Lawrence Lerner of LEAD Forward On The Top 5 Future Payment Processing Trends

An Interview With Rachel Kline

Full contactless everywhere. No credit cards and card readers are reduced to an NFC chip. Both reduce friction in the card environment, reduce environmental impact in the manufacturing world, and no need for shipping or replacement cards.

As we move further into the digital age, the world of e-commerce continues to evolve, particularly in the realm of payment processing. Cryptocurrencies, mobile wallets, contactless payments, AI-based fraud detection, and more are constantly reshaping how consumers make purchases and how businesses collect payments. Keeping abreast of these changes and understanding how to leverage them is crucial for any business operating in the e-commerce space. What are the upcoming trends in payment processing? How can businesses adapt to these trends to provide a seamless and secure transaction experience for their customers? In this interview series, we are talking to ecommerce experts, fintech innovators, and payment processing specialists, to share their “Top 5 Future Payment Processing Trends”. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Lawrence Lerner.

Lawrence is a wealth engineer. Companies he has worked for have earned nine-digits of revenue growth, ten best-in-class industry awards, and the recognition of analysts and peer companies. By taking big ideas and internal R&D, he creates viable products and services, seeing the interconnectedness of systems, data, and user needs in often unexpected ways aligning with a company’s mission and vision. He builds the right teams, go-to-market, and scaling strategies to become the market leader and box out the competition. How?

He took unattended Retail pioneer Avanti Markets and created eight-digits of growth, setting the company up for higher multiples at acquisition by 365 Retail Markets by adding the college and university market, broadening the forms of payment, and building a true digital wallet. He created six new hardware platforms, adding Machine Learning and computer vision to product selection, created a superior design and user experience allowing for new kiosk placement in public venues such as airports, and then found ways to monetize the transaction and product purchases (targeted advertising, partnerships with card brands) across 350 Operator licensees.

Before Cognizant was a mainstay in offshoring, he developed the Portfolio Analysis methodology. Skeptical clients needed to see systematic ways to identify risk factors, technical needs, and people processes to outsource the right systems, resulting in eight digits of growth over the first year.

He built out the European presence at UST and Cognizant, winning ten new logos in the first years and resulting in nine-digit businesses by reshaping services and processes for local markets. Lawrence opened the Latin America presence for 365 Retail in under two months by re-building payment technology and techniques.

Thank you so much for your time! I know that you’re super busy. Before diving in, our readers would like to get to know you. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory and how you grew up?

My love of technology and interconnected things started as a child. As a child, I would look through the local junkyard for bits of technology to take apart. One day, I found and took apart an old-fashioned public phone. Seeing how things worked and putting them back together in new and different ways was a source of endless fascination. Back then, phones had magnets (what kid doesn’t love strong magnets?) in the receivers, and there was a blend of mechanical and electrical parts. Taking it apart and putting it back together in “working” order started me investigating the interconnectedness of devices and how people used them. Everything was new and different; I wanted to know why there was a rotary dial instead of buttons. Why was everything made out of metal? I thought about the annual birthday calls I was on with distant relatives. I held a device that I knew had a counterpart somewhere else in the US, and wires were running between those two devices. Putting coins or bills into a slot that allowed me to make a phone call or buy things from a device was my first lesson in exchange and interconnectedness.

It set me down the path of taking apart everything I could get my hands on. Putting them back together was an equal joy because I often had “unique” ways of doing it. There were often leftover parts and conversations with adults about how and where I got my hands on devices. I found common elements in all the things and experimented with swapping parts. Those experiences left me with three needs.

• I needed to know why hardware and software were designed in specific ways. The interface, the tactile feel, and usability continue to be a source of tinkering.
• How do the insides work and make lights blink, sounds come out, or perform specific functions?
• How does value (cash, credit, crypto, assets (e.g., stocks)) go from one place to another, and with guarantees?

Fast forward to my sophomore year as a computer science student. One night, I was “rewriting” one of the core operating system programs on the university’s network. I might have added some code that was unnecessary but interesting to me. I felt a hand on my shoulder; it was “Ernie,” the head of the university’s support team. “User e232, you clearly have too much time on your hands. Let’s talk.” Instead of a trip to the Dean, Ernie put me to work in the computer center and, over time, gave me a lot of responsibilities. In those days, only a handful of people on campus had regular computer access, and few knew the “Internet.” I helped students and faculty by answering technical questions, managing the university’s host file (in the days before you could type in a text domain name), helping people format their dissertations, and fixing printers.

