Monique Paulsen, Project Manager Payment & Team Leader Fraud Prevention at myToys.de GmbH in the #PEX21 Speakerinterview
The Payment Exchange 2021 is in the starting blocks. This year there are two events. The first part of #PEX21 will take place on 25 March 2021. We’re streaming live for you on the web.
We’re also unpacking the digital mace for the Payment Exchange, and twice. This spring and summer , we’re opening the virtual doors of #PEX21, our Mini Payment Show. Over the course of two half-days, you can expect a small, but nice, colorful mix of panels and keynotes. We’re streaming live online. You can join in the discussion, ask questions online, participate in surveys or exchange ideas with others in Slack chats. If it is possible, there will also be a small offline part for the second event in summer. As always, the Exchange is in the foreground for us. The first part of the #PEX21 starts already next week.
On the panel: One Year Pandemic: The Corona Effect in Retail and Payment, we want to talk about the impact of the Corona crisis on retail and payment. How has the retail sector experienced the crisis? Who’s a winner, who’s a loser? Has the pandemic changed the consumption and payment behaviour of customers? And above all, what remains after the crisis? For this we have invited great guests. Monique Paulsen, among others, is one of them.
Monique has been working for myToys.de GmbH as a project manager since 2013. Previously, she worked for mirapodo GmbH as a fullfilment manager, among other things. It was during this time that she first came into contact with the issue of e-commerce fraud. Through the merger of mirapodo and myToys.de in 2013, she further immersed herself in the fraud world as Project Manager Fraud Prevention. Two years later, she took over further payment projects and has since been responsible for the payment project management. Monique has also been the Fraud Prevention Team Leader since October 2020. Two hearts beat in her chest: the Sherlock Holmes heart that wants to catch fraudsters and the payment project heart. In this interview, she tells us how she experienced the Corona crisis.
Monique, how did you get involved with payment in your job? Explain to us briefly your points of contact with the topic of payment.
As Project Manager Payment and Team Leader Fraud Prevention, everything revolves around payment on a daily basis: whether it is the introduction of new payment methods or processes, the optimization of existing processes in the areas of accounts receivable, receivables management and fraud prevention, or the analysis of a wide variety of key figures related to the topic of payment.
Your panel is about the Corona crisis, how did you experience the crisis in your company?
I’m still impressed by how quickly myToys made the move to digital and how we got used to it as a team. An initially exciting video call is now as normal as meeting colleagues at the coffee machine.
How did your business change during the crisis, in terms of sales, turnover, product selection, etc.?
With the shift in shopping from bricks-and-mortar to online retailing, the volume of orders has also increased enormously for us. Especially at the beginning of the pandemic, we had to act very quickly and flexibly in order to process all orders promptly. While indoor games and toys were in demand during the first lockdown, a lot was also invested in the home nest during the course of the year. Accordingly, our Home&Living shop also recorded significantly more orders during this period. Even though we had to close our branches due to lockdown, whichwas not easy for our localcolleagues, we still believe in being close to our customersand have just opened an 18th branch in Dresden.
Keyword “creativity in the crisis”, has the pandemic given you new projects or initiatives that would not have come about without the crisis?
At the beginning of the first lockdown, we briefly discontinued the cash on delivery payment method throughout the Otto Group in order to minimise contact between customers and delivery staff. We have also introduced some additional key figures to check whether the pandemic is having an impact on customers’ payment behaviour – fortunately, we have not been able to establish this so far. Probably the most important project for myToys, however, was the complete changeover to working remotely, which had always been possible before – especially in fraud prevention – and is now a matter of course.
Has the payment behaviour of your customers changed due to the pandemic?
When our stores were open, we could see contactless payments gaining popularity. Online payment behaviour, on the other hand, has hardly changed. We can observe that online payment methods such as PayPal are becoming more and more attractive for customers, but this is not only due to the pandemic. Nevertheless, purchase on account remains the Germans’ favourite.
What remains after the crisis? Do you think it will be the same after the crisis?
Flexibility and mobility at work will remain, but many things will move back to the office, because it is the togetherness that makes up the working day and a digital lunch is not the same as a real meeting. I think and hope that unnecessary trips will no longer take place and appointments with partners will remain digital, if it makes sense. I also believe that the trend towards cashless payment will continue, even in Berlin, where every restaurant, hairdresser and baker offering card payment was a highlight until recently.
How do you think we’ll shop and pay in 2050?
I think that in e-commerce, the invoice payment method will be with us for quite a while, but the way we pay for it will no longer be the same. In 2050, there will probably no longer be any traditional bank transfers. We will pay for everything mobile and hopefully won’t have to remember passwords anymore due to biometric checks.
And don’t forget: Buy ticket – Here with 10 % discount
If you haven’t received a (digital) invitation yet, just get in touch with us. And now the good news, because digital events also have advantages: Everyone else can buy a ticket this time for a small contribution towards costs of 99. Buy a ticket . And don’t forget, this ticket is valid for both events, the one in spring and the one in summer.
If you’ve read this far, you’ve earned a reward. With the code PEX21_Blog you get 10% discount on the ticket.
