Can you share what’s keeping you busy in your role as Sales and Client Director?
My role focuses mainly on managing our client base and relationships within the Netherlands. This has for me a strong emphasis on building long-term partnerships rather than acting as a traditional supplier. The goal is to work closely with clients to create sustainable collaborations. This is for example for example by jointly developing a long-term vision that helps relieve them of complex banking and payment processes. Another example is that I participate actively in key initiatives, such as participating in steering committees for major projects. In this role, I help ensure alignment between all stakeholders, stay aligned at a strategic level, and support decision-making to keep projects on track and aligned with the client’s expectations.
As Sales and Client Director for the SBS client base in the Netherlands, you’re attending the Future of Payments event soon. What makes this event special?
This event is genuinely focused on payments and given all the recent developments (Wero, PSD3, Digital Euro) it’s a very interesting event. Besides this its for the Dutch payment industry which is in the heart of our strategy for the Dutch market. You’ll find banks and its partners all in one place and this ration is very well balanced. We’ve been sponsoring the event for about five years now, and it’s a great opportunity to reconnect every year in a more informal setting, have meaningful discussions, meet new people, and strengthen relationships with our client base and partners. We’re a main sponsor, so SBS is highly visible throughout the day. And honestly, if you work in payments , not being there means missing out; it’s really the place to be.
What will Andrew be sharing during the session, and why is it so relevant for banks today?
We’ll be talking about data and AI. What we see, and what many banks are experiencing, is that there’s a lot happening in this space, but it often stays at the proof‑of‑concept or pilot stage. Moving from an MVP to something that’s truly embedded in day‑to‑day operations is still a real challenge. Banks want to use data and AI to give better advice to their clients, but taking that next step isn’t always easy. During the session, Andrew will share practical tips and insights on how to move beyond pilots and really professionalise the use of data and AI in everyday banking processes.
How does this topic reflect the challenges you see daily in your work?
We see this challenge every day. Banks clearly see the value of data and AI, but many are still stuck at the pilot stage. The real difficulty is turning experiments into tools that are actually used in daily operations. That’s where we help. by integrating our data and AI platform into core banking, payments, and other domains. We enable banks to turn transactional data into actionable insights that bankers can use in their everyday work. It’s about making data and AI practical, scalable, and truly useful and that’s also what we do on other actual payments topics like Wero and PSD3 and the challenge to get a grip on TCO for daily payments processing.
What are your expectations for this year’s event?
Knowing that payments is our bread and butter, being there is logical. Establishing our brand awareness is hereby a key. And what I really hope for is to meet new people, create connections, and open the door to follow‑up conversations with prospects and with partners, while continuing to strengthen relationships with our existing clients.
On a more personal note, what’s the most important lesson that you’ve learned over the years so far?
The biggest lesson for me is simple and that’s also my way of working: have fun working together and do things with a smile and enthousiasm. Whether it’s with clients or internally, I really believe in showing genuine interest in people. When you do that, the conversation immediately changes. Instead of jumping straight into details and PowerPoint slides, I prefer starting with a real, human conversation. Ask questions, especially “why”. Stay curious. That’s particularly important in sales. You can’t expect to walk in on day one and say, “Here’s who we are, please sign here.” Building a relationship takes time, sometimes months or even years. But if you slow down, focus on people first, and build trust, it always comes back. At some point, they’ll call you and say, “We have a problem, can you help us?”. Above all, our clients are people, just like us. So for me, it’s all about having people‑to‑people conversations. That’s my biggest lesson.
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