I learned how to talk to people who weren’t technical and often much older than me. I began to learn patience by working with computers. I became endlessly fascinated with moving digital assets from one place to another. If you could send an encrypted email, why couldn’t you find a way to encrypt a token of value and send it from one place to the next? It bothered me so much that my first job was to build a credit and debit card processing system for Follett (the leader in campus retail technology).

It was those formative years that catapulted me into leadership roles. I was the tech guy who could bridge the gap between technology and business. I was able to speak plain English about complex and interconnected systems.

What led you to this specific career path?

The internet and interconnectedness were an obsession from a young age. Like most people, Nature was the first ecosystem I studied. The interactions between the environment, plants, fungi, and animals were mysteries to unravel. Understanding how each related to the other, the transfer of one to another (oxygen, CO2, plant matter, seeds, animal by-products) had me drawing crude exchange diagrams. It brought together chemistry, biology, and psychology in the form of behaviors. I always remembered the lessons of taking apart the telephone. In high school, I took advanced biology, math, and chemistry classes and did research projects with mushrooms. I was fascinated by how their root system worked and how they converted other biological matter into usable forms. I was sure I would be a biologist.

I was also an avid reader. I read a lot of esoteric and science fiction literature; then, someone introduced me to programming. I could interconnect programs and data and create interactions between users. It reset my focus and purpose in life. I wanted to connect things and, more importantly, understand other people’s motivations for connecting with others. I could build ecosystems.

That first experiment with the phone continued to plague me about exchanging value. Items of value, for good or ill, and their exchange has been at the core of our society for thousands of years. The list and methods are vast: barter, coins, paper notes, cryptocurrency, tokens, and items of value (livestock, art). They are one way we interconnect; value exchanges have profound sociological and emotional connections. I was hooked on engineering and understanding the interconnectedness between people, programs, and anything that makes an interchange.

Can you share the most exciting story that has happened to you since you began at your company?

Tricky. I’ve traveled over five million air miles, have great memories, and met many great people. Exciting falls under the old Chinese proverb, “May you live in interesting times.” My first product was the debit card system I designed and built at Follett. We used student cards as the ID and manager of stored value. Parents deposited funds into student accounts, and students could make purchases anywhere on campus. I remember string cables for short-haul modems with my boss to the campus bookstore and cafeterias.

After months of development and testing, the first time I watched a real user at the bookstore was mind-blowing. Before this system, everything was done with cash. Now, they could choose their purchases, walk up to the cash register, have their books scanned, and swipe their ID card. The register spit out a receipt; that first student stared at their balance and walked away. I had connected the university, their parents, themselves, and an inventory system. I had built an ecosystem.

Six months later, my boss came into my office. The head of the university’s facilities called him in a panic. The server had crashed. In those days, hardware failures were not uncommon, and fault-tolerant computer systems were expensive. No one could buy anything on campus because they stopped carrying cash. For a day, commerce ground to a halt. Six hours later, I was on a flight with two new servers. One as a replacement, one as a backup. I learned what it meant to fail the people who depended on my technology.

Was the hardware crash my fault? No. Did I feel responsible for the ecosystem? Yes. I learned that it’s not just the programs and hardware; I had changed people’s behavior and hadn’t considered that. I have never forgotten that lesson.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?

The next evolution in unattended Retail that I’ve dubbed humnlss. The art and science of building e-commerce products and services that autonomously improve the consumer and operator experience at scale. humnlss is where e-commerce meets everyday physical locations (vending, car washes, laundromats, take-and-go stores). It enables us to bring retail and services to more people. It reduces overhead but also provides jobs in restocking, route management, and more. It’s an opportunity to address the issues of food deserts at a reasonable price point. humnlss thrives with digital wallets. When digital wallets are connected to an ecosystem, such as retail outlets, their peers, service stations, and government services, allow people to participate in the economy and improve economic safety. Capital assets in the form of fiat (local) currency, cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, Ethereum), or tokens (XRP) are more safely accessed and exchanged. The participants are instantly part of an ecosystem. Available to give and receive loans and credit, much like credit union members who have a lower barrier to entry in those markets. People with more income and credit sources have access to a two-sided market where loyalty programs increase the stickiness of any store or brand.

You’re a successful business leader. What are three traits about yourself that you feel helped fuel your success? Can you share a story or example for each?

A good question and one that I don’t often think about. Three things people have observed, that made their way into my second book

1. I’m calm.

Being calm or fearless as a leader means having the courage to take risks and make decisions that could have a profound impact. That’s the job. Leadership is a character quality; it’s not about position or having a team. Instead, leadership is about influence — and that starts with being fearless. It also means not allowing your worries about the consequences to get in the way of taking action. Leaders face many challenges and obstacles throughout their careers, but fearless leaders can overcome them by staying calm under pressure and remaining always composed.

