Meet Eddy Magner, Scaling Solutions through Operations
Eddy is an Operations Executive at WorldRemit, where he helps ensure that our global service runs smoothly. The Operations team at WorldRemit has a diverse workload — everything from onboarding and integrating new partners to identifying and minimising friction for customers. Eddie and the Operations team play a key role in helping WorldRemit fulfill its promise of getting our customers’ money to their loved ones as fast as possible.
Tell us about your journey into fintech.
I had never heard of the term “fintech” until I applied to a role at WorldRemit! After studying chemistry for my undergraduate degree, I spent a year travelling abroad where I observed with interest all the ways that people use money across the world. In countries such as The Philippines, for example, large numbers of overseas foreign workers send home money for family to pick up as cash whereas farm workers in places like South Africa might be largely unbanked. It was only after returning home I came to realise the role that technology places in the current and future role in global finance. That experience made me seek out a company with a global reach and strong impact on people’s lives. In WorldRemit, I was lucky enough to find both.
What brought you to WorldRemit?
After my year travelling, I moved to London and found WorldRemit through a graduate career company. I chose WorldRemit over offers at other companies because I was seeking a fast-paced work environment as well as an experience with a company that had an international footprint and diverse staff. WorldRemit’s rapid growth also offered me the possibility to develop my career when I didn’t know exactly what I was looking to do with my future.
What is your role at WorldRemit?
I work as an Operations Executive. Broadly speaking, my role is split into three parts:
o Firefighting: addressing technical challenges and delays, and reducing the impact these issues have on our customers as much as possible.
o Growing our network: on-boarding new correspondents on to our system. I recently worked, for example, to launch over 40 new cash pick up locations in The Gambia.
o Reducing friction for customers: improving and altering processes to improve our customer experience.
What unique role does the Operations team play in our business?
Operations plays a unique role in WorldRemit as we work directly with so many different parts of the company: commercial, product, engineering, finance and customer service as well as WorldRemit’s enormous global correspondent partner network. Through working with such a wide group of people this allows Ops to be able to look at WorldRemit from many different perspectives. This comes in handy when there is a new tech release as we are often able to anticipate whether these releases may impact customer service or our partners around the world.
What’s one of the biggest lessons you’ve learned since joining the company?
Be innovative with your approach to problem solving and try something new! Although remittances have been around for centuries, in just under a decade, WorldRemit has radically transformed the industry by bringing it online. Just because something has always been done the same way does not mean it cannot be improved upon — often quite the opposite!
Operations is exciting because it is ever-changing and fast-moving. We’re often troubleshooting many issues at the same time and working hard to ensure that we minimise the impact on our customers. This can also be challenging as you need to be on the ball consistently to stay on top of the developments and changes.
Can you tell us about one of your favourite days on the job at WorldRemit?
My favourite days at WorldRemit are the busy periods. On record breaking days when we process more transactions than ever before (and we’ve had a fair few since I’ve been here!), systems and processes are put to the test. The Operations team must ensure that everything runs smoothly in order to maintain our high standards for customer service. On busy days we often have many first-time senders and the quality of service will impact whether they would choose to use WorldRemit again. Our consistency has a big impact on the company’s continued growth.
Any advice for young people hoping to break into tech?
Fintech (as well as the tech sector more broadly) is an evolving industry and career development pathways are constantly evolving and shifting as new needs emerge. This may be intimidating for those who might prefer a “neat and narrow” journey, but provided you are a self-starter it is also a great opportunity to pave your own path. By asking questions, you will find out about aspects of companies you may never have considered before. Be curious and follow your interests.
To learn more about career opportunities at WorldRemit, visit our website.
