At Luqra, we strive to be an active and participating member of the entire payments community. That’s why we were so excited to join the MWAA conference in Chicago that took place in July. We’ve built and strengthened so many relationships at the show – and that includes our relationship with MWAA president, Rod Katzfey.
Just before the conference, Rod was kind enough to join us for our brand new podcast series. You can listen to our Inside MWAA interview at this link, or you can read the transcript below.
Interview Transcript
LUQRA: How did you get started in payments?
ROD: I got into the payments world while working for a Boatmen’s Bank out of Springfield, Missouri. I came into my last semester of school, and the job I had wasn’t flexible with my schedule anymore. So I had to find a new opportunity that would allow me to finish college.
I had met the CFO of the issuing side for Boatmen’s, and I was pursuing accounting. He wanted me to come work for him on the issuing side when I got out of school. So I went and looked into this whole merchant services deal, and didn’t really understand a whole lot about it – I didn’t even realize merchants paid fees to take credit cards.
Ultimately, the bank had an external and internal group – I ended up on the external side with a 100% commission instead of a salary. I told my wife that if you don’t believe in yourself, then nobody will. I had car payments, house payments, and college payments – left a well-paid salary gig – and went and started in merchant. The rest is history.
LUQRA: What changes have you seen so far?
ROD: It’s much different from what it is now. We didn’t have surcharge, cash discount, or any of these programs that allow you to walk to a merchant and say, “Want to take credit cards? I can do it for free.” Back in ’96-’97, we were selling acceptance.
Businesses weren’t even selling cards yet, and they didn’t think it was a big deal yet.
It was more of convincing businesses to accept cards, and it was more of “Hey, we can probably do this for a better price.”
You don’t have to worry about acceptance because it’s a given now. You can sign up online to take credit card payments with the big names and payfacs who are engaged with “proof of concept” businesses. Then, when you want customer service, you go to companies like Luqra and PayCompass.
I told people I was working with at the time, we have no fear. Square is a company that’s going to go after businesses that we can’t afford to onboard. Back in the late 90s, the average cost to onboard a merchant was somewhere between $750 – $1000 – that was before one transaction, that was our cost to do everything that was needed.
This was allowing those PTAs, garage sales, fundraisers, to go out and get an account and process and create a history because most providers want at least 3 months of processing history.
You could go out and ‘proof of concept’ your business, and when you get to a certain level, you’ll graduate to the next level. That means customer service, and it means help. I’ve looked at companies like that as enablers and not as competition when it comes to PayCompass.
LUQRA: You’ve been doing MWAA for 20+ years.
ROD: This will be our 23rd show, and this year we’re in Downtown Chicago. Outside of COVID, we have had it every single year. I went to the original show at the Allegra, and it was a small group. And now, we had a record-breaking 1,200 people last year, and we expect to break that record again this year.
Just with the number of people signing up, the speakers we’ll be having…we’re looking forward to a great show.
LUQRA: What made you guys settle on Chicago?
ROD: We went to Cleveland twice, and it was really a destination. If we went back, I can guarantee the same number of people will show up. You’re either going to be there or you won’t. St. Louis was another, but I wouldn’t go back to it if you paid me 10 times! There aren’t a lot of merchants in that area.
So why Chicago? We found some amazing venues there. We’re surrounded by 3 different airports. It’s driving distance for a lot of people. We go Downtown, and we’ve been to the suburbs. Generally speaking, it’s cheaper and it has better neighborhoods. There are no fees for parking! So we get a lot of people driving in.
When you walk out the door in Downtown, there are a hundred restaurants right there. We’ve found that it’s the perfect place. Our sister conferences move around, but we’ve found that a lot of our success and established base is in Chicago.
We can keep our costs under control – and we’re actually contracted for the next 3 to in Downtown. There are amazing places to eat, amazing places to walk.
Our focus is on getting the agents and the ISOs there at an inexpensive cost, so that the exhibitors and sponsors can tell their stories the way they want to. Now we’ve found a home and are constantly looking at other areas across the Midwest, but Chicago is the one that checks all of the boxes.
We had literally sold out our primary hotel over 60 days ahead of the show this year.
We added a secondary overflow hotel, and we sold that out within 45 days of the show. We’re 30 days from the show, and we have two hotels that are completely sold out, so we had to list more hotels where you can see if you can get a room. We’ve blown through over 1,400 rooms already this year!
LUQRA: Over the years, MWAA has grown, but are there any other big changes that you’ve seen?
ROD: Several years back, we started to look at the overall experience at different levels. Especially at the agent and ISO level, then the exhibitor level, and then the biggest one: we look at what our sponsor experience was.
How can businesses and companies utilize the MWAA and partner with us to get a good ROI on their event or sponsorship? I’ve been doing sponsorships for 7 or 8 years, and my goal is to do more than say thank you; I want to know what they want to gain, long-term value, logo recognition, branding.
We look at that from a sponsorship perspective, offering a lot of different types. We give more space than other shows, too. Every show is doing it a bit differently, but for us, it’s about the sponsor experience. Back to the agents and ISOs, we’ve also added a new executive forum at the C-level that’s invitation-only.
We have the MLS agent forum, that’s been around for a couple of years now. It’s gone from a small room to the big stage this year. We’re expecting 50+ people in that group.
Then we also look at our speakers. Our keynotes. We try to make sure that we’re giving good value for what people are coming to get.
The other deal that we do is a flash sale. This year, we did it on several holidays that reduce the cost of our show to $20.25, because it lines up with the year. We’ve done that for the last few years. For us, it’s about getting people there for the experience.
