended it in 2017. The event not only provides great technical payments content of an excellent standard, but it is also a safe and supportive environment within which to meaningfully network with peers and senior industry figures. The Awards Dinner formally recognises men and women working tirelessly to further the diversity and inclusion cause within the industry. I would strongly encourage you to attend the event and nominate yourself or a colleague for the awards. There’s nothing to lose, but to gain a lot. I was honoured to be awarded the “Young Innovator” title, together with Erika, and it gave me a wider platform from which to shout about diversity and inclusion!

ED: If you have ideas or solutions, bring them forward with pride.

EWPN will be Money20/20’s partner in Europe for the “Rise Up” programme. The EWPN annual conference will take place at the RAI Amsterdam during Money20/20 Europe and will bring together speakers from across the industry to explore a diverse range of topics, building on the issues covered at the 2018 conference including open banking, mental health at work, European regulation, and women in leadership.