Brenneck Pay / BB-Demo – Check In
Callcompleted
Brenneck Pay: documents · 2026-08-19 09:00
Check-in with Katrin Vogelsang, 19 Aug 2026. Around ten active users against forty Growth licences. She wants a value case and auditor evidence before the term ends on 2 Feb 2027. One stale-data comment is unchecked.
What was said
What this says
Current to 11 Oct 26Check-in with Katrin Vogelsang, 19 Aug 2026. Around ten active users against forty Growth licences. She wants a value case and auditor evidence before the term ends on 2 Feb 2027. One stale-data comment is unchecked.
What happened: Elena Novak ran a check-in with Katrin Vogelsang, Head of Merchant Operations, on 19 Aug 2026. Usage is around ten active people against forty Growth licences, a little up on the quarter before.
Customer view: Katrin sees the brain becoming part of how the team prepares for merchant calls, but not yet everywhere. She wants evidence for the BaFin auditor and a value case for her director.
Commercial: The contracted annual amount is £50,000 for Growth, matched by the invoices. The term ends on 2 Feb 2027, Elena will make contact about three months before, and no renewal price was discussed.
Watch: One account manager saw numbers that looked like Friday on a Monday, with no ticket and no date yet. Katrin is probably a heavy asker herself, so the share of questions by role needs checking.
Themes
Current to 9 Oct 26Theme
Usage headroom and value case
Importance
renewal
Sentiment
positive
Voice
champion
Who was there
BB-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
Current to 9 Oct 26- Elena Novak sends the usage note with active users and question share by role, and the how-to, today.
- Elena arranges an hour of joint training for account management and risk, offering a Thursday or Friday morning.
- Elena writes to Katrin on Friday with how access roles are configured, quoting the configuration.
Risks
Current to 9 Oct 26- Only about ten of forty Growth licences are active, and Katrin may be one of the main question askers.
- A Monday that looked like Friday has not yet been checked against the refresh record.
- There is no formal process for hearing about source system changes, so a connector could stop loading unnoticed.
Opportunities
Current to 9 Oct 26- The second wave of users fits inside the forty licences already paid for, with no contract change.
- The next quarterly review can build the value case, with the head of account management invited.
- Auditor evidence for BaFin is a use case the brain can serve, once the gaps are checked.
Transcript
Elena Novak NoneGood morning, Katrin. Can you hear me properly?
Katrin Vogelsang NoneGood morning, Elena. Yes, loud and clear. Give me a second, I am just closing another window, it is a busy start to the day.- Elena Novak NoneNo problem at all. Is it a bit grey in Frankfurt? It is quite grey here in Amsterdam, it looks like it has been raining all night.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneGrey, yes, but warm. Honestly I prefer it for a call day, there is no temptation to look out of the window. So, you sent an agenda. I have it open.
- Elena Novak NoneGood. Then to confirm what I emailed beforehand, we have four points today. One, usage over the last quarter and who is asking the questions. Two, the single support ticket from the last month. Three, what you would like the brain to do next for merchant operations and merchant risk. And four, the renewal timeline, only so that nothing surprises you in the winter. Is that still the right list for you?
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneThat is right. To be precise, I would like to add one small thing under point three, which is the evidence for our auditor. But we can take it there.
- Elena Novak NoneOf course. I will make sure that goes into the written actions. Let me start with usage, then. Over the last quarter, active users are up, by a modest amount. On average there are around ten people active in a typical month, and that is a little higher than the quarter before.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneTen. Out of forty licences.
- Elena Novak NoneYes, forty licensed users on the Growth plan. So there is a lot of headroom, and I would rather say that plainly than dress it up. Ten is a healthy core group, but it is a quarter of what you are paying for in seats.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneMm. I would not call that a problem yet. We started with the merchant account managers and two people from merchant risk. The remaining licences were meant for the second wave. And what is the source for the ten? Is it logins, or people who actually asked a question?
