2022 CEO of the Year

CEO MONTHLY / CEO OF THE YEAR 2022 38 CEO MONTHLY / ISSUE 1 2023 15 B2B Travel Payments Made Easy Supporting some of the largest travel technology providers worldwide, Pax2pay provides digital payment solutions to make cross-border transactions faster, easier, and safer. We find out more from the firm’s dedicated CEO, Päivö Eerola in the wake of him gaining recognition as Travel Payments CEO of the Year 2022 – UK. Founded in 2019, Pax2pay is an award-winning digital payment solution, with the goal of modernising and simplifying global payments. Having operated in the travel industry for a number of years, and with customers in countries all over the world, Pax2pay is an expert in its field. The travel industry operates on extremely tight margins - the difference between a record-breaking year and potential difficulty generally sitting at around 5-6%. Travel businesses depend on being able to make payments across borders, however these transactions are admin intensive, and are subject to poor FX rates, steep bank charges, and delays. On top of this, they also need to factor in for market disrupting change. As seen with COVID-19, such change can be swift, unpredictable, and disastrous for many. So, it’s never been more important for those operating in the travel space to optimise their revenue streams and processes. Leveraging its industry expertise and experience, Pax2pay recognises the challenges facing the travel industry, and understands that payment processing across multiple providers, currencies, and payment methods needs to be frictionless. Therefore, the firm enables businesses of all sizes to transform their payments from a cost centre to a revenue stream, and to turn their processes from resource draining to efficient. Pax2pay has developed an advanced digital payment solution, which automates through a safe and secure API. With a choice of payment methods available, and an individual digital funding account, Pax2pay ultimately delivers faster and more effortless payments. Predominantly serving OTAs of all sizes across the UK and Europe, Pax2pay acquires its customers through multiple channels including direct outreach, channel partnerships, and digital marketing. Priding itself on having a solution designed specifically for the travel space, and a team of experts on board with the experience to really make a difference to customers, Pax2pay is eliminating payments related headaches that have been plaguing many travel businesses. “No one understands the pain points of the travel sector quite like Pax2pay, and no one can solve for them like Pax2pay either!” explains Päivö Eerola, the firm’s CEO. “Our customers are at the forefront of every decision we make – always with the aim of helping them eliminate the complexity that comes with cross-border payments.” The firm’s core aim as a business is to make travel payments easier, faster, and safer for Online Travel Agents (OTAs). Built upon a foundation of trust, transparency, and continuous improvement, Pax2pay is the go-to provider for B2B payments in the travel industry. With more than 20 years of experience as a CEO, board member, trusted advisor, and investor across the fintech and payments ecosystem, Päivö has seen leadership from all angles. Within these roles, he has found that the key to a successful business is defining clear targets for the organisation, and then enabling the team members to deliver on them by giving them the tools they need, and by placing trust in them. “Our team members are our most valuable asset,” he elaborates. “Each and every one of them plays a huge role in the business’ success, and I’m thankful to have such a hard-working and driven team.” Päivö goes on to tell us that recruitment has been difficult to navigate for the firm. As a small, young organisation, each new hire makes a huge impact and therefore it’s imperative that the company hires the right people to help it achieve its business goals. “I’ve often found that while skills can be taught, attitude is more difficult to learn. That’s why when hiring, attitude is the number one characteristic we look for. This sometimes poses a challenge as finding someone who ticks all the boxes takes time. It’s a constant toss-up between hiring fast and hiring right – so far, the latter hasn’t steered us wrong!” And Pax2pay’s success is certainly something to be admired, targeting for a 50% annual growth rate for the next 2-3 years, the company has ambitious plans. Diligently guided by Päivö, it is already on the right track. Having been recently recognised in the CEO of the Year Awards, Päivö clinched the much-coveted title of Travel Payments CEO of the Year 2022 – UK. “Our future growth will be the result of a range of new products becoming available to customers, including our recently launched Accounts Payable solution, broadening our geographic footprint, and optimising current solutions,” he enthuses. “There is a huge opportunity for growth for us, and our customers, in making B2B payments more efficient and we look forward to making the most of it.” Contact: Päivö Eerola Company: Pax2Pay Web: https://pax2pay.com/ Dec22359

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTUyMDQwMA==