Conversation with… Lee Jones, CEO of Worldline Merchant Services UK
Leadership in payments is often defined by trust, and few understand that better than Lee Jones, chief executive of Worldline Merchant Services UK, who has spent two decades building relationships in the payments and technology sector.
In this latest ‘Conversations’ interview, he reflects on the leadership lessons that shaped his career, Worldline’s customer-centric strategy in the UK, and how trust, data and agentic commerce are set to reshape the future of retail payments.
Subscribe to TRBYou have built your career across a fast-evolving payments and technology landscape over the past two decades. Looking back, what have been the defining moments that shaped your leadership style and how you lead Worldline in the UK today?
My career journey has probably been shaped as much by the early experiences I had outside of big corporates as by the roles I’ve held since.
When I finished university, I had a few different career options in front of me, but I spent time thinking about what I was naturally good at and what I enjoyed. A lot of that came down to people and relationships. My grandmother once asked me whether I was a good talker, and I think that has stayed with me. I’ve always enjoyed working with people, building relationships and bringing people together.
That led me to join my family business, where I had the opportunity to work closely with my father and learn from someone who had built businesses himself. It was a fantastic grounding experience. Working in a smaller organisation meant you had to get involved in everything. There was no hiding behind a specific job description or saying “that’s not my area”.
I was involved in everything from sales and installing technology in retail stores to setting up networks. It gave me a real appreciation of what different people across a business do every day, and that has stayed with me. I always try to understand what people are dealing with, what pressures they face and how decisions affect them.
After that, I moved into larger organisations, including Kyocera and later Ingenico, which brought different experiences and perspectives. One of the biggest lessons I learned was the importance of staying true to yourself as you progress through your career.
As you move into more senior roles, you become more aware of the impact you have as a leader. People sometimes behave differently around you because of your position, but I have always wanted to remove that barrier. I want people to feel comfortable approaching me, challenging ideas and sharing problems.
For me, leadership is about creating an environment where people can be themselves and do their best work. It is about being inclusive, collaborative and recognising that we succeed as a team, while keeping clear accountability for delivering results.
One example of that is how we approach our town halls at Worldline. Rather than them being something led by one person, we opened them up so colleagues could volunteer to chair them. It became a development opportunity, allowing people to build confidence, work with different teams and raise their profile.
I believe strongly that leaders should not ask people to do things they would not do themselves. I like to stay close to the detail, understand what teams are experiencing and, most importantly, see people grow and develop.
Worldline has continued to strengthen its presence in the UK through investment, local capability and regulatory alignment. What are the key principles behind your leadership approach, and how do you ensure your team remains agile and customer-focused?
I feel very fortunate and proud to lead Worldline in the UK. We have incredibly talented people, both here and across the wider organisation, who support our ambitions.
At a group level, our new CEO has established a clear vision: to become the European payments partner of choice for merchants and financial institutions. That gives us a strong direction around where we want to focus and how we want to support customers.
In the UK, we took a very inclusive approach to defining our own strategy. Rather than simply deciding what our vision should be, we asked colleagues what they believed we could be world-class at, where we could differentiate ourselves and what mattered most to them.
We gathered ideas, created a shortlist and then asked employees to vote on our UK North Star. The result was becoming “the UK’s leading customer-centric payments partner, simplifying every transaction through robust, resilient and trusted services.”
The words that stand out most to me are customer-centricity and trust.
In payments, trust is everything. There is a moment of truth when a customer decides to complete a purchase, and that experience can either strengthen or damage their relationship with a brand. If you deliver a great experience, customers remember it. If you repeatedly disappoint them, it can be incredibly difficult to rebuild that relationship.
That trust is created through many small actions. It comes from keeping promises, delivering what we say we will deliver and being transparent when we face challenges.
Following Brexit, Worldline made the decision to continue investing in the UK rather than stepping away. We built a new regulated business, secured our FCA licence, moved hundreds of merchants across and created new ways of working.
It was a challenging but hugely rewarding journey. The key to success was having a solution-focused mindset. When problems arose, we did not focus on blame; we focused on how we could fix them. That approach helped us build strong relationships internally and externally, including with regulators.
We now have a strong foundation in place, and after many years in this industry, it feels like we are entering another exciting chapter.
The payments sector has changed dramatically, from digital wallets and alternative payment methods to the growth of AI and data. What developments have had the biggest positive impact on retailers and consumers?
The biggest change has been the increasing focus on customer experience. Consumers expect more choice, more convenience and a smoother journey than ever before.
Alternative payment methods are a great example. From a customer perspective, it seems simple: “Why can’t I just pay using the method I prefer?” But behind the scenes there is a huge amount of complexity around integration, regulation, security and technology.
Digital wallets and account-to-account payments will continue to evolve. At Worldline, we are heavily involved in initiatives such as Wero, which aims to make payments across Europe simpler and more seamless.
Data is another area with huge potential. Payments generate valuable information, but data only creates value when it leads to insight and action.
For example, understanding customer behaviour can help retailers plan stock, manage staffing levels and improve the overall shopping experience. If you know when customers are likely to visit and what they are doing across channels, you can make better decisions.
AI will accelerate this further, but innovation has to solve real problems. It is easy to become excited about technology for technology’s sake, but the key question must always be: how does this make someone’s life better?
Looking ahead, how do you see consumer expectations evolving and how is Worldline preparing for the future of payments?
Trust will continue to be the foundation. Customers put their trust in brands when they make a purchase, and businesses should never take that for granted.
Alongside trust, convenience will become increasingly important. We are already seeing exciting developments such as Worldline Tap on Mobile (SoftPOS), which allows everyday devices to become payment enabled.
The opportunities are significant. For retailers, it could mean turning tablets into backup payment solutions during technical issues or allowing colleagues to serve customers anywhere in the store rather than forcing them to queue at a traditional checkout.
The future is about serving customers in the way they want to be served.
Another major development is agentic commerce. We recently saw one of the first agentic commerce transactions in Europe, working alongside partners including Mastercard and ING Bank.
This represents a different way of shopping. Instead of a customer searching, comparing and making every decision themselves, they could tell an AI agent what they want, set parameters around price or requirements, and allow the agent to find options.
The buying journey could become much more fact-based, with AI comparing availability, reviews, delivery options and value.
However, there are still many challenges to solve, particularly around security, fulfilment and how retailers adapt their systems. Payments are progressing quickly, but the wider retail infrastructure will also need to evolve.
Ultimately, retailers will need to focus even more on customer experience and loyalty. If shopping becomes more automated, brands will need to find new ways to stand out and build relationships with customers.
What advice would you give to businesses navigating such a rapidly changing landscape?
Keep the customer at the centre of everything you do.
Technology will continue to change, and there will always be new innovations and trends. But the organisations that succeed will be those that understand the problems they are trying to solve and create genuine value.
It is also important to stay curious. I have always tried to keep learning, whether through conversations, podcasts or spending time understanding how customers operate.
Although we understand payments, we are not retailers, and we should never forget that. Our role is to enable great experiences and work alongside retailers to help them achieve their goals.
The best learning often comes from understanding what happens on the ground. I have spent time working in stores, stacking shelves and experiencing retail operations first-hand because it helps you appreciate the complexity involved.
At the end of the day, relationships matter. Your reputation, your integrity and how you treat people stay with you throughout your career. Companies change, roles change, but the way you work with people is what lasts.
