Page 46 - Pay Magazine s2014

sTacy Pourfallah
VP, U.S. Head of Corporate & Government Prepaid Products, Visa
companies & people
Women Driving Payments Change
If you’ve ever swiped an FSA card at the pharmacy, you can thank Stacy Pourfallah for making it a smooth experience. Pourfallah was
on the Visa team leading the charge on auto-substantiation—the tech- nology that enables POS terminals to determine which purchases are covered by an FSA plan and which need to be paid for with another tender type. Following a 2003 IRS mandate to ensure that cards were used only for eligible expenses, Pourfallah recalls the excitement
of getting together as an industry to create something that had never existed before.
“What was really different was not just making the change inter- nally but promulgating the tech- nology to make sure it was really
Best Advice
“One thing that has stuck with me, and I say it to my kids, is: ‘If you don’t ask, the answer is no.’ You can’t be afraid to ask.”
broadly deployed,” she says. “Now even mom-and-pop shops have this capability.”
Although she’s been in prepaid since the early days, Pourfallah, who also sits on the NBPCA board, says there’s no place in payments she’d rather be. “Part of what feels exciting to be in prepaid 10 years later is that there are more and more applications on the business side that we are moving to elec- tronic payments. There’s still so much innovation and room to grow,” she adds, pointing to one-time disbursements, refunds for buying energy-efficient appliances, the insurance sector and more. In her current role, Pourfallah is respon- sible for the government, corporate, payroll and health care portfolio in
the U.S. “I think there’s more op- portunity to electronify payments, drive cost efficiency and create a better consumer experience at the same time.”
To that end, Visa invests heavily
in research. For example, the payments network recently began looking at how government ben- efits recipients and payroll card- holders use their mobile devices. For example, what kinds of devices are most used and are they the primary source for Internet access? That kind of foundational work will be shared with partners to help inform the product and feature road map. “The final mile is cus- tomer interaction,” Pourfallah says. “We work with our partners a lot on the best ways to engage con- sumers, whether it’s through spend- ing alerts, budget calculators or anything else that can improve
the experience.”
Bay-Area Bliss
For the Arizona native, living in San Francisco has some major benefits. No. 1—lots of water. Proximity to the tech explosion
in Silicon Valley has a benefit, too. As the mother of two daughters, 11 and 13, Pourfallah is adamant that her girls not be afraid of technology. “Everyone in my kids’ generation needs to know how to code,” she adds. Even her daugh- ters’ school has begun to include technology as part of the curricu- lum. “The world of work is chang- ing and there are a whole bunch of skill sets you need—that’s what makes our jobs so interesting.”
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