JPMChase The Beginning
I’m not the typical networking type who likes to work the room, shake hands, and make small talk. If you have something to say, just say it and let’s move on. It’s not the usual way to look for a job, but in this case, it worked out.
I was at the local gym, my business had just closed, and I was looking for the next step. I’m not independently wealthy, so I had to go back to work and focus on my strengths: technology, release engineering, and managing software.
It was early afternoon, and I was minding my own business at the gym. There weren’t many people there except for one guy I had seen a few times. I don’t remember what started the conversation, but we shook hands, his name was Anthony, and we started talking. He mentioned he was on lunch from his job at Paymentech, just down the street. I told him about my background and what I’d been doing for the last year. If there were ever two people meant to meet, it was us. He had some openings and asked for my resume. I drove home, probably a little too fast, and emailed it over. I don’t remember the exact day, but I do remember having the interview the next week.
Here’s a bit of technology history. Paymentech was the company’s name, but it was owned by JPMChase and was still in the process of switching to JPMChase and dropping the Paymentech name. The company started out as Litlenet about 20 years ago, and, believe it or not, I had interviewed there in my 20s. I didn’t realize this until after I started at Paymentech and learned the company history. It really felt like everything lined up perfectly.
So what is Paymentech? Every time you walk into a store or buy something online and use a credit card, companies like these (JPMChase / Paymentech) process the transaction. They basically invented network-based payment processing, and today Chase is the largest processor in the world. No other company comes close. When I left, they were handling over 2 trillion transactions a year. Life can be very odd.
Next, I’ll talk about the interview and my start, which shaped the rest of my career.
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