- Elena Novak NoneGood question, and I should be exact. It is people who were active in the brain, so they opened pages, searched or asked questions during the month. It is an average over the last thirty days. I can send you the list by role, without anything sensitive, so you can see who is in and who is not.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneYes please. By role is fine. I do not need names in a document, but I do need to see whether risk is really using it or only account management.
- Elena Novak NoneAs agreed, I will include that split. From what I can see already, account management is the larger group. Merchant risk is present but smaller, and the questions from risk are fewer but longer, which is typical when someone is checking a specific merchant.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneThat matches what I hear in the corridor. The account managers use it to prepare for merchant calls. Risk uses it when a merchant has something unusual, a chargeback pattern or a change in volume, and they want the whole picture without opening four systems.
- Elena Novak NoneThat is exactly the use you bought it for, so I am glad to hear it. One more thing on usage. Do you feel the questions are concentrated in one or two people? Sometimes one enthusiastic person asks most of them, and then it becomes a risk if that person is away or moves on.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneHm. I am probably one of those people, if I am honest. I ask a lot, especially before the monthly review. But I think the team is not far behind. Can you show me the share?
- Elena Novak NoneI can, and I will put it in the same note. To confirm, I will give you the share of questions by role, not by person, and I will flag it if any single role is carrying most of the load.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneGood. Let us agree that as the first next step. Now, the ticket.
- Elena Novak NoneYes. There was one ticket in the last month, and it was a how-to question, not a fault. Someone on your side wanted to know how to narrow a merchant view to a particular set of merchants. It was answered inside your response time, and it was closed with a short explanation.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneI remember. It was one of our account managers. She told me the answer was clear, but she did not know it was possible before. Is that written down somewhere, so others can find it?
- Elena Novak NoneThat is a fair point. At the moment it is in the ticket only. I will make sure that we turn it into a short how-to for your team, and I will send it with the usage note. It could also be part of a short training session for the second wave, if you want one.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneA short session would be useful. Not a full day, I cannot take people away from merchants for a full day. Maybe an hour, with a handful of people.
- Elena Novak NoneAn hour is realistic. I can run it from Amsterdam over video, so there is no travel. Would you prefer account management and risk together, or separately?
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneTogether, I think. The point of the project was that they see the same merchant in the same way. If I split them in training, I split them in habit as well.
- Elena Novak NoneAgreed, together then. I will propose two possible times next week and you can choose. Now, point three, what you would like next.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneYes. So, there are two things. The first is the second wave of users. Our head of account management, not the person you have met, wants her whole team in. I do not know the exact number, but it is more than we have today. The second is the evidence for the auditor.
- Elena Novak NoneLet me take the first one. Because you have forty licences and about ten active, the second wave fits inside what you already have. There is no change to the contract needed to bring them in. It is a question of access and a little training, not of money.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneThat is helpful, because I do not want to open a procurement discussion for this. What about the data? When the new people come in, do they see everything, or only their merchants?
- Elena Novak NoneThat depends on how access was set up in the implementation, and I do not want to guess. To confirm, I will check with our technical team how the roles are configured today, and I will write to you with the answer. I would rather give you a correct answer on Friday than a quick one now.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneYes, please do that. What is the source of the answer? I would like it to be from the configuration, not from memory.
- Elena Novak NoneFrom the configuration, of course. I will quote what is set, and who set it.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneGood. Then the auditor. You know that we are supervised by BaFin, and every year there is a point where they ask how we make decisions about merchants. They want to see that the information was complete and that we can show where it came from.
- Elena Novak NoneYes, and I think that is where the brain is strongest, if we use it carefully. Each answer can point to the records it was built from. So the question to settle is what exactly the auditor will ask for, and in which form.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneTo be precise, I do not know yet. Last year they asked for examples. A handful of merchants, the decision, the date, and what we knew at that time. That is the part I want to be able to show without three people spending a week.
- Elena Novak NoneI understand. Then let me suggest a small step. You send me, in writing, what the auditor asked for last year, in general terms, and I will take it to our team and check what the brain can reproduce from your data and what it cannot. I would prefer to tell you honestly where there is a gap.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneThat is fair. I will write it down properly. I will not send you anything confidential, only the structure of the questions.
