Kevin Olsen, Senior Vice President, Payment Solutions at VSoft Corporation is one of our many conference speakers at EPCOR Payments Conference – Spring 2019, presenting Gone in 60 Seconds – The Brave New World of Faster Payments. We took a few moments to get to know Kevin, including his vision for the future of the payments industry and what he feels is the top issue facing the payments industry.

Kevin is a very energetic fella! Just wait until you meet him. His energy is infectious. When I asked Kevin what inspired him, he immediately replied, “Oprah Winfrey!” He went on to explain that she is someone that has had the odds against her much of her life but continued to fight and move forward. “She has done so much to give back to the world and to provide, love, joy, inspiration and opportunity to others. It’s kind of funny because there was a time in my younger years that I couldn’t stand her. I suffered from a serious case of contempt or judgement prior to investigation. But, after learning her story, reading some of her books and listening to her podcast I have come to see her a vibrant, giving soul with a mission to help improve the world.”

We quickly shifted gears to payments, discussing how the industry is constantly evolving and where Kevin sees the industry heading in the next five years. He shared, “I truly believe we are moving toward more open banking. That, with the use of APIs and the rise of options in the realm of FinTech, we are seeing more innovation. End users want solutions and are not concerned where they come from as long as it solves their problems. If financial institutions won’t get creative and give end users what they want, then the Fintech world will.”

The number one area he foresees growth and opportunity… financial institutions interacting with faster/emerging payments! He explained that the changes in how people are conducting business, expecting to be paid and compensated quickly will drive this over the next few years. He added, “The innovations that we see in Fintech now for allowing for savings, investing, travel and conducting business are heavily pointing in this direction.”

We concluded our chat discussing the top issues facing the payments industry where Kevin shared, “I created a session once based off the philosophy of everything I need to know I learned in kindergarten. I believe that we have lost the thought of holding hands and helping each other to cross the road. The industry is dominated by terms like market share, ubiquitous and profit margins. The reality is that we have a diverse country, there are incredible amounts of people and businesses, some yet to even start, industries still to be created, and all of them need the banking industry to help, to support and to provide them with solutions. If the concept of open banking were to be defined as a banking industry where everyone works together to promote the country, the industry, their community and the people, then I believe a lot of these perceived issues would disappear.”