Scott Goldthwaite

President, Aliaswire, Inc.

As you see it, what is the biggest opportunity for financial institutions over the next three-to-five years? For businesses? What is the greatest challenge?

Financial institutions will continue to be the backbone of the payments industry. Over the next three-to-five years, FIs have the opportunity to provide more value-added services to their commercial clients, beyond typical treasury management services, enabling them to compete with other FinTechs that are gradually eroding core bank services. For business, the opportunity will be to leverage the new payment methods banks are just now building.

Where do you predict the industry will be in five years? How can FIs prepare in a rapidly accelerating financial services environment?

Data has always moved faster than payments: i.e., a payment can be posted in real-time, but the actual funds get deposited days later. That speed differential is beginning to change with multiple same-day ACH windows and credit-push alternatives like RTP and Zelle. In five years, money and data will move at the same instantaneous speed for the majority of transactions. FIs need to prepare, coordinate, and synchronize their tech-stacks, people, and processes to cope with this acceleration in order to compete in the market. 

Why is it important for an organization to have a payments strategy in place in this environment? What does this mean practically for FIs today?

Payments is everything for a business: receiving payments and making payments. It’s how money moves in and out of the company. FIs need to think about how their SMB and commercial clients manage receivables, payables, and ultimately manage daily cash flow by offering coordinated products and services for the entire cash life cycle of their clients. 

Why is it critical for C-Level decision makers to be actively engaged with NEACH and the work that it does?

NEACH is at the forefront of the ever-evolving payments industry, and C-level decision makers need to be informed as they shape their own strategies.

What other business topics keep you up at night?

Scalability and culture. As our own business grows rapidly, finding that balance of quickly bringing on more team members while maintaining our FinTech innovation culture is always a challenge. 

What does it mean to you personally and professionally to serve on NEACH’s Board of Directors? What is your primary role?

It’s an honor for me to be part of an organization that has been shaping the payments industry for over 45 years. As the only non-bank board member, my role will be to bring a FinTech perspective to the organization.  

In addition to serving on the Board, how do you participate in NEACH?

I have been attending payment conferences and participating on panel discussions and keeping my team involved as well. 

Complete this sentence: Without NEACH, I (or my organization) would be:

We would struggle to keep up to date on changes in the industry and would have difficulty networking with FIs in our region.

What excites you most about the industry and your role in it?

I’m excited about the continuous rapid change in payments and the innovative companies that are driving it. I have had the privilege of working with some of the smartest people in our industry to launch innovative products.

How do you keep learning and growing as an industry leader?

It’s important to take time out from the day-to-day and network with colleagues in our company to discuss problems and opportunities within payments. We call it our “Aliaswire Labs” discussion that are unstructured, divergent, and free-form thinking. Out of these discussions, we each learn something new that ultimately shapes the direction of our products.  

What books are you currently reading?

Crowds and Power, by Elias Canetti. While written original about physical groups of people, the concepts carry over to help understand and harness the power of social media.