Women Leaders in Payments: The Future is Human with Alex McCandless, Payroc | Episode 502

Payments look instant and invisible until something goes wrong. That’s when you find out whether you’re working with a faceless system or a team you can actually trust. We sit down with Alex McCandless, EVP of Marketing and Training at Payroc, to get specific about what “people powered” really means in fintech and why transparency and access to real decision makers still matter in a world of automated transactions. 

Alex shares her career journey from the agency world into payment processing, plus what she learned scaling from a scrappy startup environment into a platform shaped by 27 acquisitions. We talk about the challenge of bringing many brands under one Payroc umbrella without forcing a one-size-fits-all playbook, and how culture integration requires real discovery, humility, and a willingness to borrow the best tools and processes from every team. 

We also dig into the future of payments and the role of AI in fintech. Alex makes the case for AI-assisted operations, not AI-powered relationships, and connects that to embedded finance, SaaS, and the push toward more holistic experiences across card-present and card-not-present payments. On trust and security, she explains why “secure” should be baseline, why trust is earned one transaction at a time, and how the 1% edge cases can define your reputation. We close with what she’s watching next, including agentic commerce, machine-to-machine payments, and how marketing teams are adapting for LLM search and more qualified inbound leads. 

Transcript

Women Leaders Series Kickoff

Speaker 0:03

Welcome to Women Leaders and Payments Month, where we highlight and celebrate the women shaping the future of payments in FinTech through their leadership, insight, and impact. A special thank you to Payroc for sponsoring this year's series and for powering the continued advancement of women across our industry. Now, on to the show.

Meet Alex McCandless Of Payroc

Speaker 0:22

Hello, everyone, and welcome to this Women Leaders and Payments Month episode. Today I'm honored to have as our special guest, Alex McCandless, the EVP of marketing and training at Payroc. So, Alex, thanks for being here and welcome to the show.

Speaker 1 0:36

Thanks, Greg. I'm excited to be here.

Speaker 0:38

So let's start with a little icebreaker.

Icebreaker On Language And Culture

Speaker 0:41

If you could instantly become an expert in one non-work-related skiller hobby, what would it be and why?

Speaker 1 0:48

This is a fun question. I think for me, I live in Puerto Rico and I've been there about five years. I came there via Atlanta about five years ago. And being able to speak any language fluently would be my number one answer, hands down. Just being able to plug right into that culture and meet those people on a deeper level would be amazing.

Speaker 1:08

Okay, that's awesome.

From Agencies To Payments

Speaker 1:10

All right. Well, let's dive in and talk about your background and career journey. So give us a quick snapshot of your background, maybe where you grew up, what you study, and what led you into the world of payments.

Speaker 1 1:21

Yeah. So I grew up in Jacksonville, Florida. I went to school at Florida State, definitely a Florida girl at heart. I ended up in Atlanta for PR internships and slowly made my way into the different ad agencies around Atlanta. I started working at the regional ad agency, went to a global ad agency, had the B2B clients for Delta and Nike and Cox Communications. So my background was really in agency world. And I thought I was gonna stay there. It seemed like the natural path for me. And I had a friend who was a recruiter, a payments company. I knew nothing about the industry back then, met the founders, really loved their whole vision, really kind of resonated with me to help build something. My husband was an entrepreneur at the time and building a company and plugging in with these guys and trying to help them build something, I think was really enticing for me. And of course, I had no idea Atlanta at the time was transactionale. So really, once I got into payments, I never left. And that's been almost 15 years, and here we are, still, still in the industry, still loving it, grown with Payscape and now Payroc, 27 acquisitions later. And here we are.

Speaker 2:33

Nice. So it's it's such a common story. People like unexpectedly get into payments and they never leave, right? It's just that right, it's that kind of industry. Yeah.

Speaker 1 2:43

I remember going to my first like acquirer show back in the day. I'm like, how does everyone know each other? This is wild. And now, again, 15 years later, here I am being one of those people. And I love it.

Speaker 2:52

Yeah, yeah, I love it. All right. So was there a person or an opportunity or an unexpected moment that helped shape the direction of your career?

Speaker 1 3:01

I think really for me, it was the founders of Payscape, Adam Bloomston, Jeremy Wing, really dynamic guys, really were building something super cool with Payscape. And I loved, again, being part of that mission, being part of that vision. When we did the merger with Payroc and all of the other great companies that we merged with back in 2019, that was a real pivotal moment for me because I think we were a 50-person ISO. We really were trying to go bigger, go upmarket, become more global. And PayRoc and the acquisitions that we did just really opened up that gateway. So I would say getting on board with those guys and joining the ride was a huge pivotal moment for my career.

