Evan Albert is one of the co-founders and the CEO of Seamless Chex. The New York City-based company was founded in 2012 by Evan and his brother, Jonathan. Seamless Chex is a full-service payment processing company providing eCheck, ACH, and credit card processing solutions to e-commerce and retail businesses.
How did you get started in this business?
Seamless Chex was created based on pure demand. While working in merchant services, my brother and I grew increasingly frustrated with the tedious underwriting process of traditional ACH payments. We encountered countless underwriting hurdles while trying to set up ACH processing services for merchants. Subsequently, we built Seamless Chex to alleviate these pain points for our merchants.
How does your company make money?
Our company generates revenue by charging a subscription fee and/or transaction fees to use our suite of products we offer businesses, including Paynote, Seamless Chex, and Seamless Merchant. Paynote allows our clients to send and receive eChecks seamlessly via ACH. Seamless Chex provides our clients the capacity to accept electronic checks by phone, fax, or email. Seamless Merchant is our all-in-one payment processing solution for eCommerce businesses, providing custom payment services for every client. Our products are easily integrated into a business’s existing payment systems.
How does your company go about acquiring new customers?
Our company uses several methods to acquire new customers, including: paid advertisement, search engine optimization, strategic partnerships, and word of mouth or referral driven. Marketing and relevant content creation also draw people towards our products. However, one of our most common and valuable methods stems from referrals. We have created an amazing network within the industry, so partners and customers refer businesses to us daily. Our consistency, customer service, and reliable payment services bring in customers organically.
How did you work your way up in this business?
As a company co-founder, you work your way up with lots of hard work, perseverance, and dedication. Seamless Chex has grown organically; first, we built an MVP product that filled a void in the market. Then we hired talented people that believed in our vision to support and grow our client base. Seamless Chex has been able to scale by enhancing merchant services for our partners, merchants, and their customers. We did this by creating strong relationships with our clients and strategic industry partnerships. Without these partnerships, we would be unable to grow and maintain the volume we do today. Experience and listening to customers have also allowed Seamless Chex to expand and shift with needs and technology advancements.
What made you want to work in this industry
The payment processing industry has always interested my brother and me– so entering this space independently was a natural progression for us. As alluded to earlier, my brother and I had grown tired of dealing with the extensive underwriting process of ACH payments– we decided we were capable of improving upon this inefficiency. We worked with expert developers, banks, merchants, and partners to create a product that would inevitably alleviate this issue and one of which we could be proud of.
Working in an industry with endless growth opportunities has kept us invested in our initial passion for value-add business solutions. Growing with the industry and its technological developments has been both educational and rewarding.
What is it that you feel makes you good at your job?
Customer, employee, and partner feedback makes me feel good at my job. When you build and maintain a well-oiled machine, intimately understanding its parts and needs, you get to watch your creation mature into its intended and unintended functions. When we hear that a customer or partner wants to see a new capability from our platform, we witness the creation take a different shape than expected.
Seeing how far Seamless Chex has come and the development and expansion of Paynote make me feel good about what I do and excited to see what comes next.
What are the perks of working in this type of business?
One of the biggest perks of being in the payments industry is that there will always be a need for companies like us. Even as technology develops and payment solutions multiply, merchants will always want a reliable and knowledgeable payment processing partner they can speak to at any time. Because of ongoing modernization, another perk of being in this industry is the opportunity to learn and grow with new trends. There are always new trends in business, technology, and how the two interact– those in the industry have a duty to adapt to a developing world and seize opportunities as they arrive.
What are the disadvantages of working in this field?
Fraud is one of the most significant disadvantages of working in the payment space. Every day, we must work with our risk team to detect fraud, identify bad actors and monitor suspicious activity. The prevalence of this threat is everlasting and never minimized.
Another disadvantage is that you are never truly ‘offline.’ Even when business hours are over and commercial activities have winded down, money continues to move. If you want to enter an industry with the constraints of a 9 AM to 5 PM workday, payment solutions are not for you.
What’s the most rewarding part of your work?
There’s nothing quite like seeing your hard work pay off. When you put your blood, sweat, and tears into developing a product, it’s always gratifying to see it out in the world making a difference. But there’s something extra special about seeing it help a business grow. It’s a testament to the power of your product and the time you spent developing it. Knowing that you’ve made a real difference in someone’s life is the most rewarding feeling. It drives us to keep pushing ourselves and our products to be better—knowing that we can positively impact the world, one business at a time.
Where is your industry headed? What excites you about the future in this line of work?
The future of my industry is heading towards cloud-based storage systems and normalizing the concept of paying with your bank account / credentialed login. This method is more secure, reliable, and straightforward. I hope these developments continue to make checkout more efficient and user-friendly. Customers trust their technology more and more, and I believe this trend will continue. Seeing the industry moving in this direction excites me because it makes life easier for everyone involved. Checking out should be quick and easy, not a pain point, and I think we’re headed in the right direction.
What advice do you give people who want to get into your field of work?
If you’re looking to get into the payment processing industry, there are a few key things you need to keep in mind. First and foremost, it’s essential to be adaptive and stay up-to-date with the latest trends and developments. This industry is constantly evolving, so it’s critical that you’re able to stay ahead of the curve. Additionally, it’s essential to listen to your customers and partners, prioritizing developing strong relationships with them. Payment processing is all about relationships and trust, so you must build a strong foundation with all of your clients. By following these simple tips, you’ll be well on your way to success in this dynamic industry.
Are you willing to be a mentor? If so, how should someone contact you?
I am always happy to help fellow professionals looking for career guidance. If you think I could be the right fit, please don’t hesitate to contact me on LinkedIn. Mentoring is something that I am passionate about, and I firmly believe that it can make a real difference in someone’s career. So if you think I could help you, please message me!