In our PAIR Faces interview series, we shine a spotlight on the people behind PAIR Finance — their roles, stories, and what drives them. This time, we caught up with Patrick Swedén, Senior Business Development Manager at PAIR Finance, who’s part of our team in Sweden.
First of all, we’d like to find out a bit about you and your background. Where are you from?
I’m born and raised in Stockholm but I’m currently located in Vänersborg outside of Gothenburg. During my career I’ve had the opportunity to live and work both in Paris and in London. Very suitable as Vänersborg is known as “Little Paris” in Sweden, no similarity otherwise.
How did you join us and what has your career been like since then?
As I’ve previously worked with payments and AI PAIR Finance had caught my eyes the last couple of years and as I saw that they were looking to expand into Sweden I thought this would be a great opportunity to combine my previous experience. Since I’ve started it’s been full speed ahead and I truly enjoy this go to market journey we are on in Sweden. The team in both Sweden and internationally have been really helpful and welcoming and I rely a lot on my colleagues when looking for advice and answers, a great culture to be a part of!
What are your tasks as a Senior Business Development Manager at PAIR Finance in Sweden? What does a typical day look like for you in Sweden?
I spend most of my days talking to clients, discussing how our digital AI approach can help them to recover debts faster while retaining their customers. I work very closely with Fredrik Green, our Swedish managing director and together we execute the Swedish strategy and run our expansion in the Nordic market. So far we’ve seen a big demand for PAIR Finance who can disrupt the market in the Nordics the same way as we have done in the other 9 countries we are active in.
From your perspective, what makes the Swedish debt collection market unique or different? Why is it ready for a change?
I see that we differ from some of the countries that we operate in, as we are more regulated and controlled as a debt collection agency. It is also a change in how companies and individuals choose to pay. Invoices and BNPL players are pretty much dominating the B2C market as in other markets a lot of businesses offer their own solution but in the Nordics there is a handful of players that caters to the whole market.
The Nordics are definitely ready for a change and this is very noticeable when we talk to clients. The old way of trying to force a payment order as quickly as possible has been deemed old fashioned and businesses want to solve their consumers payment issues before that to preserve them as loyal clients. The PAIR Finance way of finding a pre-court solution with the consumer and hence solving a problem instead of punishing the client is definitely a winning concept.
What excites you most about working in business development?
The opportunity to change the way our clients conduct their business and the pleasure of helping industry leaders in our different focus areas and markets.
And what does your life outside the office look like? Do you have a favourite place in Stockholm?
Well, with 3 kids that are all active in different sport activities I spend most of my time out of the office in different sports venues.
I’d say that the archipelago outside Stockholm is my favourite go-to place. With over 30 000 islands to pick from there is always a place where you can find what you are looking for, regardless if it is a secluded beach or a 5-star restaurant.
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Ready to change the world of finance with us?
Would you like to work with Patrick on the future of the financial world? Then we look forward to getting to know you. You can find our current job offers here.