Leaders don’t worry about what others think or say; they lead from their hearts and follow their instincts, no matter how much resistance they may face. They’re not afraid to take risks because they know failure is part of success (and vice versa). They don’t wait for opportunities to come knocking at their door. Instead, they make it happen and have the experience and data to support their decision.

Calm comes from experience, expertise, or both. Perhaps you’ve never made a dinner for 30 people. You are a competent cook and a planner. There is the option to ponder all the “what ifs,” the things that could go wrong, but you know you have a solid foundation. A solid foundation is an equal part of being fearless.

Fearless leaders don’t let their worries get in the way of their beliefs or creative thinking. They know that if they are too worried about what might happen, they won’t be able to focus on what is happening right now. A sense of purpose is a strong belief in why you do what you do. It’s more than just having goals or even being passionate — it knows why those goals matter and how they relate to the world at large. You can develop your sense of purpose by asking yourself: Why am I doing this? What impact does this have on other people? Does this make things better?

Food for thought:

• Calm isn’t reckless, blind, or impulsive. The sum of your experiences and character measures it.
• Fearless leaders don’t let their worries get in the way of their creative thinking.
• Being fearless doesn’t mean you don’t feel fear; it means you don’t let fear control you.
• Knowing when to say no or not now is part of being calm.

Leaders must be calm when it comes to doing the right thing. However, they should never let fear stand in their way of making decisions that benefit the organization, even if they may not personally agree. It’s essential for leaders who want to impact their teams and organizations.

2. I practice suspension of disbelief.

Suspension of disbelief is willingly pausing your critical thinking while in the midst of some action, participation play, or thought experiment. We do this all the time while watching movies (“I Believe You Can ”) or reading fiction (“We are in a post-modern society without currency”).

The benefits of suspension of disbelief go beyond simply improving creativity, though — it also encourages empathy and open-mindedness. When immersed in fiction, it’s easier to see things from another’s perspective because we know they’re not real or happening today. This makes it easier for us to understand why someone would react the way they do when faced with adversity or conflict. It also helps us see ourselves as part of something bigger than ourselves — even if only temporarily!

In the corporate world, it allows us to design, build, and sell things that may not exist or have been tried. Once upon a time, I worked with a brilliant former CIO who had come to our consulting company from a well-known consumer software company. While explaining some of our services and what we would offer to new clients, she pointed out that we had never delivered anything like that. Then, with her CIO hat on, she critically analyzed the work, the methods, and our team. Finally, she looked at the service from her experienced buyer’s vantage point and explained why she should not buy the service from us nor why she would not (not could not) in good conscience sell it.

It was a good exercise in suspension of disbelief. As a team, we developed many new services and technology delivery methods that were adjacent to the work we had done. As a result, we have won numerous awards for innovation and leading-edge processes.

Suspension of disbelief is an essential tool for developing empathy. It allows us to see things from another person’s perspective, which can help bridge gaps between people and make the world more understanding. It takes us beyond selling things and into corporate culture. When we desire to believe and observe that others can do things we didn’t expect, we can quash ableism, racism, and other defeatist “isms.”

3. I’m versatile

People, technology, and the world stage are in constant flux. Even small changes on a grand scale have a big impact so it’s essential to be able to adapt.

I take a growth mindset that believes dedication and hard work can develop your abilities or business, covering a broad range of needs. It’s the idea that intelligence and talent are not fixed but things you can build on over time. Another way to say it is that you and your business can always outachieve previous success. Too often, we concede by telling ourselves that someone else is more gifted, well-funded, more intelligent, well-established, etc., and never gets in the race.

People with a growth mindset believe they can get smarter, stronger, or better if they work at it. I see changes in the ecosystem and believe in incremental improvement rather than sudden change; they don’t think of themselves as naturally gifted at something — they desire to do better. So it’s a matter of mapping out growth skills, defining the experience needed, and then doing the work. It’s allowed me to build up a wider range of skills and experiences that adapt to new situations. It contributes to my ability to be calm.

Excellent, thanks so much for sharing that. I want to shift gears and talk about e-commerce. What was the original vision for your e-commerce business? What pain point(s) were you trying to solve for your customers?

The vision was always more scale, more transactions, and what can we learn from people’s transaction behaviors? Where do they shop, when, and where do they go before and after certain transactions? These become monetizable assets for the transaction holder and their partners. It’s also a closed loop for people in the purchasing ecosystem. As a consumer, it helps you manage your spending patterns.

As above, the development of a complete digital wallet creates opportunities for consumers, merchants, and financial intermediaries.

How do you see the e-commerce industry evolving in the coming years?

I hope we finally drop the “e,” mobile, and other add-ons. It’s all commerce and contributes to local and global economies.

