The SUMMIT speaker spotlight: Angela Brown, Moneris
Canada’s premier payments conference is only two months away. As we countdown to the start of The SUMMIT we were excited to talk with one of our speakers, Angela Brown, about her panel on ensuring financial inclusion for Canadians who are blind or have sight loss and hear her thoughts on payments innovations to come.
Angela Brown is President and Chief Executive Officer of Moneris - Canada's largest financial technology company that specializes in payment processing. She is responsible for continuing to build Moneris’ leadership position in North America, strengthening its position in mobile payments, and expanding its strategic partnerships.
We’re looking forward to hearing you present at The SUMMIT on May 31. Could you give us a sneak peek into what we’ll hear?
We’re really excited to talk about our work with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) to improve the accessibility of our terminals. As we’ve seen in 2020, cash is less and less functional in a digital world especially during a pandemic where contactless payments and e-commerce take centre stage.
We’ll talk about our effort to improve the user experience on our core terminals to be more inclusive and accessible for those with sight loss and blindness; how we bring these solutions to market in partnership with CNIB, to ensure they’re meeting the needs of the many Canadians impacted by sight loss today.
It’s our hope that our work with CNIB will encourage our industry partners to also bring more inclusive solutions to market.
How will Payments Canada’s modernization plan help ensure greater financial inclusion?
Fast, efficient and secure payments have always been a key focus for Moneris, and we’re excited by what Payments Canada is doing through its modernization project. We think that improved security is especially important as more payments move to card-not-present interactions. The added security will mean a lot to all consumers and businesses while giving consumers better control over their financial information.
Based on your current role, what other innovations are you hoping to see in Canada’s payments industry in the coming years?
Talking about inclusiveness, we hope to see more organizations proactively working toward a shared commitment to accessibility. While we work and focus on the speed, security and efficiency of payments, we need to also ensure that no one is left behind. Our relationship with CNIB has revealed gaps in our system that impede other’s ability to deal with their financial information independently. As industry leaders, we have an obligation to ensure all Canadians can have the freedom and security to manage their financial information themselves, without having to rely on others or complete strangers just to make a purchase.
What role do you think The SUMMIT plays in driving these modern payments conversations forward?
As the largest payment processor in Canada, we believe our role within the greater payments community is to further this message and drive advocacy within the many working groups we participate in. The SUMMIT is giving us a platform to educate our industry cohorts and hopefully increase the discussion and action to support Canadians with sight loss.
