CEO Monthly Issue 7 2018

6 CEO MONTHLY / ISSUE 7 2018 , AlliedWallet provides global online services with the tools of fraud reduction and cyber security implemented in AlliedWallet’s Global Payment Gateway infrastructure. Recently, we spoke to Dr. Andy Khawaja of AlliedWallet who revealed to us more about Iconic Figures of Finance 2018 Firstly, how did you become a CEO? What path did you take to become one? I started as an employee and I saw the way that my superior managers handled the tasks and directed us. In this position for 16 or 17 years, I learned what the tasks are for a CEO running a company. Over the years, I have seen some individuals fail and others succeed greatly. However, I have learned from life experience, rather than just from the books that you study at school. If you don’t have the field experience, then it is a completely different ball game over here in the USA. I have seen instances of where the wrong CEO is in place and the company concerned has failed. The CEO may blame the staff for such a failure. However, the real issue here is that the CEO was not interfering or being hands on in any of the daily activities, so that is why a company can fail. Having learnt this, I got to the point that when I had created Allied Wallet and I knew that I had done something right. As the founder and CEO of the company, I have decided to work alongside my staff to ensure that they feel comfortable with me and that I am one of them. They should not be worried about any issues that are happening. Indeed, I do encourage them to talk to us, allowing us the opportunity to solve any challenges together, to make the future better and bring in improvements where required. What is the best thing about being a CEO? It is not only just the responsibility of being a CEO, but it is also about me seeing things done correctly. It is about ensuring that Allied Wallet are achieving goals and that our merchants are doing the same. The merchants must have reliable services, something that I can provide so that makes me feel proud of myself, the company and my team. Congratulations on your recent success in CEO Monthly’s Iconic Figures in Finance 2018, how does it feel to have been selected as an Iconic Figure in Finance – USA? To have been selected as CEO Monthly’s Iconic Figure in Finance is truly a great honour and I believe it is very much based on my hard work and skills, so I am extremely thrilled and happy to receive this accolade. What do you believe are the most essential qualities for any CEO who is looking to achieve success? All CEO’s have a duty to do the job that every CEO in the world does, which is to be hands-on, communicate with your staff and be much more engaged with every department. In addition to this, you need to know what errors they have made and how you can fix those by working alongside them. You cannot hire a team and expect them to work miracles if you do not lead them well. As such, a CEO must be a leader who steers the team towards the right direction, to ensure that they are a better and more suitable candidate for the task in hand. During your years as the CEO, what have been the challenges that you encountered? Earlier this year I was in Japan as well as in the UK, for back to back meetings. There are some CEOs who see themselves on a golf course enjoying relaxation time. However, I am the kind of CEO who wakes up around 4am and have breakfast around 6.30/7am, followed by back to back meetings right up to 7pm. My reason for doing this is because the clock is ticking and every minute counts, and so I cannot forget that I am responsible for our third-party members who rely on our services. Which is why it is very important that I deliver our services not just on time, but ahead of time. What role does innovation play in your work as a CEO? Innovation plays a massive role in my work as a CEO, because it represents 70% of my company. Everything at Allied Wallet is based on technology and coding, indeed we have Microsoft certified coders working in house on cyber security, e-commerce, fraud prevention and data encryption. Quite a lot of my time is spent with our developers, because I need to understand the infrastructure, and along with my project managers, I ensure that the product we are building is tested before it goes live. Looking at the wider picture, what opportunities and challenges lie ahead for the industry which you work in and how will both you and your team overcome them? Allied Wallet works in a very competitive industry, especially where e-commerce is concerned and ensuring that the service level is up to speed. From where I stand today, I do not see any competition in the market whatsoever. I am launching a massive campaign in the UK, with a 1% flat rate for all types of businesses. The reason is that I see banks, Square and PayPal selling the same service for more than we do, so in my opinion they are taking too much money out of the merchants’ pocket. The reason I do this is because I want my customers to make more profit, which will enable them to expand and this will help to generate more revenue, hire more staff and ultimately build a better economy. Company: Allied Wallet Web Address: www.alliedwallet.com