- Elena Novak NoneThat is exactly right. The structure is enough for me.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneOne more concern. The data stays in the EU region. You confirmed that in the beginning, and I told the auditor so. Has anything changed there? I ask because I saw a note about new regions.
- Elena Novak NoneNothing has changed for you. Your data is in the EU region and it runs inside your own Snowflake account, so it stays under your control. The note you saw is about other customers and other regions. If you like, I will confirm it in writing, so you have a sentence for the auditor.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneYes, that would be good. A sentence I can paste into a document.
- Elena Novak NoneI will make sure that it is plain and short. Let me note that as an action. Now, may I ask about freshness? Does the team have the feeling that the data in the morning is current?
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneI think so. Nobody has complained. Actually, wait. There was a Monday a few weeks ago when one account manager said the numbers looked like Friday. But it was one comment, and I did not follow it up.
- Elena Novak NoneThank you for telling me. I did not see a ticket for it, and the refresh is meant to be complete by seven in the morning on business days. A Monday can look like Friday if the weekend had no activity in the source system, which is a common explanation. But I would like to check it properly. Do you remember roughly which Monday?
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneNot exactly. Around the start of the month. I can ask her.
- Elena Novak NonePlease do, and if she remembers the merchant she was looking at, that is even better. I will compare it with the refresh record. If it was nothing, I will tell you it was nothing.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneGood. I like that you say you will tell me either way. Some vendors only come back when there is a problem.
- Elena Novak NoneThat is how I prefer to work. Silence is not a report. Right, now let us do the timeline, point four. You are in the first year of the contract, which began on 3 Feb 2026, and the term ends on 2 Feb 2027. The renewal date in our records is 3 Feb 2027.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneYes. So we are about half way. And what is the annual amount at the moment? I need it for the budget paper.
- Elena Novak NoneThe contracted annual amount is £50,000 for the Growth plan, and that is also what has been invoiced. The order form and the invoices agree, which I checked before this call.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneFifty thousand, yes. That matches what I have. And I do not want to discuss renewal price today, it is too early. But I want to know when the discussion starts, so that I can plan the budget in the autumn.
- Elena Novak NoneThat is sensible. I will not give you a price today because I would be guessing. What I can say is that I will contact you about three months before the term ends, and before that, I would like us to have a value case that you can show internally. That is why the usage and the auditor point matter. They are your evidence.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneYes. A value case. I need to be able to say to my director, this is what we asked, this is what we got, and this is the time that we saved. Is that something you can help me build?
- Elena Novak NoneYes, I can help with that. We have the quarterly review for Growth customers, and I suggest we use the next one for exactly this. I would bring the usage trend, the questions by role and a short list of examples, and you would add what the team tells you about time saved. We should not invent numbers for the time saved. Your people know it better than we do.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneAgreed. I would rather have three honest examples than a nice slide with a number nobody can defend.
- Elena Novak NoneThen we are aligned. I will also ask you to think about who else should be at that review. Last time it was only you. If your director or the head of account management joins, the conversation about value is much easier.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneI will ask. I think the head of account management would come, she is interested. My director, perhaps for the first fifteen minutes. I will let you know.
- Elena Novak NoneThat would be good. Now, a small question, before I forget. Is there any change in your team that I should know about? New people, people leaving, a reorganisation? I ask because the brain is more useful when I know who the administrators are.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneNothing big. One colleague from merchant risk is on leave for a few months, and a new analyst joins after the summer. I will send you the name when it is confirmed. The administrators are the same as before, myself and one person from our data team.
- Elena Novak NoneThank you. So two administrators, and both are still in place. I will note that. If the new analyst needs access, please send me the request in writing and I will make sure it is done.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneYes, I will. Can I ask something about the connectors? We use the CRM and the helpdesk, and the payment system data comes through our own Snowflake tables. Is there anything on your side that I should be preparing, if we add more sources?
- Elena Novak NoneGood thinking. On Growth you have room for more connectors than you use today, so there is no contract question. What matters is the owner on your side for each source. When a source system changes, for example when someone upgrades a field or renames a table, the connector can stop loading and nobody notices. So I always ask: who tells us before a system changes?
