The SUMMIT Speaker Spotlight: Cyrielle Chiron, General Manager, North America and Latin America, RFi Group

Welcome to our Summit speaker spotlight series! Each week, learn more about one of our amazing speakers, then make sure you attend their session at The Summit, Canada’s premiere payments conference, May 24-26 in Toronto, ON.

We’re proud to welcome Cyrielle Chiron to The Summit, where she’ll be talking innovation—and payments innovation: Canada vs the rest of the world.

About Cyrielle

Cyrielle has had an extensive international career in research and consultancy. She has consistently conducted successful multi-country brand and advertising trackers across industries. Cyrielle joined RFi Group in March 2015 as Head of Client Insights, Australia and New Zealand, before relocating to the Toronto office to head up research as the Research Director for North America. Cyrielle offers a wealth of retail and commercial financial services research knowledge and deep research experience across both quantitative and qualitative research in financial services and commercial and consumer payments.

What motivates you to do what you do?

People. I am captivated by people’s behaviour - how and why they make certain choices (especially if their choices are different to mine). I have always considered market research to be enthralling – it is the intersection of business and consumer psychology that makes it such an appealing specialisation. So, having an international career focusing on understanding people’s behaviour was a no brainer!

The Payments world is changing so quickly – based on RFi Group’s research, four in ten people can now imagine a cashless society. New behaviours like this will reshape the payments industry faster than we think. Understanding these behaviours and their impact is what drives me every day.

What is the best advice you received?

I was previously given two pieces of good advice that I try to incorporate as much as I can:

• Just try it!  What’s the worst that can happen? If you don’t like it, you can try something new. But always trust your gut feeling and if it doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t.
• Always make sure you take advice from someone who's going in the same direction that you want to go.

How did your earlier career/life choices lead you to where you are now?

I am very lucky to be working in the field I have always wanted to since my days of studying. I am also very lucky to have a family who have always supported my choices. They taught me to embrace every single opportunity with a smile and positivity.

What is the biggest risk that you’ve taken?

Between my studies and career, Canada is the sixth country I have relocated to in the last 15 years. You may think I am used to it by now, but every time I move, I am always juggling feelings of excitement and apprehension! Each time, as I fly into my destination, I ask myself if I have made the right decision. For the record, I have never regretted any of my moves.

What did you do at work yesterday?

I spent the morning delivering a strategic workshop session on ‘Optimizing Merchant Acquiring Relationships and Capitalizing on Innovative Technologies’ to one of our clients and the afternoon preparing for another strategic workshop on “How Canadian SMEs are leveraging new technologies to manage their finances”.

With rapid-fire keynotes, in-depth breakout sessions, networking opportunities, an exhibit hall, demos, social events and the FinTech Cup, The Summit is the place to be for all things payments! Register today at payments.ca/summit.