There are a few trends in the ecosystem.

• Peer-to-peer payments like Venmo and CashApp are fully integrated for small ticket purchases. Block (formerly Square) owns both CashApp and Square. Common processes and wallets, make everything available via mobile apps.
• Impact. Online commerce requires more packing and shipping, which uses resources differently than going to brick-and-mortar stores. Amazon has become more eco-friendly with packages and packing materials. Triggered by home delivery growth during the pandemic, we should see it continue and new markets open for friendlier packaging. Strategic placement of distribution centers improves as distribution companies look to have lower impact on traffic and the environment.
• Embedded payments become the norm for merchants. One-click shopping and lower friction improve sales and give consumers a more secure feeling, especially as these are coupled with virtual cards.

How do you balance the need for innovation and experimentation with maintaining a stable, reliable e-commerce infrastructure?

Non-repudiation is a ten-dollar word that means we can guarantee

• The identity of the sender and receiver
• That the transaction is intact

It is a legal term ensured by technology. As long as the criteria are met, we can be creative with all other aspects of the transaction. There are five components to e-commerce: merchandising, ordering, payment, fulfillment, and customer support. Where we transact (kiosks, mobile apps, unattended Retail), what we transact (local currency, cryptocurrency, or tokens), merchandising (dynamic video displays, QR codes on posters or menus), and fulfillment (e.g., drones — everyone laughed until a certain large e-commerce company hired away my best product manager to lead their drone program).

Ok super. Here is the central question of our interview. What five emerging trends do you believe will have the biggest impact on payment processing in e-commerce? Please explain each in detail.

Big question. Technology, process/regulatory changes and consumer/merchant behaviors are always the trifecta.

1 . A meeting of the minds. It’s time to get regulators and payment processors into a room and discuss payment processing in detail. If the European Union can convene an AI regulatory body, we can do the same with payments. I am pleased to offer my services to moderate.

2. Digital Government Invoicing through standardized use of tokens and cryptocurrency. Lower energy tokens that reduce transaction costs and are borderless payment solutions. Creating everyday digital wallets that allow stored value to be quickly transacted and exchanged improves the speed and non-repudiation of transactions. It is a vast opportunity to digitize invoices with crypto’s triple ledger system. Standard digitization of invoices is used in Brazil, Italy, France, Spain, Taiwan, and many others. When you purchase, a digital record is also sent to the government. This real-time tax filing dramatically reduces paperwork, audits, and many unnecessary costs that a connected ecosystem provides.

3 . Seamless Cross-Border Payments: With the globalization of e-commerce, there will be a growing need for seamless cross-border payment solutions. Innovations in currency conversion and regulatory compliance will enable easier international transactions. It’s less noticed for US consumers because we have one type of payment acquirers, whereas in Europe, you could easily make two or three cross-border purchases daily. It increases sales and reduces friction in purchases.

4 . Multi-Factor Biometrics. MFB identification is based on two identifiers (E.g., multiple fingers or other patterns) that are not based on facial recognition. This renders the identity more secure while preventing identifiers that can create biases from facial recognition.

5 . Full contactless everywhere. No credit cards and card readers are reduced to an NFC chip. Both reduce friction in the card environment, reduce environmental impact in the manufacturing world, and no need for shipping or replacement cards. The credit card industry uses 15,000 tons of plastic for cards that expire every three to five years. The amount of CO2 pushed into the atmosphere are removed in their manufacture and shipping.

Is there a past trend that’s now common practice in payment processing that you would have spent 50% more time focusing on? Which one and why?

Contactless payments. It’s generally

• More secure
• Would have helped us improve wallets and payment types
• Less resource intensive as the point of sale and kiosk by reducing the need for expensive credit card readers and credit cards themselves, no shipping or replacements either.

Looking ahead, what are the biggest opportunities and challenges facing payment processing for e-commerce, and how do you plan to address them in the coming years?

Regulatory changes are at the heart of any new technology and process change.

Building bridges with regulators and establishing regular working sessions is the way to get ahead of issues. The US is unique in that many bodies have a say in the payments infrastructure: the SEC, FTC (and parallel state regulators), Federal Reserve, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. That’s a lot of organizing but the only way to get ahead of changes.

You are a person of significant influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Improving financial literacy for everyone. In 2019, I and others started a movement to create a Federal Credit Union for specific marginalized communities. NCUA, the governing body for Credit Unions in the US, raised the bar to $5M in donations before granting permission to go ahead.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Follow me on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lawrencelerner/

https://www.lawrenceilerner.com/humnlss

I want to thank you so much for your time and for sharing your expertise with us. I wish you continued success!