Kate Firuz Email & Phone Number

Montreal, Qc, Ca

With a successful career at Avanquest on track and LastCard over, I decided it was a good time to have my baby and go on mat leave from 2022-2023. Near the end of my leave I got a phone call from an acquaintance from the LastCard days - one of my key contacts at our Issuing Processor and now the Founder and CEO of PayTic. He says "remember all the challenges you had with operations and how you always complained to me about the broken system?" Of course I remembered. "I built a solution to solve all those problems, want to help me grow it?" And as usual, I said yes. PayTic is a SaaS built by those, including myself, who understand the head-to-wall-banging challenges that come with running a successful Card Issuing business, whether you're an established bank or a fintech startup. Reconciliation, Reporting, Invoicing, Compliance, Disputes, Fraud....it’s quite the ordeal. Now we're bringing Operational Excellence to Card Issuers. I lead design, QA, direction, roadmap and strategic product initiatives for PayTic; expansion to North America, UK, Europe and North Africa. Working with our team of Developers to build the future of automation and innovation behind the banking scenes - back-office processes may not be sexy, but it's at the core of all growth and scalability for banks and fintechs.

Montreal, Canada Area

While building and launching LastCard, I still kept my original position at Avanquest (the new parent corporation to Upclick and other divisions), and it was time for another promotion. Responsible for all online payment partnerships, implementation and growth strategy for European, US, and Canadian arms of Avanquest Software. Managed team of Risk and Fraud Agents.

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

The concept of LastCard was one of my most exciting career moments up until 2020 - our parent company, Avanquest, decided to fund a fintech spin off, and I would be heading up the banking core features. LastCard was a card issuing fintech start-up looking to bring privacy, convenience and virtual credit cards to everyone's browser and mobile phone. Building LastCard from the ground up was like doing an MBA in Credit Card processing. I learned what Issuing meant and what that thick envelope of small print was that I always threw in the trash. The daily grind was exhausting and exhilarating - from product design to memorizing the ISO 8583 card network message, this was a real ride. I'll never forget the feeling of seeing a real transaction come in, done by a real cardholder, using a LastCard online. I've never been more proud of the team (and myself). LastCard was a successful program in the Canadian market and was just about to launch in the US when the winds of change came blowing in. A chance in leadership at AVQ meant that LastCard was deemed no longer a fit with the rest of the company portfolio. But in the meantime I had the privilege of leading product development and strategy for all core banking, payment, and compliance infrastructure related to Card Issuing, Card Acquiring, Program Management, Compliance, and Fraud/Risk. I was responsible for direction and growth of both digital and physical card product divisions in North America and Europe and continued to manage a team of Risk and Fraud analysts.

Montreal, Canada Area

After a year as Team Lead, I got a promotion (a well-deserved one in my opinion). This was the first time that I had direct reports - people whose days and career success depended on me. They came to me for guidance, questions, training and to expand their own trajectories. It was utterly terrifying. How can I be a boss? The imposter syndrome started creeping in but everyone was happy and thriving so I must be doing something right I thought. Managing people can be taught on paper, but never understood until doing it - much like becoming a parent - and it's a challenge that never fully goes away as people and positions become more complex as the ladder goes higher. Global payment optimization and risk mitigation in a fast-paced e-commerce environment. •Managed a team of 3 junior Risk Analysts•Developed and implemented internal and external strategy to keep Upclick at the forefront of e-commerce technology for customers while optimizing costs for corporate stakeholders •Managed flow and financial risk associated with live merchant accounts processing millions of dollars per month•Directed company growth through acquiring and fostering of global processing partners to expand Upclick’s offering as a leader in international payments•Ensured that Upclick remained current with all regulatory landscapes including governmental and card schemes

I was catching up with a friend at a crowded wine bar in downtown Montreal; it had been a while since we'd seen each other and she'd recently started a new EA-to-the-CEO role at an e-commerce company. I was telling her that I was concerned with the direction that Dollaractif and Diobri were going, I could see the little leaks that were penetrating the ship. She says "There is an e-commerce Risk Coordinator role open at my company, why don't you apply?" Having no idea with Risk Coordinator even meant, I sent along my CV and received an interview (obviously the VP Ops did it as a favor to my friend but that's beside the point). During the interview we chatted about my journey and why I was applying for the position. He asked me "What do you know about banking, payments and e-commerce?" I said "Absolutely nothing, but I'm a fast learner and I promise you won't regret hiring me". A few days later I got a second interview, with the CEO this time, and a job offer two days after that. This is where I really began my career in the complex and exciting world of Payments. •Managed flow and financial risk associated with live merchant accounts processing millions of dollars per month•Directed company growth through acquiring and fostering of global processing partners to expand Upclick’s offering as a leader in international payments•Worked directly with Development teams to constantly improve the Upclick product from a functional and UI perspective•Acted as liaison and project manager between Upclick Development team and Partner Integration Teams to seamlessly and efficiently integrate new payment methods, fraud tools, and optimization programs

Montreal, Canada Area

Diobri Marketing firm was the Parent Company to Dollaractif. All the staff had two roles - one main focus at Diobri and one side hussle at Dollaractif. I was only focused on DA until one day my boss came up to me and said "We just landed a big new client, Cogir Property Management Group, would you like to take the lead on the account?" Having zero experience in retail or related marketing, obviously I said yes. I became the marketing and Project Manager for three retail centres, building strong relationships with over 150 unique merchants, focused on augmenting customer engagement, spending and loyalty; market research and analysis; creative direction and conceptualization of multi-faceted campaigns; engagement of customers through digital, print, and physical experiential marketing that is rewarding and sustainable; event planning; management and creative direction for graphic artists, programmers and photographers; presentation of KPI analysis, status reports, and recommendations.Needless to say that I learned a great deal from this experience, both logistically and philosophically - the main take-away is that the best marketing in the world won't help a brand (or person) who doesn't want to be helped. The owners of the small retail stores were not happy and wanted more sales, but wanted nothing to do with the marketing efforts or participation outside the bare minimum. I still got them results, but had to pull a lot of teeth to get there.

Montreal, Canada Area

During my Masters in Nutrition, I had the opportunity to take an elective from an unrelated field - and I jumped at the chance to take a MBA business/entrepreneurship class at the McGill School of Business. It was during one of these interesting (albeit late afternoon and a little boring) classes that a woman came to do a guest lecture. She was fit, energetic and very passionate about her new start-up called Dollaractif. Already having her own Marketing firm, she had a dream of blending business with health to create a symbiotic relationship - thus Dollaractif was born: an e-commerce platform that aimed to boost the local economy of SMBs via e-commerce implementation while rewarding buyers with real cash-back to use against items such as sporting goods or fruit and vegetables. Obviously she hit a cord with me, speaking to my interest in both business and health, so I approached her after class and asked if I could come help with building Dollaractif. She said yes, and my first peek into the business world and e-commerce began. I learned how to do market research, create direct B2B and B2C marketing & communications as well as some startup basics - wireframing, GTM planning, financial reviews, and of course, dealing with rejections and disappointments. Eventually DA was shut down as the money ran out (in retrospect due to poor allocation of resources and people) and the traction wasn't enough to get more funding.

Master Of Science (M.Sc.), Dietetics And Clinical Nutrition Services

Activities and Societies: Segal Cancer Centre, MUHC Cancer Nutrition-Rehabilitation Program - Jewish General Hospital 2011-2013.

Bachelor Of Science (B.Sc.), Neuropsychology

Activities and Societies: President: Habitat for Humanity McGill Chapter | Research Assistant, Psychology: Dr. Knaupner; Dr. Lydon.