There’s a line often attributed to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the author of The Little Prince, that resonates deeply with how I think about business transformation:
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and assign tasks. Instead, teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”
This wisdom became the cornerstone of how we approached our most ambitious goal at Ecentric: scaling with purpose, without ever compromising the trust and quality that built our reputation in the payments industry.
Like many fintech companies, we began as a group of passionate technologists solving complex payment challenges. We excelled at connecting merchants to acquirers and enabling various specialised payment types or wallets, we focused on transactions processing smoothly and built robust systems. But somewhere along our journey, I realised we were not talking about and consciously connecting with something fundamental, the deeper meaning behind what we do.
Our vision was clear: to be the payment service provider of choice. But clarity of vision is only useful if it inspires action.
That’s why, in a strategy session not long after, I posed a simple question to our leadership team: “Why would someone choose us?” The initial responses were predictable: uptime, reliability, and technical capabilities. All true, but hardly inspiring.
That’s when our transformation from a tech-focused company to a purpose-driven organisation began. We stopped only talking about what we do and started exploring why it matters.
The revelation was profound but simple. Every transaction we process represents more than data passing through platforms. When we enable a merchant to accept a card payment for the first time, we’re not just providing technology; we’re unlocking their growth potential. When we ensure a transaction completes seamlessly, for small merchants and large retail chains alike, we’re protecting someone’s livelihood; their ability to feed their family, to invest in their business.
We are economic enablers. The more people who can pay and get paid, the more money moves through the economy, stimulating growth and creating opportunities. This realisation transformed how we viewed our role in the market and gave our team a deeper connection to their daily work.
Our CEO often speaks about payments being “the silent hero of every transaction.” When someone buys groceries, a new dress, or a car, they want the payment to disappear: to be seamless, secure and forgettable so they can focus on what they actually wanted.
This metaphor has become central to our identity. Heroes don’t seek recognition; they simply deliver when it matters most. They’re dependable under pressure, they protect what’s valuable, and they help others succeed. These qualities became the attributes we strive to embody in every customer interaction.
As the silent heroes of commerce, we carry an enormous responsibility. In that moment when someone swipes their card or taps their phone, they’re extending trust. They trust that their payment will work, that their information is secure and that the transaction will complete as expected. We honour that trust by ensuring every transaction counts: safe, simple, seamless and secure.
But the most significant shift in our approach was recognising that purpose drives people far more effectively than plans ever could. When team members understand that their work directly impacts economic growth and business success, they bring a different energy to solving problems.
This has been especially important as we embed company-wide OKRs (objectives and key results). Rather than cascading mechanical targets, we established a foundation of shared purpose that helps teams understand not just what they need to achieve, but why it matters to our customers and the broader economy.
The result? When our support team handles a merchant query, they’re not just troubleshooting a technical issue; they’re protecting a business owner’s ability to serve their customers. When our developers optimise transaction speeds, they’re not just improving performance metrics; they’re reducing friction that could cost a retailer a sale.
Perhaps the most important lesson from our transformation is understanding that “being chosen is not given; it’s earned.” In the payments industry, there are countless options. Merchants don’t choose us because we exist; they choose us because we consistently demonstrate the qualities that matter most to their business success.
This means thinking like a host rather than a vendor. Every interaction is an opportunity to make some aspect of the customer experience a little bit better. Every decision should reinforce why we deserve their trust.
As we continue to grow and evolve, purpose remains our beacon. We’re expanding our market reach to serve retailers who may not even know we exist, or who assume our services are only for large enterprises. We’re deepening our value proposition by consistently delivering on our promise to drive inclusive growth through trusted payments. And we’re improving our internal processes to ensure that growth never comes at the expense of the trust we’ve worked so hard to earn.
The payments world is complex, but our role is to simplify that chaos and turn it into confidence. By staying connected to our purpose, fuelling real-world success through trusted, seamless payments, we’re not just building a larger business; we’re building a better one.