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneThat is a fair point. At the moment it would be me, or the data team. We do not have a formal process. Let us agree a next step: I will ask the data team to give you a contact for changes.
- Elena Novak NoneThank you, that will help. I will add it to the actions. Shall I summarise what we have so far, so that you can correct me?
- Katrin Vogelsang NonePlease. I am taking minutes as well, and we will compare.
- Elena Novak NoneGood. Number one, I will send the usage note, with active users by role and the share of questions by role, and the how-to for narrowing a merchant view. Number two, I will arrange an hour of training for account management and risk together, and I will offer two times next week. Number three, I will check with our technical team how access roles are configured and write to you on Friday.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneYes. And on number three, I would like it with the source of the answer.
- Elena Novak NoneAs agreed, from the configuration. Number four, I will confirm in writing that your data stays in the EU region. Number five, I will check the Monday that looked like Friday against the refresh record, once you tell me roughly when it was.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneThat one is mine to ask my colleague. I will send you the date. Then from my side: I write down what the auditor asked last year, structure only. I ask my director and the head of account management about the review. I get a contact from the data team for system changes. And I send you the name of the new analyst when it is confirmed.
- Elena Novak NoneThat is complete. And finally, number six on my side, the next quarterly review. I will propose a date after the usage note has gone out, and we will use it to build the value case for the renewal conversation. The term ends on 2 Feb 2027, so we have plenty of time, but I would rather start early than late.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneYes, early is better. Last year we were rushing at the end with something else, and I did not like it. Please also keep the notes in one place, so that I can find them when the auditor comes.
- Elena Novak NoneI will send everything as one written follow up today, with the actions numbered and the owner next to each one. Then if you want something added, you reply to the same message and we have one thread.
- Katrin Vogelsang NonePerfect. Before we finish, may I say something more general? I was not sure at the start whether this would be taken up by the team. Now I think it has become part of how we prepare. It is not yet everywhere, but it is there.
- Elena Novak NoneThank you, that is useful for me to hear. And I think your instinct is right. Ten active people on average is not nothing, and it is growing. The next step is to widen it and to be able to show it.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneYes. Widen it and show it. I will use that sentence with my director, if you do not mind.
- Elena Novak NonePlease do. Is there anything else on your list that we have not covered? Anything that has been annoying your team?
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneOne small thing. The search sometimes returns old call notes before the new ones. It is not serious, but one account manager mentioned it. I do not think it needs a ticket.
- Elena Novak NoneI would still like to look at it, because it may be a simple setting, or it may be something we can improve. Could you ask her for one example, a search she ran and what she expected to see first? I will raise it with the team and come back to you with what they say.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneYes, I will ask her. I will send it with the other date.
- Elena Novak NoneThank you. I will add it as number seven, then. Anything else?
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneNo, I think that is all. Actually, one practical thing. Next week I am travelling on Wednesday, so if you offer times for the training, Thursday or Friday would be better.
- Elena Novak NoneNoted, Thursday or Friday. I will offer one of each, in the morning, as you started at nine today and I assume mornings are quieter for you.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneMornings are better, yes, before the merchants start calling. Thank you for remembering that.
- Elena Novak NoneIt is in my notes. Right. Then I think we are finished early, and I will not use the last minutes just to fill them. Thank you, Katrin, for the clear answers and for telling me about the Monday and the search. That is exactly what I need from a check in.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneThank you, Elena. It was structured, which I appreciate. I will wait for your written follow up and then I will respond with my items.
- Elena Novak NoneYou will have it before the end of the day. And to confirm, you will hear from me on Friday about the access roles.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneGood. Let us agree that, then. If it slips, please send me a note and not silence.
- Elena Novak NoneUnderstood, a note either way. Have a good rest of your week, and please say hello to your team.
- Katrin Vogelsang NoneI will. Thank you, and best wishes to you in Amsterdam. Goodbye.
- Elena Novak NoneGoodbye, Katrin. Speak soon.
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