What we heard at the Fat Zebra Forum 2026
Earlier this month, 60 customers, partners and industry leaders joined us at ACMI in Melbourne for the Fat Zebra Forum.
The theme was Unlocking Potential, but not in the vague, motivational sense. The afternoon focused on the practical version: improving customer experiences, reducing friction, making better decisions and helping businesses focus on what matters most. Across sessions on mindset, leadership, payments infrastructure and economic trends, a few conversations kept resurfacing.
Payments have moved beyond the checkout
Nobody spent much time talking about payments as a transaction. The discussion kept returning to customer experience, operational efficiency, approval rates and growth. Mastercard's Katrina Ell and Ali Hawli spoke about technologies like tokenisation, which are often viewed through the lens of fraud and security. Those benefits matter, but the bigger point was about customer experience. Customers rarely think about tokenisation. They notice when a payment fails, when checkout feels clunky, or when a process creates unnecessary friction. Increasingly, payments decisions are customer experience decisions.
Complexity is becoming everyone's problem
Platform businesses, retailers, software providers and enterprise operators all described a familiar challenge. Customers expect more payment options, mor flexibility and smoother experiences, while businesses are also managing regulatory change, economic uncertainty and growing operational demands. Different industries are facing similar pressures, even if they show up in different ways.Some of the most useful conversations happened between sessions, when businesses compared notes and realised they were wrestling with many of the same questions.
The most interesting discussion about surcharging wasn't just about surcharging
The proposed surcharge reforms came up often, but the tone of those conversations was more constructive than defensive. Rather than focusing only on margin pressure or operational change, speakers talked about what businesses might be forced to improve. Pricing transparency, customer trust, simpler experiences and operational efficiency all came through as practical opportunities. The consensus was not that change would be easy. It was that businesses who approach it thoughtfully may come out stronger.
Simplicity remains underrated
One of the strongest sessions of the day featured customers MYOB and Nimbley. Their businesses look very different, but both described a similar responsibility: helping customers make sense of payments. For MYOB, that can mean making reconciliation, invoicing and money management feel easier. For Nimbley, it can mean helping a merchant choose the right payments strategy from an increasingly crowded set of options. Different customers, same objective: reduce complexity and increase confidence.
A mindset shift that stuck
Ben Crowe's keynote generated more hallway conversations than perhaps any other session. One idea kept coming up afterwards: the difference between "got to" and "get to". It is a simple distinction, but it resonated with a room full of leaders, operators and decision-makers facing growth targets, economic pressure, regulatory change and rising customer expectations. The reminder was not to ignore those realities. It was to think differently about how we meet them.
Why we created the Forum
The idea behind the Fat Zebra Forum was straightforward: create a space where customers, partners and industry peers could have honest conversations about what is changing, what is working and what comes next.
Looking around the room, it was clear there is real appetite for those discussions. Not because people need another conference, but because they are looking for practical ideas, fresh perspectives and opportunities to learn from others facing similar challenges.
Thank you to everyone who joined us, shared their experiences and contributed to the conversation. We are already thinking about what comes next.
