The announcement that former CNS President Lionel van der Walt will be taking the reins from Eduardo Del Riego as fast-rising PayCargo’s President and Chief Executive Officer The Americas, swept across the opening session at CNS Partnership Conference in Miami.
     As it moves forward, with recent advances and mega deals with organizations, including CNS and IATA Cargo, the hyper growth Financial Technology (FinTech) company has air cargo worldwide locked onto its radar.
     FlyingTypers had the opportunity to talk with Lionel after the announcement and we discovered that the understated executive is animated, even excited as he makes a glorious return to air cargo. He is about to take the ride of his life.

The Golden Opportunity

     “When I departed air cargo and joined the International Institute of Building Enclosure Consultants (IIBEC), then RCI, Inc., my focus shifted to a new world of commercial construction.
     “However, in April of 2018, my attention was partially drawn back to the cargo industry when Larry Brandt, PayCargo’s Board Chairman invited me to serve on the Board.

Keeps Pulling Me Back

     “It was a slippery slope from there, as I found myself being drawn deeper and deeper back into the world of cargo.
     “And then the relentless, persuasive powers of Larry and Eduardo Del Riego, PayCargo’s Global CEO, kicked in.
     “To my surprise, the Board had reached a conclusion that I should take over as CEO, The Americas from Eduardo so that he could focus on global expansion.

The Offer You Can’t Refuse

     “Once you get to know them, you will understand what I mean when I say they were relentless, as Larry and Eduardo rarely fail to achieve an objective once they have set their minds to get it done.
     “And here I am today, PayCargo’s new President and CEO The Americas,” Lionel beamed.

Blue Skies Smiling At Me

     “Eduardo, who is a true original, and the PayCargo team have done all the “heavy lifting” that is needed to set up and launch a successful company.
     “And in the FinTech space this is no mean feat!

Winds of Change

     “However, PayCargo is in the process of “shifting gears”, with the new focus being on sustaining hyper growth.
     “This is where I come in to the picture,” Lionel said.
     “My role is to help Eduardo and the Board to achieve this objective by ensuring that we have a strong vision, mission and culture in place, including an appropriate strategy, covering resources as well as the relevant operational infrastructure and processes that will enable us to achieve sustainable long-term success, both for PayCargo, as well as for our clients and business partners.”

PayCargo Action Is Patented

     “Our website www.paycargo.com says it all,” Lionel said.
     “PayCargo is the world's leading online payment platform for the shipping and cargo industry, and that is a fact.
     “Our patented platform is the industry's most secure and efficient payment solution allowing our customers to move funds and payment information to their freight vendor for "Rapid Release" of the cargo.
     “In many cases, cargo is released within one hour of payment.”

High Wide & Handsome

     One of our key strengths is the breadth and depth of our business network, we have 12,000+ registered payers comprising 21,000+ users, including the world’s top 10: Kuehne + Nagel, DHL, UPS, FedEx, XPO Logistics, etc.
     “From a vendor perspective, we have 4,000+ billers registered, including Maersk Lines (largest ocean carrier in the world), Hapag Lloyd (4th largest), Air France, American Airlines, LAN Cargo, United Airlines, Lufthansa Cargo, Avianca, Nippon Cargo Airlines, Swissport, Singapore Airlines, Qantas Freight, Qatar Airways, Air Canada, DHL Aviation, DHL Express, and the list goes on.
     “We are also fully integrated with 14 Logistic Software Providers and 5 Major Import Shipper’s Associations.

CNS & IATA Climb Onboard

     From an air cargo perspective, in December of 2017, CNS and PayCargo, LLC (USA) signed an agreement to offer the New PayCargo-CNS System (www.paycargo-cns.com) in the United States and became the online payment processing engine for expedited payments at U.S. stations of participating airlines.
     “As a natural next step, Lionel explains, “PayCargo signed a global agreement with IATA in March of this year to offer the IATA-PayCargo System (www.paycargo-iata.com).”
Geoffrey

     Carmen Gloria Alvarez, Cargo Network Services (CNS) Head of Operations and Business Development is the steady hand at CNS customer events, cargo transformation meetings, and liaison go to person for all things membership for the past three years.
     Carmen Alvarez started at VIASA Airlines in Chile. Later she moved to a freight forwarder.
From her freight forwarder base Carmen became assistant general manager for the Association of Chilean Cargo Agents (ACHIAC) (FIATA members).
     IATA recognized a good thing and enticed Carmen to work in Santiago for the agency on several emerging projects including, e-awb, e-freight, and the regional CASS system.
     In 2012 after 11 years with IATA in Chile, Carmen accepted the post as IATA Regional Manager Cargo e-Commerce for the Americas based in Miami.
     “My husband Marcos who works for Schenkers was completely supportive of my career, so we moved with our two boys, Benjamin and Agustin and today our boys are at school in Miami,” Carmen said.
     In 2016, Carmen moved to CNS.
     Asked if being a woman had ever presented a challenge, she says, “I have worked with men my entire career. I have found that as long as you get the job done, people value you for what you can do.
     How does she balance work with family life. Carmen says, “First of all I have a very understanding and helpful husband. I'm good at multitasking. I have also learned that prioritizing and time management is the key.
     Today the CNS manager of operations and business development shares the spotlight with her co-workers.
     “At CNS we are a team of three,” Carmen adds.
     “Collaboration is everything,” she smiles.