I’m not as concerned about what I’m collecting for those folks to see the show, because I know once you get there for the first time, you’re coming back. We’ve focused on a lot of different parts to expand that experience.
LUQRA: So all serious agents have to show up…
ROD: Absolutely! Here’s the cool thing about it. You’ve had tons of different types of companies, from POS to hardware to software, from large processors to sponsor banks – we’ve got everybody. And that’s just the exhibit floor.
When you’re down the hallways, or at the after parties, or you go to dinner – that’s where it all happens.
That’s where all the impromptu conversations happen, and next thing you know, you share some ideas, they share some ideas, and it’s networking 101 at its finest.
LUQRA: What’s your favorite networking story from the MWAA?
ROD: At the first show I went to, I networked with the right people and was asked to get involved in what they were creating. I’ve been doing this for over 33 years in this industry, and I have so many stories, maybe even some people don’t want to be told… [laughs].
But I will tell you it all comes down to opening yourself up and being willing to be vulnerable.
Be willing to have a conversation because you never know where it’s going to end up.
The most successful show is the first one I went to – talking to people who were involved with the MWAA. I was trying to emulate on a smaller scale with my sales force. I had 30 salespeople at a company, and I was trying to create a sales show that was for them.
With an exhibit hall, sponsors, and providers, just to make sure I was networking with folks from the board. It’s now turned into a longstanding relationship.
LUQRA: Has your perspective changed on it at all? Do you see it in a different light?
ROD: I would say being a president has been one of the hardest jobs. You’re responsible for a lot of things, and a lot of things you don’t realize that you’re going to be responsible for, and I now have a much greater appreciation, including all of our volunteers. We all have our day jobs, some have their night jobs, and we all have this Midwest job.
You have other work, other boards, other committees, but now I have a much greater appreciation for these volunteers and their time.
Especially putting on one of these shows. They used to be a several-month spread, then we had to turn it into a 12-month cycle. Because of so many shows competing with us, we do have our sister conferences at different times, but we could be competing with different sponsors for their dollars.
Other groups had a show that was every other month or week, and those were the competitors. They weren’t volunteer organizations; they had their own shows. And that was something that made us shift and realize this was a 12-month situation.
Once the convention ends, the floor plan for the next year is already up!
Next week, I’ll be reaching out to all of our big booths and sponsors for this year, asking if they want to secure their spot for next year. So the biggest thing is having to operate at a 12-month cycle, not a spread anymore.
LUQRA: Do you have a prediction for the next “big thing” in payments?
ROD: We’ve seen a lot of changes over the years, and what I find is that people still write checks. We were told they were going to disappear. We’re told cash is going to disappear. The penny is going to disappear, at least from production.
But what I would say about payments as a whole is that I don’t think anything goes away. Some stuff may move to the back burner, and we continue to evolve, but you have to remember that it’s adoption that’s the key.
If you want to try something new in payments, then you need to do a Walmart or Target test. If they can get the consumers to adopt or use the idea, then that will stretch into the rest of the ecosystem.
I go back to debit cards. Until Walmart started accepting debit cards, small and medium-sized businesses didn’t know what to do with them. But when Walmart started training the consumer, they started to look for it.
It’s like the Amazon effect, they’ve proliferated the industry, people feel comfortable buying from home, having things delivered. If you go back 20 years, you had peapods and grocery folks; they were just too early. Now you have all of these people who feel great about groceries being delivered. A lot of this stuff just takes time.
Do I see any big changes in the next few years? No. I think we’re continuing to take baby steps, take on new things, and be all about what the consumer is willing to adopt or not.
LUQRA: Is there anything you want to say about MWAA before we close out?
ROD: I will tell you, longstanding friendships have been formed here, that is the backbone of our entire industry, and Midwest is a regional show. People come together every year, people look forward to coming, to rekindling friendships, to seeing each other, and sharing what they’ve been doing.
Friendships, to me, are really what comes out of the MWAA. No matter what company you work for, if you’re in our industry and honest with people, you’re going to make friends. They’ll root for your success, and you’ll root for theirs.
The reason why I think it works so well is because it’s a laid-back environment, you can walk up to anybody, and the way we have the exhibit hall set up…the breakfasts. These are non-threatening environments, and you reach out and talk to people wherever they are. It’s not stuffy. And we also make it very affordable for people to come.
Just $100, or a cheap ticket with our flash sales – it means there’s no reason not to come. With some of these other shows, they can be thousands of dollars, I mean, come on! Do you want people there or not? Do you want a full exhibit hall or do you want it empty?
We make it affordable, we make it accessible.
LUQRA: Last question. What’s been your main goal as MWAA president?
ROD: For me, I’m looking at longevity. We’ve been around for 23 years and I want it ot continue. I’ve been focused on the next generation. I speak about it every year, about engaging the next generation, introducing more new faces.
Ten years ago, I probably knew 90% of the people at the show; now, I might not know 3%. My daughter is now in the industry, so she’s part of that next generation. I have another daughter going into law, and I tell her she’s going into payments, don’t fight it.
I’m focused on the next generation. I’m focused on what they need to be successful, from those old folks like me born in the 1900s. I tell people, if you haven’t registered, if you don’t have a hotel, get one! We want to see you there, and we want to see you there on July 30th and 31st, because this will be our biggest show ever again.
The hotel registration for next year opens on the last day of the show, so there’s no reason not to get ready for the next one!
Thank you MWAA 2025!
We want to thank Rod Katzfey and everyone at the MWAA for this incredible interview – and for an incredible show. We’re excited to see the payment industry’s best again at next year’s MWAA conference!
If you couldn’t make it this year, reach out to learn why so many payment partners are choosing Luqra!
