Tuesday, May 11, 2021
"It's been an eventful and successful quarter for Paysafe," McHugh said, adding that the company listed on the New York Stock Exchange on March and paid down more than $1 billion of debt, strengthening its balance sheet and credit rating. "As a team, we've been able to execute against our strategy, driving growth at scale across the company and delivering on our key initiatives. We're starting this new chapter with strong momentum across the business and markets that we want to win."
In a subsequent interview with The Green Sheet, McHugh reflected on Paysafe's growth and provided the following insights about Paysafe's role in the global ecommerce ecosystem.
McHugh maintained that Paysafe's market focus and global stature has powered the company's year-over-year growth. As a global company headquartered in London with a sizeable presence in North America, Paysafe is fortunate to have thought leaders like Paulette Rowe, with deep market knowledge and expertise, he stated.
"Paulette Rowe ran payments for Facebook and then ran Barclaycard acquiring for many years and really knows the European payments landscape," McHugh said. "And we also have extremely deep roots in iGaming, ecommerce and U.S. acquiring."
Describing Paysafe as a close, agile team, McHugh said he routinely speaks with team leaders about key initiatives, including cloud migrations, iGaming platforms and vertical market expansion. Open communications keep people plugged in without being an echo chamber, he added.
McHugh noted that Paysafe partners facilitate trusted relationships and deep technology integrations, and its public relations and marketing teams publish a lot of high-quality content across various areas of specialization. As a specialized payment platform, Paysafe likes to go deep into complex verticals to focus on making the complex simple, a departure from his previous leadership roles, he added.
"At Barclaycard, my job was to compete with WorldPay, TSYS and First Data," McHugh recalled. "And here at Paysafe, we partner with the big acquirers and work with them for that last mile of processing with our gateway, digital wallets and eCash solutions."
In addition to strong partnerships, Paysafe's diverse capabilities expand its opportunities, McHugh stated. "In some cases, we might not win the gateway business, but they may want our Skrill or iGaming solution, so we're constantly helping to drive new customers and value," he said.
McHugh pointed out that Paysafe has scaled multiple business units by anticipating trends, a result of being plugged in to markets and regulatory landscapes across the globe. This has helped Paysafe scale its iGaming business in Canada, where it processes every province, and in the United States, where it has close ties to specialists in all 50 states, he added.
"We've hired people from online gaming and security, including the former CEO of MGM Resorts," McHugh said. "Bill Foley in Las Vegas is very plugged in and Henry Stewart Jones is one of the leading attorneys in iGaming internationally."
Input from the board executive level to sales and product teams provides abundant, high-quality insights, including cryptocurrency expertise from commercial and compliance perspectives from people who really understand how to undertake blockchain, he noted.
Identifying gaps in consumer solutions and product design is a key advantage at Paysafe, according to McHugh. He mentioned that Paysafe has been working with Clover to drive scale, improve operational efficiencies and provide a single boarding capability with TSYS, First Data North or Omaha.
McHugh characterized Paysafe as a deeply focused company, not a generic all-flavors player, that strives to understand its partners and grow with them. Looking ahead, he expects continued growth across unique and emerging markets, such as online video gaming.
"We sponsor an esports team, which has brought us into a whole different world, where we're speaking to people who are winning big money playing video games and doing tournaments," McHugh said. "Ticketing is another emerging capability that overlaps with sports and entertainment. We'll continue to build by going a bit deeper and focusing on specific markets."
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