Friday, April 12, 2024
Following are highlights from the discussion with Silverflow Co-Founder and CEO Anne Willem de Vries (AW) and Aevi CEO Mike Camerling (MC).
How would you describe your partnership philosophy?
AW: The payments landscape is constantly evolving so I believe that partnering with companies that align with your core values and long-term strategy is the key to success. All our partners, including Aevi, bring decades of payments experience in technological innovation and share our ultimate vision – making payments easier and more accessible for everyone.
MC: The world of today is all about connections! Customers expect seamless integration of services across their digital lifestyle journey, whether online or in-person. Our goal is to facilitate these connections. To us, these connections signify partnerships. We aim to remove any barriers for our partners to collaborate with each other to jointly create solutions that matter to their individual customer bases.
How have partnerships in general helped to scale your company?
AW: Our strategic partnerships and collaborations have opened doors to many exciting opportunities, enabling us to connect with a broader audience and serve new industries. For example, we recently fast tracked our global expansion through the €15 million investment led by industry veterans and payments experts at Global Paytech Ventures. This could not have come about without our ever-expanding network and success generated.
MC: In the past few years, we’ve teamed up with some amazing partners, and it really helped our company grow. These partnerships enable the best in-person payment experiences with and for our clients. Our platform is designed to be open, fostering flexibility and choice, and that’s only possible by integrating as many partners as possible to bring our vision to life. We are a strong believer in open ecosystems, where all parties concentrate on what they can do best. At Aevi, our expertise lies in card-present payment orchestration, allowing a seamless collaboration with our industry-leading partners. We need the know-how from all over the payment world – from those who make the best hardware to those who run best-in-class online payment systems, and providers of value-added services, among others. This collaborative approach ensures that our clients can create exceptional experiences for their merchants and customers.
What initial attractions encouraged both of you to explore a collaboration?
AW: We both recognize that banks need to be supported in reclaiming ownership of their merchant propositions, so this new partnership with Aevi offers a flexible payment acceptance infrastructure and allows banks to re-establish control over the merchant relationship. Our alliance will also revolutionize banks' 'endless channel' offerings to merchants, empowering tech-minded banks to excel in the digital payment landscape.
MC: Aevi and Silverflow share the same goal of democratizing the payments value chain by removing the last existing friction points for all players. Each company achieves this mission by digitally rethinking processes that are still run on a legacy infrastructure, Silverflow by adopting a data-driven approach to processing and Aevi by adding flexibility and choice to in-person payments. This makes our complementary propositions extremely powerful, as it empowers industry stakeholders to turn their ambitions into reality.
What additional epiphanies did you experience during the discovery period that confirmed you were on the right track?
AW: Key to making a partnership successful is culture fit. Both Silverflow and Aevi have extensive know-how of payments, are tech savvy and have a getting-things-done aptitude towards business.
MC: Partnerships are often easier to announce than to maintain over time. In our collaboration with Silverflow, both parties dedicated significant efforts to not only fully understanding each other’s propositions and what value each brings to the table but also our respective company philosophies.
We appreciate Silverflow’s digital-native identity, operating with an open mindset oriented towards APIs. Conversely, Silverflow respects our roots in the more traditional world of defined and established standards, like nexo. This interaction has led to honest and open discussions, challenging one another, ultimately leading to the creation of an enhanced collaborative solution. How would you characterize the value proposition of this partnership?
AW: In simple terms we facilitate the smooth transmission of transactions from our clients to the card networks. Our focus is on providing cutting-edge technology, supported by a range of tools to assist our clients in this complex landscape. As such, we have very clearly defined what we consider to be within our scope and where we seek partners to provide specialized services – such as Aevi. Together we offer a flexible payment acceptance infrastructure, allowing banks to re-establish the banking relationship. By leveraging real-time, cross-channel data, they can become the forward-thinking partner that their merchants require to succeed in an increasingly digital world.
MC: Together, we deliver a turnkey solution to the entire payment value chain allowing players to treat their in-person channel, just like their online one by enabling choice, flexibility, and access to holistic data. We initially focus on acquiring banks, enabling them to bring their merchant banking services in line with the demands of the new generation of digital-first merchants. We allow them to combine an innovative payment acceptance solution with their core banking proposition, powered by deep analytical insights to become the flexible, forward-thinking business enablement partner their merchants require them to be.
What advice would you give other enterprises on vetting and cementing partnerships?
AW: The fintech world is facing many challenges, so it’s important to find partners that meet the right requirements for consumers and investors. However, you should not be put off by this and see it as an opportunity. Partners that are dedicated to solving real-world problems and think about the bigger picture will be able to adapt and flourish alongside you in the evolving fintech environment.
MC: This may sound like a cliché, but business partnerships are a lot like personal relationships. Invest in those who align with your vision, support you and are committed to mutual growth. If the basics are solid you can work through anything else. But if not, not even a contract can fix things.
How do you expect this partnership to enhance your organizations?
AW: Our collaboration combines best-in-class platforms, so banks have more control over their payment offerings to merchants in a swift and cost-effective manner. They will have more access to unparalleled data, speed, and innovation, alongside a proven terminal orchestrator. Making payments more convenient for our clients will in turn boost our organization’s reputation as an innovator in the fintech industry.
MC: Our partnership with Silverflow sends a clear and strong message to our internal and external stakeholders. We are committed to our mission as an in-person payment orchestrator to make in-person payments as accessible, data-driven, and innovative as the ones made online. In this partnership the sum is more than its parts and together, we believe we can achieve more than we could separately. We are excited to collaborate with acquiring banks and show them the benefits and value we can offer them. 
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