Andris Pētersons – your friendly payments guy and a knowledge-sharing enthusiast

“Payments solutions are vital in a modern society and economy. In the digital world, payment services are the main enabler of value transfer between people and businesses. Not just in banking, in all industries almost every product is enabled by or involves some element of payment. In my career, I have worked with payments from different perspectives, and it is a dynamic area which continues to develop and advance. All businesses lean on ability to pay and get paid, quickly, securely and across the globe,” says Andris.

Tell us about your history in SEB!

I joined SEB as a payments specialist and it was my first “real” job after the university. It was a challenging journey to learn and explore but it was fun too. I enjoyed my product area very much. After 1.5 years I became a team leader for around 15 people, and we worked together for almost five years. After that I had an opportunity to lead several business function relocation projects from Sweden and Germany to Latvia and Lithuania as a Project Manager.

Most compelling part of my career started later, when I became a process manager for international payments, and after that working as a strategic business analyst in Operations Area. As of last year, my position is product specialist and product owner for International Payments.

Tell us more about your responsibilities!

My job is to find opportunities how to improve our global payments solutions, so we can offer increasingly safe and fast services to our clients. An international payment goes through a network of banks, it travels across different countries, varying regulatory environments and diverse market infrastructures. Together with my colleagues in Stockholm and other countries, we work with market infrastructures, internal and external stakeholders to build and improve our payments solutions.

A big part of my work involves collaborating with Technology area - IT architects and developers, and the main objective is to satisfy the needs and expectations of our clients by building on technology in best way possible. Another thing I enjoy is the privilege to work in an environment with a rich variety of competencies amongst our colleagues. I try to be the person who helps these competences to meet and collaborate to improve the existing business processes and create something new in my product area.

What keeps you motivated and energized?

I like solving problems and achieving progress. I find it exciting to submerge myself in a problem, investigate it to details and collaborating with the right colleagues find the next step.

I also like to be the connecting part between our business needs and our Technology area, acting as a translator so that both parts can understand each other. I must navigate between many obstacles, challenges and opportunities: business focus areas, resource availability, priority landscape, legal and regulatory requirements, competition in the market etc.

I am an enthusiast of knowledge-sharing. The scale of opportunities we now have to collaborate, share our experiences is unprecedented. Via various platforms any person with an internet connection has nearly unlimited access to industry knowledge.

I am energized by the opportunity to contribute based upon my skills, competencies and enthusiasm not only just by the job title.

What’s it like working in SEB?

We have a culture which encourages learning, a culture where the utmost priority is for talent to thrive. SEB is excellent in helping its people to develop their skills. You can acquire new knowledge, learn from experienced colleagues and be a part of the value creation. It is a very forward-looking company, which invests in innovations, new technologies.

I appreciate that SEB doesn’t have arbitrary barriers between you and various management levels. You are invited to speak and collaborate with anyone, offer your ideas and ask for advice, and you will be guided. But you must be willing to walk the extra mile, create value where it’s needed.

What do you enjoy doing after work?

Exploring. I like to seek perspectives, points of view, “aha” moments. Finding out how things and life around us work. I mostly read non-fiction, but I find great value in cinema too. I like to connect with people listen in to their thinking while cycling, running or just hanging out together.

My family is my anchor and a guiding star for me. I discover myself and learn a great deal through my children – that is my most important time after the office doors are closed. The best exploration of all!