It was November 2016, and I remember it being a cold but sunny afternoon. I was on my way to a client meeting when I received a call from a recruiter asking if I would like to work for a fintech company based at The Shard. My first thought… The Shard has offices?!
Five years, two office moves, a re-branding and a shiny new online platform later, I couldn’t be prouder of what I, and the company, has achieved. OpenPayd has evolved from a one room office in London into a multinational powerhouse with offices in five countries. We’ve even made the ultimate fintech move, establishing our London office right at the centre of Silicon roundabout in Old Street.
But my career in payments started well before I joined OpenPayd. From 2012-2016 I was working for one of the Big Four banks. I enjoyed my time there, but I remember being asked inmy first OpenPayd interview how I saw myself fitting into a dynamic scale up environment. Right there and then, it excited me. I would be moving somewhere that would be both daunting and exciting, but somewhere I could make my mark. Fintech was a whole new world for me and a chance to prove myself – I try and make that opportunity clear to others, now that I’m the one doing the hiring.
I joined the team in Jan 2017 as a Key Account Manager. My job was to manage and grow a portfolio of high value clients. It was an exciting time for me as I got the opportunity to learn so much more about payments. Having 5 years of payments experience already under my belt I thought I would have known it all, little did I know there was a whole new world of payments to explore within fintech!
In my second year I was building my own account management team. The team now has three stellar Customer Success Managers who excel at what they do, which makes my job a lot easier and quite frankly, a lot of fun.
In the past 5 years OpenPayd has given me the opportunity to progress up the ladder from a Key Account Manager to building a team and heading the Customer Success function. I have had the privilege of travelling abroad to attend some of the most prestigious fintech and payments events in Europe and network with industry experts. And I work closely with our Chief Executive and the founder of OpenPayd, who are both down-to-earth and approachable people.
I’m a strong believer in the saying "to improve is to change, to perfect is to change often". My journey hasn’t always been an easy one, but that’s something I’m grateful for, as having to adapt to changes has built my own character as well as the business. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this has also been the period of my life when I’ve hit milestones like getting married and getting my first mortgage. OpenPayd has helped me grow as a person – which has also been useful during the pandemic.
To anyone considering joining us, my advice would be to keep an open mind. It goes without saying that scale ups come with their own challenges, however, the rewards are there to be reaped. The right mind set and an enthusiasm for solving problems will make you stand out. A scale up like OpenPayd suits people with an entrepreneurial spirit who like to think outside the box.
So what’s ahead for us? Huge growth plans, both for the company and our people. Our product offering is always evolving to keep up with the dynamic payments landscape. We’re entering new markets and industries as we continue to discover new business cases. Being a customer-centric company enables our clients to keep on top of competition. We’re expanding rapidly across all our offices and would love to hear from people who want to join us on our exciting journey!
Shahrukh Khan is Head of Customer Success at OpenPayd.
