Executive Interview Series: Sukanya Madhavan, Chief Product and Technology Officer, Payments, CSG

The Executive Interview Series provides readers with exclusive insights from movers and shakers in the payments industry. The payments industry is under continuous transformation. This series offers diverse perspectives on everything from strategy to payments technology and the industry's future.   

In this interview, TSG marketing team member Rachel Hartley spoke with Sukanya Madhavan, Chief Product and Technology Officer, Payments, CSG, about her keys to leadership, the future of women in payments, and what's next for CSG Forte.

Bio: Sukanya Madhavan boasts a rich career in technology and management spanning over two decades, starting as a Software Engineer at Wipro Technologies and ascending to Chief Product and Technology for Payments, CSG. Her journey included significant roles at Cash America International, Inc., and TMX Finance, where she specialized in business architecture and product management. On the academic side, Sukanya holds a bachelor's in electrical and Electronics Engineering from Amrita Institute of Technology Science, a graduate non-degree of strategic management studies at the University of North Texas, an MBA in International Business from Washington State University, and attended an Executive Leadership Program in Strategic Leadership at Cornell University.

Q: Rachel H.

Walk us through your payments journey. What has motivated your personal growth throughout your career?

A. Sukanya M.

When I started my career over two decades ago, I asked myself, "What will it take for me to be successful?" I really took the time early on to assess my strengths, which include a strong professional curiosity and thirst for knowledge, to apply them as much as possible from the start. I took a chance and experimented outside the traditional career path. Traveling widely and immersing myself in different industries until I found my deep passion for the payments and financial services sector. In turn, this led to my long-standing goal of building trust through collaboration to guide the people and companies I work with toward future-focused success.

Q: Rachel H.

As a woman in a leadership role within the payments sector, what advice would you offer to the next generation of female leaders in this industry?

A. Sukanya M.

As the Chief Product and Technology Officer of Payments at CSG, I must do what I can to empower the payments industry's next generation of female leaders. In a sector that lacks female voices, it's critical to promote opportunities for young women to explore themes like self-discovery, technology, or culture to drive innovation and success for a new wave of female leadership. My greatest piece of advice is to invite everyone to collaborate by speaking their mind and sharing their ideas. If someone is shy about an idea, I will ask questions to show interest, build confidence in the other person, and make them feel heard. Once they feel assured that their opinions are valued and heard, they become more confident in themselves and will actively contribute more to the team.

Q: Rachel H.

In 2023, you received the Outstanding Leadership Award at the MoRe Conference in Las Vegas. Could you share what leadership means to you?

A. Sukanya M.

Leading others is not always easy, but it's so rewarding. Leadership requires patience, creativity, and decisiveness, which all take time to develop. I'd say collaboration and partnership characterize my leadership style and are the qualities that have driven my professional and personal growth over the years. By providing a safe space for my team to collaborate, share ideas, and voice opinions, I enable their trust in themselves and allow them to take risks, fail fast, and learn from the outcomes more effectively. However, leadership is more than what works for me; it is about what works for my team and how we can collectively shape and share a model for other leaders, colleagues, and industry professionals to inspire their growth. And it's a lot more fun when you get to do it with an amazing group of leaders who support iterative and data-driven decision-making.

I want to nurture other professionals and help them be successful in their careers while shouldering accountability for their outcomes in a fast-paced and highly competitive environment. I hinted at this before, but to me, leadership means building foundational trust with my team to align on a vision that guides us toward the greater good. Once trust is established, unwavering support across the team follows. The result is long-term accountability that contributes to our team's overall success and growth.

Q: Rachel H.

Looking ahead, what are some of the key initiatives that CSG Forte is prioritizing for the new year?

A. Sukanya M.

Coming off an exciting launch of CSG Forte Engage in September last year, we continue to grow the platform and expand its customizable digital payments offerings. These shifts will help create a stronger preference for digital services among consumers. Including our most recent upgrade to the platform and field-service industries. Additionally, we have a new strategic partnership with Lendica, which enables CSG to offer embedded financing to our Independent Software Vendor (ISV) partners and theirmerchants. We believe the future is bright and aim to advance our solutions with a customer-obsessed and future-ready approach.

In 2024, we continue to focus on improving our products and solutions. We're specifically looking to bolster self-service capabilities for an improved citizen experience with our government customers, expand payment options, and grow our digital wallet capabilities. Platform modernization is another area we prioritize investing in. So, we can not only outpace the competition but empower our customers with improved time to market, security, and scalability that feed into their performance and growth ambitions. Last but not least is intentional innovation regarding value-adding solutions. Solutions like additional embedded finance, enhanced reporting for insights and optimization, and AL improvements in the risk /fraud mitigation area.