Mergers That Changed Her Path

Speaker 3:46

Well, tell us about your role today at Payroc and what part of your work are you most excited about right now?

Speaker 1 3:52

So I am EVP of marketing and training, as you mentioned, which are two interesting pieces, I think, to put together, two interesting sides of the coin. Throughout my career, I've mainly been focused on marketing, but at the forefront, it's always been about building leads for sales. If that's through brand, through PR, through communications, ads, events, whatever it may be. I think that the sales enablement piece was a very natural transition for me. So marketing is still my bread and butter, I would say. But the training and the sales enablement and the learning and development has become so exciting to really latch onto and provide more at the company. We are doing so much when it comes to our different industries that we can tap into, new verticals we're exploring, new product solutions that we're offering and making sure that the sales teams and support teams are trained and ready to actually talk to those and feel like they have the knowledge they need to support the sales enablement piece. That's where I get really excited about making sure we're providing that in addition to the marketing. So I think that that would be a core piece of what I'm doing now. And then always in the forefront is the amalgamation of 27 brands under one umbrella. How do we make 27 brands feel like one payroc? And that's been a mantra for us for a long time now, is one payroc. And I think the, you know, making the company actually feel and sound and operate like that has been a really fun challenge.

Speaker 5:22

And I would think part of that is like the culture too, right? Bringing the culture together.

Speaker 1 5:27

Yeah, a hundred percent. Yeah. And it I think we've done a really great job of making sure that we're not just taking one side and saying this is the best way to do it. Payroc knows the best way. We don't ever think that. We don't approach any acquisition that way. We really go into it. It's not a one size fits all. You have to do your discovery. You have to treat each one as a unique entity because they are. And each one brings their own skill sets and people and tools and technology. And you have to really do the discovery to learn what's the best from each of those sides.

Future Is Human With AI

Speaker 5:58

Okay. Well, let's pivot a little bit and talk about leadership and perspective. So this year's theme is the future is human. So when you hear that phrase, what does it mean to you as a leader in payments?

Speaker 1 6:09

Yeah, I think this is such a tricky one because I think every company is dealing with this right now. And how do you blend the future with AI and the human element of that? I think overall, payments is becoming more holistic. I know our CEO, Jim Oberman, talks about this all the time. You have the embedded finance and SaaS platforms and card present, card not present, all of these experiences merging into one place. And I think no one's fully correct the code on a holistic experience necessarily, but that's where the humans come in. I think the humans can be AI assisted, not necessarily AI-powered. And the company in general can really take this approach of blending the mundane, monotonous tasks that you might have to do with AI and then using that to make the relationship side better. So AI can't do the relationship. They can't build that truck, be that trusted advisor for the merchant, for the partner, whoever it may be, but they can be AI assisted. And so as you're building out those experiences, just making sure that you keep the AI assistance part in the forefront and not powering everything through AI.

Speaker 7:20

Well, as you well know, payments is becoming more and more digital, as you mentioned, more embedded and really more intelligent. So, what do you think leaders need to keep front and center as this industry keeps evolving?

Speaker 1 7:32

Yeah, I mean, a kind of I if I look at retail as an industry, for example, people still order online. They still like to get their goods online, but they still like trying things on in-store and they still want a human experience with that brand. Payments is evolving a lot in the same way. So the transaction might be automated, but the trust and the relationship around it still needs to be human. So as things are becoming more digital, I think what you need to keep at the forefront is that you really need to make sure you have some sort of accessibility, some sort of AI-assisted human that's still at the forefront of that relationship.

Leadership Lessons On Humility

Speaker 8:10

Well, what is something that you've learned about leadership that you wish you had understood earlier in your career?

Speaker 1 8:17

So I think the one thing I've learned from a leadership standpoint and that I wish I understood early in my career is that you really don't have all of the answers. You want to make sure that you're humbling yourself in a way that you're listening to all the different sides and taking the feedback anywhere that you can get it. Whether that is different leaders and coworkers that you work with, different acquisitions that you're working with, new vendors you're meeting, competitors you're meeting. I think one of the things that's always serviced me in the past is that I really am open to learning new things and evolving with time and not just being set in your ways.

Speaker 8:51

Well, let's go back and talk a little bit about the human side of payments again.

Transparency And Access Build Trust

Speaker 8:56

So, as you well know, behind every payment is a person, a business, a need. And how do you think about the human side of payments in the work that you do on a daily basis?

