Like bees to honey: This was the sweetest booth at any broadband conference in 2025

On this episode on Connected Nation, we chat with Chris Homan, Telecom Vertical Leader for Paymentus, about the company's multi-vertical payment platform, their partnership with Calix, and their show-stopping conference booth!

Recommended links: 

Calix ConneXions 2025

Paymentus website

Chris Homan LinkedIn

Chapters

• 1:17 Paymentus backround
• 3:12 Relationship with "verticals"
• 4:26 What Paymentus does with people's contact information
• 5:34 The Paymentus booth
• 7:05 Paymentus background in B2B (business to business)

Transcript

Jessica Denson, Connected Nation (00:00):
<silence> This is Connected Nation, an award-winning podcast focused on all things broadband from closing the digital divide to improving your internet speeds. We talk technology topics that impact all of us, our families, and our neighborhoods. On today's podcast, I ask a simple question, how do you attract new customers when you're one booth of many at a conference? In one case, the answer is candy lots and lots of candy. I'll take you to one of the most popular booths at cex Connections 2025 conference and talk with a rep from Paymentus about what they do. I'm Jessica Denson, and this is Connected Nation. I am at CX Connections 2025 conference taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Win, and I am the exhibit hall, which is one of the best parts of the conference every year. And I usually try to do some sort of interview at one of the best booths of the year. And I would say this year it's Paymentus and I have convinced Chris Homan, who is the telecom vertical leader for the company to talk with me about, uh, Paymentus. Am I saying that right? Yeah. Paymentus. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. That's it. It kind of rolls off the 

Chris Homan, Paymentus (01:17):
Tongue. It does. Yeah. So yeah, we're a, we're a multi vertical payments platform, so we handle utility, government, telecom, insurance, uh, education, and other verticals as well. So, uh, the difference between us and other payments companies is that we are truly a platform. So we offer everything from all of the traditional methods to the advanced payment methods, uh, multi multichannels. So you can pay in cash, you could pay via IVR, you could pay via the web, you could be pay via text to pay mobile app, kiosk, or an EMV device. So, so many different options. We integrate into multiple different billing systems, most of which who are represented here. And, uh, integrations is, is definitely a key part of our business. 

Jessica Denson, Connected Nation (02:04):
So, uh, the telecom industry, broadband industry is big. And I know Kalx works a lot of those types of groups. Um, what is, are there, are there some, is there anything unique about what their needs are or is it pretty much the same depending on the co no matter what the company is? 

Chris Homan, Paymentus (02:20):
Well, there's different, there's different needs for each vertical. Um, I would say telecom has some, some needs that are a little bit different than maybe some of the other verticals. Um, for example, there are folks here that go door to door signing up new, new, uh, broadband customers, and they need an option to be able to take payments that directly integrates back into the billing system. So it creates that new account record and ties that payment directly back to that record. So that's something that we specialize in. Um, so that's, that's a unique, I think, item for, for the telecom space. 

Jessica Denson, Connected Nation (02:52):
And do you find that out exploring these different industries, or is that, is that something you work with CX with or just and what I'm, what I'm trying to ask, I'm doing poorly job, bad job of is with each industry, which you're calling verticals, do you have conversations with them? What are your needs or are you coming to them with a solution already? 

Chris Homan, Paymentus (03:12):
We, we hire, generally hire experienced folks who've been in the industry a long time and each of the verticals. So we sort of know, know the makeup and what's needed and, uh, you know, we certainly work with our partners and customers to develop new capabilities and, and new pieces of technology to push out. But, but we, we generally know what, what's needed in each vertical. So, 

Jessica Denson (03:32):
So as a telecom vertical leader, what is your background and how long have you worked for Paymentus? 

Chris Homan (03:37):
So I've been in the payment space for nearly 25 years. Uh, started off, uh, in the, uh, check business and credit card business, and then moved over to, uh, cash money transfer, and then, then came back to, uh, back to credit card and, and, uh, uh, scheduled payments and that sort of thing. But, uh, you know, I lead the sales team, all of the, um, all of the strategy and, and long-term planning for the vertical. So just kind of the GM of the business, 

Jessica Denson (04:06):
Uh, right now. Well always, but especially right now there is a lot of concern about, um, security of systems, that type of thing. What does payments do to protect people's information? Are there any extra steps you take, especially with AI coming into the, into the, the fray <laugh>? 

Chris Homan (04:26):
Absolutely. So we're PCI certified and, uh, everything, everything we do is, is based on security, right? So, uh, all of our information, all of our raw pan data is tokenized. So, um, we, uh, we spend a tremendous amount of time, money, and effort to make sure that our systems are, uh, are not vulnerable to attack. Uh, we've never had a breach and, uh, we hope to keep it that way. 

