Automation as the Real Product Behind the Rails

1. Your academic background is in classical philology and cultural management, not finance or tech – a fairly unusual path into payments sales. Does that background actually show up in how you sell something as technical and unglamorous as payment infrastructure to hospitality operators? 

I actually see my academic background as one of the elements that has shaped the way I sell, particularly in a sector as complex as payments and hospitality technology.

My studies have been quite broad: I started with Letters and Philosophy, then developed my education further in Finance and Economics, and completed a Master’s Degree in Marketing and Communication. Although this may seem like an unusual combination for someone working in payments, each part has been very useful throughout my career.

I moved into the Hospitality industry immediately after completing my studies, initially working in sales, and from there my career progressively developed across Hospitality, Travel Tech and Fintech. So I did not enter payments from a purely financial or technical perspective. I came into it from the perspective of understanding businesses, customers, technology and, most importantly, how to communicate complex solutions in a way that makes sense to the person buying them.

That is where my academic background really shows up in my sales approach. Philosophy and humanities taught me to analyse, question and understand different perspectives; Finance and Economics gave me the ability to understand the commercial and financial implications of a solution; and Marketing and Communication taught me how to translate that knowledge into a clear and compelling proposition.

Payments infrastructure is not necessarily the most glamorous part of a hospitality business, but it is absolutely critical. You are dealing with money flows, risk, compliance, technology, integrations, operational processes and ultimately the guest experience. Hospitality operators don’t necessarily want to hear about the technical architecture first. They want to understand what the solution will improve for their business, what it will cost, what risks it will reduce, and how easily it can integrate into what they already use.

My experience in Fintech also naturally pushed me towards the financial side. Initially, my approach was very much technology-led: understanding the software, the integrations and the ecosystem. Over time, I moved towards understanding the payment solution itself and, particularly, how payments can be directly integrated with software providers and embedded into the technology that hospitality businesses already use.

So, in reality, my background has been complementary rather than disconnected. It has given me the ability to look at a payment solution from several angles — technology, finance, business, communication and the customer’s perspective — and then translate all of that into a commercial proposition that a hospitality operator can actually understand and value.

I think that ability to connect the technical and financial complexity of payments with the practical reality of hospitality is one of the reasons I have been able to build long-term relationships in this industry.

2. SysPay recently partnered with Volt to bring Pay by Bank and real-time open banking payments to your hospitality merchant base. What are you actually hearing from vacation rental operators when you raise the idea of moving away from card rails – genuine interest, or resistance to changing something that already works?

I see Pay by Bank as a potential competitive advantage and a real game changer for SysPay, particularly in the European vacation rental sector.

The market is still relatively new, so naturally there is some education required. However, when we explain the economics and operational benefits, the proposition becomes very compelling. We are not asking merchants to abandon cards, which are still essential; we are giving them an additional payment rail that can be more efficient and secure for specific types of transactions.

The benefits are significant: lower payment costs, no card interchange fees, reduced exposure to chargebacks, strong security, and a potentially more seamless transaction experience without the traditional card decline dynamics.

For vacation rental operators, where margins are closely managed and transaction volumes can be substantial, even a small reduction in payment costs can have a meaningful impact on profitability.

So I see Pay by Bank not simply as another payment method, but as an opportunity to improve the overall payment mix. If we can combine the convenience of an integrated solution with lower costs, reduced risk and real-time payment confirmation, it becomes a very strong value proposition for our merchants.

For SysPay, this is strategically important because it strengthens our position as a payments partner that is not only processing transactions, but actively helping hospitality businesses evolve towards the next generation of payment infrastructure.

3. You joined SysPay when it was carving out a niche as a payment institution built specifically for hospitality. Eight years later, generalist players like Stripe and Adyen have moved aggressively into travel. How has that changed the pitch you make to a vacation rental operator deciding who processes their payments?

The competitive landscape has certainly become stronger, but I believe it has also reinforced what differentiates SysPay.

SysPay was built specifically for Hospitality. Our payment infrastructure was designed around the needs of the Travel Industry, rather than adapted from a general e-commerce or retail model. That means we have developed specific functionality around the operational reality of hotels, vacation rentals and property managers, as well as the guest journey.

Players such as Stripe and Adyen are extremely strong brands with very powerful technology and broad capabilities. We absolutely recognise that competition. However, their origins are broader, whereas SysPay has always been deeply specialised in Travel and Hospitality.

When I speak to a vacation rental operator, therefore, I don’t try to compete simply on brand recognition. I focus on the product, the flexibility of the platform and how well it addresses the specific challenges of their business — from payment automation and virtual cards to integrations, transaction management and the overall guest experience.

The fact that our technology continues to evolve specifically around the Travel sector is a significant advantage. And, of course, pricing and the breadth of solutions we can provide reinforce the commercial proposition.

Ultimately, what makes the difference is not who has the biggest brand, but who understands the industry’s complexity and can provide a payment infrastructure that genuinely works around the way hospitality businesses operate. That is where I believe SysPay has a very strong and defensible position.

4. Before SysPay, your background was in traditional hotel distribution and hospitality software – WIHP, Ermeshotels, SYSDAT Turismo. What’s genuinely different about selling payments to a vacation rental operator managing dozens of scattered properties versus a hotel with one front desk and one PMS?

One important point I always make when I talk about our work in payments is that we are not only in the payments business — we are also in the Information Technology business. That distinction is important, because my previous experience with software providers is a natural extension of what I do today and a significant asset when it comes to understanding and selling payment technology.

In both cases, I am essentially selling technology, but with different objectives. I moved from managing and optimising the booking process to managing and optimising the payment process. The underlying principle is the same: eliminate manual work, reduce errors, optimise workflows, and make sure everything is centralised and integrated within the same ecosystem.

The difference becomes particularly significant in vacation rentals. Managing dozens or hundreds of properties means dealing with multiple reservations, payment schedules, channels, virtual cards, transactions and reconciliations simultaneously. At that scale, automation is not simply a convenience — it is essential.

That is where the conversation with a property manager becomes very different. We focus heavily on automation, payment and booking reconciliation, and giving them a clear and consolidated view of their financial position.

Ultimately, the value of the technology is not just in processing a payment. It is in creating operational control: making sure that bookings and payments are aligned, information is accurate, manual intervention is minimised, and the property manager has a clear view of the business and its financial performance across the entire portfolio.