Speaker 1 9:06

Yeah. I think for me, it always goes back to transparency is a big part of it. So making sure that you're not just some faceless voice behind the screen, that you have real transparency into any interaction that you're making. So whether it be direct access for a team member or another coworker to come to us, or if it's a merchant that needs to go directly to someone in customer service, a partner that needs to go directly to their partner manager, I think that accessibility is so important. And they need to make sure that there is an escalation, that they can reach real people with real authority that can answer something. Every merchant that comes to us knows that we are people powered behind the scenes. So with a payment side, again, you can get so lost in the, you know, instant transaction, the automated transactions, but make sure that you keep that people side behind

Security As Operating DNA

Speaker 1 10:02

it.

Speaker 10:02

And you mentioned the word trust earlier. And trust is such a critical part of payments in fintech. So, how do you think companies can build and maintain trust as the industry becomes more automated and technology driven?

Speaker 1 10:15

Yeah, I I think about this even when we were back in my agency days and I was working with Delta, and they had a rule that you weren't allowed to say safe, because safe was inherent. And you weren't allowed to brag about something that was just baseline, right? So we didn't ever talk about safe because duh, of course it's safe. And I think if I translate that into payments, I think about the word secure. And so our version of that is secure and it's, you know, whether it's PCI compliance or audits or monitoring fraud or making sure there's no attempts against your company from a ransomware perspective, it's something that we lead with absolutely. And it's something that you have to, you can say you're secure, but if you have to say you're secure, you've already lost the room, right? So I think most companies really talk about trust like it's a one-time feature. We did it, we're trustworthy, you don't have to worry about anything. But I think what we've done really well, it's part of our operating DNA. So it gets re-earned every single transaction, every single partnership, every new merchant, and automation really just raises the stakes for that. So you don't necessarily just do it once and set it and forget it. You have to continually provide that and make sure that you are secure. You are really providing that stability that gives people the reassurance and the trust that we are going to handle their business effectively.

Speaker 11:38

Yeah. And someone mentioned this in a in an earlier conversation. It's like payments works 99% of the time, but that 1%, we spend a lot of time, right? And that's that's where the trust gets built, right? When that 1% doesn't work and they they have to trust to come to you and you've built that trust, like you said, one transaction at a time. I mean, I think that's a huge part of it.

Speaker 1 12:00

Exactly. And the more that you are providing the transparency and the more you're providing accessibility to give that transparency, I think again, it just helps build that time and time again. You can mess up once, but if you handle it the right way and you're a real person behind the screen, then I think you can correct.

Speaker 12:18

And and just for the audience out there that's listening, we're actually doing a it ends up being six parts, but it's a three-part series and then another three-part series with Payroc all about trust. So just a plug to go listen to those episodes because the first three have been amazing, and we've got three coming up in a month or so. So just a little plug for some other episodes that are all about

Agentic Commerce And LLM Search

Speaker 12:39

trust. So what is one trend or change in payments that you believe will have the biggest impact on people or businesses over the next few years?

Speaker 1 12:48

Yeah. I mean, I think the one that we keep talking about internally a lot is, you know, you had this shift over time from human to human, and then it was human to machine. I remember when the IoT revolution was a big deal, and now it's more machine to machine, right? And so all of the agentic commerce and making sure that you're optimizing for agents has been such a huge talking point. I think every company is talking about this. But I'm very interested to see how that's going to change. I mean, even on the marketing side, you know, we're building our website for the LLMs and making sure that we're still getting our name out there and have show up in the search results, right? When someone's looking for the best provider and XYZ, you need to make sure that you're showing up in those results. And that's all about building your site and doing the on-site optimizations for machines. And so I think that that's probably the biggest trend that I'm watching and trying to optimize for in real time. We even have regular stand-ups with our department on how are you using it, how are you using it, and making sure we're all learning the best practice because we're all learning in real time, which is exciting, but also terrifying at the same time.

How AI Changes Lead Quality

Speaker 13:59

As a marketing executive, do you like, do you see AI like being more helpful in the marketing area or other areas of the company or maybe equally?

