By: Sean Smith, Head of Product at Denim

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I was honored to attend the renowned 51st Annual J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media, and Communications Conference in Boston, Massachusetts. This landmark event saw an impressive lineup of established industry leaders and emerging high-growth companies discussing game-changing strategies, technologies, and trends in the digital payments landscape.

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I aimed to understand and learn new solutions and trends leveraged by key industry players and pinpoint opportunities that could enhance our freight payment platform for the freight industry.

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Here are some insights and key learnings taken from the conference.

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FIS: A Beacon of Positivity

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FIS, a leading global technology solutions provider for merchants, banks, and capital market firms, brought a refreshing perspective to the conference. 

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FIS CEO Stephanie Ferris directly challenged the often negative sentiment in the news. Contrary to the prevailing "gloom and doom" outlook, Ferris found the feeling among bankers to be exceptionally positive. "Last week was the FIS user conference, and I was concerned that everyone would be very negative. However, the sentiment among these bankers is extremely positive and not the gloom and doom you hear on Bloomberg daily," Ferris shared. 

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Her report of increased net deposits across the institutions FIS supports underscored this unexpected positivity, demonstrating the banking industry's resilience in the face of uncertainties and challenges.

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LendingTree: The Importance of Customer Engagement

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LendingTree's panel discussion emphasized the critical role of product and user experience in financial services. 

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The company, renowned for its online lending marketplace, pointed out the importance of offering customers more than just financial transactions. Through practices such as providing tips on the impact of balance payments on credit scores, LendingTree significantly improved customer engagement. 

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Furthermore, LendingTree's focus on enhancing customers' credit mix and stimulating their engagement highlights a proactive approach to improving customer satisfaction and trust. It emphasizes the value of innovative engagement strategies in developing loyal and satisfied customers in the financial services sector.

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Bill.com: Payments Simplified

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Another notable session was with Bill.com, a leading provider of cloud-based software that simplifies, digitizes, and automates complex back-office financial operations for small and midsize businesses. The company sees itself as a pioneering player in the payment space in the same way ADP revolutionized the payroll industry. 

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Bill.com's strategy targets accountants and finance professionals, recognizing their influence within businesses. By focusing on high trust champions, Bill.com experienced its most successful quarter in new user acquisition, with most referrals coming from other trusted financial institutions.

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Looking ahead, Bill.com plans to offer a comprehensive payment solution that includes international and instant payment services. Their future growth strategy also aims to broaden accountants' services, transforming them into a "CFO in a Box." 

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Affirm: The Future of Consumer Finance

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Affirm, a platform that provides installment loans to consumers at the point of sale, highlighted its current focus on ensuring access to capital and maintaining strong credit standards. 

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As they prepare to launch their new card product, Affirm Debit, the company noted significant shifts in consumer spending habits since the end of April last year. In response to these changes, Affirm rolled out adaptive checkouts designed to manage risk better and provide more systematic and flexible lending options.

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On the macroeconomic front, Affirm identified a slowdown in discretionary spending attributed to inflation, except in the travel sector, which continues to see substantial spending. However, despite a less positive financial environment than the previous year, the company affirmed that it is well-funded and not capital constrained.

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AvidXchange: Innovation in Payments Automation

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The conference also introduced participants to AvidXchange, a payments automation company that targets the middle market (companies with annual revenues between $500k-$100m) and integrates with over 200 accounting/ERP systems. AvidXchange aims to shift around 50% of paper check transactions to digital payments, significantly reducing costs. 

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AvidXchange is particularly excited about the potential of AI in automating back-office functions. They are actively working to enhance their platform, develop customer-specific feature enhancements, and increase their system integrations. They are also set to launch a new product, the Invoicing Accelerator 2.0, which utilizes unique data models to improve invoicing for next-day payments, a process similar to factoring.

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J.P. Morgan Tech Conference Summary

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The 51st Annual J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media, and Communications Conference offered valuable insights into the rapidly evolving digital payments industry. The learnings from the conference will help guide strategic decision-making and inform growth plans as we strive to maintain our position as a leader in freight payment technology. The key takeaway of the J.P. Morgan Tech Conference was reaffirming our commitment to continually evolve and adapt to provide robust, reliable, and innovative payment solutions that our partners and investors trust.

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As we move forward, we look forward to another year of navigating the complex digital payments landscape, staying ahead of emerging trends, and continuing to meet the unique needs of freight brokers and truckers in our ever-changing digital world.