This interview features George Owen, CEO of Stuner, the payment institution developed by the Iliad group (Free). Stuner originated as an internal solution to manage complex subscription flows for the telecom operator, benefiting from the group's strong "build" culture. Stuner has built and mastered the entire payment value chain—from gateway to acquisition—enabling it to offer highly competitive and transparent pricing (reportedly 2 to 3 times cheaper than the most expensive competitors). Stuner's flagship product, "Stancer Pay," targets French SMEs and VSEs, offering a modern, omnichannel service (online, physical terminals, remote) with simple onboarding and no commitment. Owen highlights the company's commitment to agility and innovation, demonstrated by quick internal development of features like "Tap to Pay on iPhone" and a payment module for Microsoft Teams. Security is maintained through a strategic choice to utilize proprietary, on-premise data centers, avoiding cloud dependency to ensure high reliability and control over PCI-DSS compliance.
Interview with George Owen, CEO of Stuner: Mastering the Payment Value Chain
0:29 - Stuner's Identity and Origin: Stuner is the payment institution from the Iliad group, initially developed internally (starting with the Iliad telecom operator) to process large-scale subscription payments (direct debit and credit card).
1:08 - Strategy: Control and Build: Stuner’s identity is defined by the Iliad group’s "build" culture. They obtained payment institution approval, built their own payment gateway, and handle acquisition themselves, mastering almost the entire payment value chain.
1:47 - Stancer Pay for SMEs/VSEs: Stuner launched "Stancer Pay" over a year ago, targeting French SMEs and VSEs (Very Small Enterprises). The offering is omnichannel (online, physical terminals, remote) with a competitive value proposition: no commitment, no subscription, and fair pricing.
3:25 - Omnichannel Solution: The platform supports merchants with both e-shops and physical stores, offering payment terminals and e-commerce modules, with all flows centralized in one dashboard for simplified reconciliation and cash management.
4:37 - Competitive Landscape: Stuner operates in a fragmented but dynamic market against major players like Stripe (e-commerce), Adyen (top-market international), Wordline, and traditional banks (whose SME/VSE market share is eroding).
6:01 - Market Growth Drivers: The payment market sees 5-8% annual growth, fueled by two main trends: the decrease in cash usage and the increase in online spending share.
6:51 - Why Build In-House: The Iliad group chose to build Stuner internally because traditional banking IT was archaic and poorly adapted to complex telco payment processes (subscriptions with varying values and transitions between payment methods). Building in-house ensures cost structure control, competitive pricing, and maximum product agility.
10:08 - Internal Agility: Stuner develops everything internally, minimizing reliance on subcontractors. This internal control allows for rapid development and high agility.
11:14 - 12:21 - Key Innovations: Examples of Stuner’s agility include developing Tap to Pay on iPhone internally and creating an in-app payment module for Microsoft Teams (in partnership with BNP) to allow professionals (teachers, consultants) to collect payments directly during video consultations.
13:53 - Team and Infrastructure: The team is over 50 people, with more than half in technical roles. Stuner owns its data centers (on-premise, not cloud-based) as a guarantee of security and reliability in payment processing.
17:16 - Pricing Advantage: Stuner aims for transparency and competitiveness, utilizing the French local network (CB network) which is cheaper than international equivalents. Stuner reports being two to three times cheaper than their most expensive competitors.
18:01 - Go-to-Market Strategy: Strategies include developing modules for popular CMS (like Prestashop), integrating with financial tools (invoicing, accounting), and forming strategic partnerships, such as being the payment service provider for Boursorama Banque professional accounts.
26:07 - Technical Debt Avoidance: Stuner maintains a cultural willingness to "break everything and start again" (e.g., rebuilt their payment app twice) to avoid technical debt and ensure their solution remains efficient and modern.
30:59 - Security Focus: Security is paramount; the choice to operate proprietary data centers (no cloud) is a strong infrastructure decision made specifically to guarantee security and strict adherence to high standards like PCI-DSS.
31:59 - CEO Background: George Owen is not an engineer; he was an M&A lawyer in New York and London before launching a previous company. He views his non-engineer perspective as a strength, enabling him to drive radical, necessary changes (like rebuilding systems) that others might shy away from due to technical complexity.