Speaker 1 14:09

Yeah, I think I think it's really equally. I mean, I think the obvious one that everyone talks about is on the engineering side and with our tech and product departments. Absolutely, AI is helping them work so much faster. And that's wonderful for a product roadmap trajectory standpoint. And it gives our sales teams more to push out and gives us more to market on the marketing side and train on on the learning and development side. So it's been really exciting to see that accelerate things across the company. And then I think on the marketing side, really, it just the biggest change I think we've seen is that the leads that we're seeing come in through our website and all of our digital channels at this point are just instantly more qualified because everyone is doing more research online. They're getting the information they need up front, they're getting all the due diligence and the competitor analyses and all of the things that we would typically help provide. And they're automatically qualified once they're coming in because they've already done that part. AI, AI has done that heavy lifting. So, from a marketing standpoint, while the pool might be shrinking, it's instantly more qualified, which we've loved to see. And I think our sales teams have loved as well.

Speaker 15:19

That's interesting. Well, let's talk a little bit about mentorship impact and what's next.

Mentors Across 27 Acquisitions

Speaker 15:24

So, who has influenced you along the way, whether it's directly or indirectly, and what did you learn from them?

Speaker 1 15:30

Yeah, I think honestly, there's been so many interesting entrepreneurs I have gotten to work with over these 27 acquisitions. And I've taken a little bit from each one. We've really gotten a great group of people that have all kind of come together and bring their own twist on how they'd like to see things done. So I think, you know, even from my original founders in the Payscape days, Adam Bloomston and Jeremy Wing, and learning from them on, you know, how to really get scrappy and how to like work with what you have, how to be resourceful and how to make sure that you, you know, they they grew up from, they bootstrapped the whole business in the beginning. And so that was so fascinating for me to be on that ground level. And then since then, growing with all of these other acquisitions at Pace at Payroc, it's really become more of a kind of how do you bring all these people together and how do you make sure that you're keeping that culture, that you're learning the best processes from each one, you're providing the best tech from each one. And there's really just so much that I think I have learned in that and keeping that open mind and humbling myself and making sure that we have the best go forward strategy and it's not just one size at all.

Speaker 16:45

Well, what advice would you give to the next generation of women entering payments in FinTech?

Advice For Women In Fintech

Speaker 1 16:50

So I think one piece of advice I would give to a woman or someone entering payments today is really just being able to speak any language. So taking really complex concepts and things that others need to understand, whether it's in your particular department or a particular product, taking that complexity and simplifying it so that someone can understand and get on board and help you kind of move forward on the path that you're trying to go down is huge. So the communication piece, making sure you can understand all of the different complexities of the business, take the time to learn those things. Take the time to understand what you're talking about and make sure that you can get that buy-in and get those stakeholders to move along with you as you're going down that path.

Career Options And Networking

Speaker 17:35

Okay. So you've worked at a relatively small, kind of scrappy startup, like you described it. And then you're now at Payroc, which has grown tremendously, 27 acquisitions. So if you were talking to that person that was maybe thinking about coming into the industry, what would you tell them about like where they should look and maybe what they could learn from the different kind of companies in the industry?

Speaker 1 17:55

Yeah, that's a great point because there really is so much variety these days, whether you want to go the full fintech route, the startup route, the ISO route, the big global card brands, right? There's so many options. And I think that is one of the best parts about being in the industry, is you have just so much opportunity. We joke about how incestuous payments can be because everyone's worked somewhere else and everyone has connections all over the place. But I think that's a beautiful part about it. And so I always encourage the networking, even with my team, making sure that they each can go to different shows, see the interactions with our partners in person, with our merchants in person, and making sure that you're putting yourself out there in a way that you can really help connect the dots. Because I think that's a big piece that people don't always understand is how much we all work together on the back end. And so the more you can connect all the different pieces of a transaction of the industry, the better off you're gonna be in the long

What She Listens To Unwind

Speaker 1 18:56

run.

Speaker 18:56

Well, let's wrap up the show with one kind of fun question. So, what is one app, podcast, book, maybe TV show or hobby, or maybe even favorite way you unwind that would give us a glimpse into who you are outside of work?

Speaker 1 19:11

Yeah, no, it's great. I think that from I'm definitely a podcast girly, I will say that. So, probably my number one unwinding podcast these days is Good Hang with Amy Polar. It's a great one. It's got all the SNL greats and lots of fun comedy bits on it. So that's probably my biggest unwinding podcast at this time. And then probably just hanging out with I have a two-year-old and a four-year-old, and they're a handful, and I love it. So that's probably my biggest other unwinding hobby

Thanks And Closing

Speaker 1 19:42

these days.

Speaker 19:42

Well, Alex, I think that's a great way to wrap up the show. So I know your time is very valuable. So I really appreciate you being here and being part of this Women Leaders in Payments Month. So thank you so much.

Speaker 1 19:52

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Speaker 19:54

And to all you listeners out there, I thank you for your time as well. And until the next story.