• Hi Billy, Can you introduce yourself in a sentence?

I’m Billy Asif, I’m a Product Manager here at APEXX Global, I’m a tech, Sports, and car enthusiast.

• Tell me more about your role?

Being a Product Manager means identifying customer’s needs while keeping in mind the business objectives. My role is broad, working on multiple projects from innovation, to identifying new technologies in the market, and researching what our customers need. I elaborate on the idea and look at the value it adds to APEXX, then builds out the requirements so it can go into the design and then be developed. 

I’ve seen a lot of changes in payments throughout my career. I started working at Visa and throughout my career, I’ve seen companies have amazing ideas but not the best at getting them across the line and out the door.

• How did you stumble upon APEXX?

I’d worked with some of my colleagues in the past and the opportunity came knocking so here I am.

• What’s your favorite APEXX memory so far?

It’s been a virtual world, so we’ve had many video Meetings, when I first joined, I joined a video call with JJ (SVP Product) when he accidentally managed to mirror his image so there were two JJ’s on the call, and no one knew which one to talk to, or which one to look at. One looked left and the other looked right! Crazy, and funny.

• You’ve seen many features being built, what’s been the best so far?

We have some very strong features. The most exciting I feel is our BNPL (buy now pay later) aggregator, it’s a new space, it would be great to be a market leader in this area.

If we look at our fundamentals in terms of “What is APEXX?”, I like the idea of an Orchestration Layer where we are routing a transaction that is most optimal for the merchant, so it’s merchant centric which is our key ethos!

For people who aren’t from a BNPL background what is the product and how does it work?

The BNPL is a new way of funding products, think of it as another option for a credit line. You can purchase something and pay for it at a later date.

• Have you learned any new skills throughout the UK lockdown?

I completed some azure fundamental training which I got a certificate in. It’s a Microsoft online course to help support my tech knowledge.

We are using cloud-based technologies at Apexx such as AWS. Technology is changing, and companies are adopting cloud computing as opposed to on-premises.  

• What have been the challenges working as a Product Manager for a Fintech?

I’ve worked in a Fintech space before but for a bigger company. The difference at APEXX is the number of employees. We have a smaller Product team than my last Fintech and we have so many products we want to launch, however, one of the challenges we have had is trying to concentrate on prioritising the backlog and understanding which product will add value to our business and our customers.

• Talking about products, where do you predict APEXX’s products will be in the next 5 years?

I think the BNPL product will be one of our main focuses over the next 24 months.

In the next 3-5 years I predict we will be a major player with enterprise merchants using us and understanding our value, especially when it comes to our BI and MI capability, a lot of PSP’s & Acquirers connecting to us to use our BNPL API.

• Can you describe your team in a sentence?

Agile, dynamic, lively, and full of ideas.

• What are your top three apps on your phone?

I love slack! I use it daily. From a personal perspective Binance – I trade crypto, and the third one is Hargreaves Lansdown for my ISAS and shares.

• If you could invent something, what would it be?

Time machine! To be able to go back in time or the future, the options this creates are endless.

• When you’re not at APEXX what’s your favorite thing to do?

I enjoy time with my family and taking my daughters swimming and for bike rides around Richmond Park. It’s nice to have quality family time.

Thank you Billy!