Jason Pratts FintekNews is pleased to offer our weekly feature column 3 Questions. Each week, we feature a thought leader within a unique sector of fintech and ask them to answer just 3 questions for our audience in their vernacular. This week, we’d like to introduce you to Jason Pratts, COO of Appetize, a modern Point of Sale (POS) technology company transforming how sports, entertainment, education and professional service industries manage and process customer transactions at scale.


NAME:

Jason Pratts

TITLE:

COO

COMPANY:

Appetize

WEB ADDRESS: appetizeapp.com

What is your role within your firm and what do you do there on any given day?

Appetize’s mission is to provide the absolute best point of sale (POS) experience on both the venue and customer side. Along with co-founders Max Roper and Kevin Anderson, we continually work to define the overall company vision – the “what” – and I personally support our staff as they work through the “how.” My day-to-day role is also to manage Appetize’s business unit to ensure maximum output with streamlined process and procedures, while helping these internal teams create a repeatable operational model that will be mostly hands off, simple, and deployable for Appetize’s next customers. I believe that when you lay a foundation and everything’s stable, you can build on top of it.

What do you believe the next major innovation in financial technology will be and why?

Convenience is the greatest driver for fintech innovation. Consumers are tired of downloading numerous mobile apps to order food, so the golden opportunity lies in reducing ordering friction. Soon enough we will see a shift in the ordering process. Guests will be able to scan a menu board and pull up the menu right on their mobile device. And the ordering process will continue to be seamless from item selection and modification to frictionless payments with Apple Pay or Google Wallet. For customers, this sleek and convenient payment experience improves the entire checkout experience. Here at Appetize, we focus on what drives convenience for our clients and their guests, what is likely to be long lasting, and which technologies will guide the direction of the market.

How do you feel consumers (or if more relevant for your firm – businesses) are adapting to the facet of fintech that your company operates within?

Businesses are rethinking their infrastructure strategy to accommodate for more ancillary ordering options other than physical POS – such as kiosks and mobile apps – for an omnichannel, enterprise approach. Navigating mobile and cloud shifts can be daunting, and high on the list of all businesses is replacing clunky and outdated POS systems that aren’t scalable. Appetize’s simple POS platform replaces or integrates with existing platforms for an easy update. Businesses in every industry realize it’s essential to adapt to the mobile wallet becoming the preferred method of payment in an increasingly cashless society as well as the key driver for customer loyalty and satisfaction.


Jason Pratts is a startup entrepreneur with over eight years of experience in sales, venture capital and management. In 2011, he founded Appetize Technologies, along with Max Roper and Kevin Anderson, and the co-founders have led the company to achieve over 100% annual growth, yearly, since inception.