Q: Rachel H.

Given CSG Forte's emphasis on recurring payments, explain why recurring payments are significant and how CSG Forte helps with the challenges your clients face from taking these types of payments.

A. Sukanya M.

Recurring payments make it easy for businesses to take payments. From the consumer's perspective, they are also simpler to manage, so I'm not surprised to see their growing popularity. Our customers have always come to us with issues around their payment options, including payment plans and installment struggles. Our solutions have had a measurable impact on their revenue stability and the end-customer experience. With CSG's payment capabilities, businesses can charge customers securely and automatically for recurring payments and provide a more seamless customer experience.

One of our customers, for example, reduced uncollected payments by 85% within a month. This specific customer was facing an increasing volume of declined debits from customers enrolled in recurring payments, and its contact center could only engage a fraction of its customers via outbound phone calls. Its revenue risk was rising, and operational costs were unsustainable. By deploying CSG Forte Engage, its customer outreach was automated into a combination of SMS and email communications to request payments of overdue bills due to declined debits. Doing so allowed it to offer customers a personalized payment experience while protecting its bottom line from revenue risk.

We have additional tools to help elevate the experience even further. Account Updater, for example, automatically updates changes to card information and reduces service disruptions while completing payments. CSG also offers recurring payments through various payment methods, including ACH, card, and customized installment plans. Each offering empowers businesses to provide a cohesive, end-to-end payment journey that simplifies the payment process and boosts the customer experience.

Q: Rachel H.

Throughout your career, how have you observed the evolution of the payments industry, and what role do you think technology has played in this transformation?

A. Sukanya M.

From what used to be a bank-driven and in-person experience, the payments industry has significantly evolved. Thanks to the entry and power of big tech companies. With them, the growth from EMV, digital wallets, Text, and QR code payments to faster and instant payments has accelerated enormously. The same is true for open-banking APIs, and there are no signs of a slowdown in implementing new, transformative technology. As a result, many companies have heavily invested in automating the payment cycle.

Digital payments have become a big part of our lives. It's both fantastic and overwhelming to think about how seamlessly we today can make everything from Facebook marketplace payments to clicking a button on Amazon to self-reorder when the milk is empty. The influence of big tech companies expedited payment connections with emerging technology that made payments faster and more secure across the globe. The impact is that customers now demand choice and convenience when it comes to their payments.

Today, we're all used to making payments from our phones or digital wallets. Even device payments through wearables are possible. However, while these all seem to be positive improvements, modern technology and faster payments also come with higher risks. We must take these risks seriously and account as the industry evolves.

With AI being the new kid on the block, I am excited to see the development of next-generation payments and how they will continue to improve the experience, eliminate friction, and keep risk at bay.

Q: Rachel H.

Which emerging technologies will influence the payments industry in the coming years?

A. Sukanya M.

Generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) will be front and center in pushing the industry forward in the coming years. Thanks to the rise of Gen AI in almost everything we do, the need for guardrails to enhance compliance, privacy, and safety measures will soon emerge. This is especially critical in payments when it comes to using AI to handle sensitive data like financial details or personal customer information. Customers will want transparent assurance that their data is protected while still being provided the best experience possible.

Q: Rachel H.

Last year, CSG Forte was recognized with TSG's API Set award for its APIs that facilitate a developer-friendly experience. How has the Global Experience Monitoring (GEM) platform helped CSG Forte in its efforts to enhance documentation and functionality?

A. Sukanya M.

By participating in the GEM program, CSG gives access to holistic perspectives of our systems, from merchant onboarding to developer integration experience, payment components, and the daily performance of our systems, from outages to availability. The program puts every participating gateway through over a quarter million checks weekly and delivers comprehensive insights on availability, response, and outage. For CSG, this feedback gives us a better idea of our system's performance and areas to monitor and improve continuously. For merchants, software businesses, and enterprises, it's valuable insight to identify different providers and understand their strengths and performance capabilities as they evaluate where it's most meaningful for them to invest.

At CSG, we're excited to continue collaborating with TSG as we refine our documentation and developer experience and remove friction points. In 2024 and beyond, we'll continue to improve our documentation on integration and responses based on insights from the GEM program.

Related: Executive Interview Series: Head of Payments at CSG Forte, Jeff Kump | TSG Announces 2024 Top Performing Payment Gateways