Jessica Denson (04:51):
That's, that's good. Never had a breach <laugh>. And, uh, where is Paymentus, uh, located? Where is it? Where are its home offices? 

Chris Homan (04:58):
We're headquartered in Charlotte. Uh, we have offices in Toronto, Dallas, uh, and, and other locations across the country. 

Jessica Denson (05:06):
So it's really a national footprint or is it a global 

Chris Homan (05:09):
Uh, well, we have, uh, business in North America. We are starting to branch out into the Caribbean and Europe. Uh, so yeah, we're becoming a international company. 

Jessica Denson (05:19):
Okay. Let's talk about this booth for a second. Okay. Just gonna set, 'cause it is an audio only podcast. I will take a picture and share it when we share that podcast, but it says it's time for something sweet. Do these, do these little boxes represent something other than the, there's like yummy candy in there, <laugh>. 

Chris Homan (05:34):
Well, we just, you know, at, at these sort of events, you want to, you want to give the, uh, attendees a reason to come and engage with your team and, and, uh, candy certainly is one that works quite well. So this is our candy wall and, uh, we invite folks to come up and grab a bag and, and, uh, we like to have conversations while they load up with candy. So yeah, 

Jessica Denson (05:54):
I'm definitely gonna load up on some candy in a second once I can, can put my podcast equipment down. There's also these cute little blue ducks. What, what is, what do they represent? They've got little dots on 'em 

Chris Homan (06:03):
Because we help, uh, folks pay bills, right? Yeah. Our, our, uh, mascot is Bill the Duck. Oh. And so that's, uh, that's why we give out the, uh, the ducks at all of our events, so. Oh, 

Jessica Denson (06:14):
That's, oh, that makes sense. And what's this other little machine with the little, it's like a old fashioned 

Chris Homan (06:19):
Little, little door prizes. We've got some, uh, casino chips in there. Uh, so we loaded that up this morning, and we've had several, several winners. There's still some a hundred dollars chips in that. Uh, 

Jessica Denson (06:28):
Oh, there are. Oh, I'm gonna have to put in for that. <laugh>. I'm just, that's really why I came over here. It was just to take advantage of your booth <laugh>. Really? So, um, even though payment payments are serious and there's a lot of security and stuff, you guys have a sense of humor. 

Chris Homan (06:42):
Oh yeah, absolutely. No, we like to have a good time and, you know, but we really, the customer is the key of everything, right? You know, the, the center of everything that we do. We try to take care of the customer and take care of, uh, our customers into customers, right? So it's, it's all about, uh, all about what we do. So, 

Jessica Denson (06:58):
So you basically, you work, you go work business to business, right? You don't work with the an average individual. It's always a company. 

Chris Homan (07:05):
It's always a company. Yeah. It's all, it's all, it's all consumer to business transactions. Uh, so, um, but, uh, you know, whether that's a utility or a government or an insurance company, I mean, we have many large clients across the country, some of the largest utilities in North America, some of the biggest insurance companies like Farmer's Insurance, and, uh, lots of other, lots of other really large clients. 

Jessica Denson (07:26):
And, uh, for you, where do, where do you hope that payment test goes? Or are there any big plans you can let us know about or any, any things like next year, five year, or is it just gonna be the, the need to, to secure? 

Chris Homan (07:38):
Well, we're, we're very excited about our partnership with Calyx and, uh, with their new smart offering, you know, smart Lives, smart MDU, and, uh, smart Home. We're gonna be processing all the paywall transactions for cx. So we're, we're very excited about that new partnership with them. 

Jessica Denson (07:55):
That's a big partnership. CX is awesome. Is this your first time at their Connections conference? 

Chris Homan (08:00):
Oh, no, we've been, we've been coming for many years. Yeah. So three or four years. We've, we've been partners now for about two years, two and a half, three years. And, uh, it's, uh, it's great. We get along great with their entire team and just really excited about the future. 

Jessica Denson (08:11):
Yeah, they're a lot of fun in these conferences. A lot of fun. I think. Did you get to go to the golfing scramble? Everybody keeps talking about it, and I love to play golf and I missed it. 

Chris Homan (08:19):
Uh, we sponsored a hole, but I'm not much of a golfer, so I just, I hope that one of my balls might, might, uh, might get used in the, uh, in the scramble, but, uh, but yeah, we did have some folks out there playing golf. 

Jessica Denson (08:30):
Alright, well, Chris Homan Homan. All right, got it. With Paymentus, who's the tech, uh, telecom vertical leader. We'll include a link to the, to the company and the description of this podcast for anybody who's interested. Thank you so much for joining me. Well, thank you so much. Still ahead this year, we'll continue our coverage from CX Connections 25 and talk with leadership from CX as well as other high profile speakers, and those with broadband companies from across the country. Until then, I'm Jessica Denson, and this is Connected Nation.