Brenneck Pay / BG-Demo – Check In
Callcompleted
Brenneck Pay · 21 Sep 2026 14:45
Katrin Vogelsang, Head of Merchant Operations, said usage is stable but carried by three people. She asked for source evidence for her auditor. Renewal price terms are still to be verified against the order form.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Katrin Vogelsang, Head of Merchant Operations, said usage is stable but carried by three people. She asked for source evidence for her auditor. Renewal price terms are still to be verified against the order form.
What happened: Elena Novak ran a check-in on 21 Sep 2026 covering usage, one ticket, the EU region and refresh, auditor evidence and the renewal. Katrin was open throughout, including about a weak dashboard.
Customer view: Usage is steady and the nightly refresh has been on time, but she, Katrin, and two risk analysts ask a large share of the questions. Her main concern is the auditor, who needs the source and refresh time behind every answer.
Commercial: The Growth contract renews on 3 Feb 2027 at fifty thousand a year, and Katrin asked whether the price will change. Elena would not quote a figure until she had checked the order form, and Matteo Ricci is to join the commercial part.
Watch: Katrin mentioned a possible onboarding team next year, as an idea only. The auditor note comes before the value summary, and she needs dates she can put in the minutes.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Renewal prep and audit evidence
Importance
renewal
Sentiment
positive
Voice
champion
Who was there
BG-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Elena Novak confirms the date for the auditor note and the connection list after checking with the platform team.
- Elena verifies the renewal terms against the order form and informs Matteo Ricci.
- Katrin sends two or three merchant examples for the account manager session by the end of that week.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Katrin and two risk analysts ask a large share of the questions, so usage and value rest on few people.
- The account manager dashboard is less used than the merchant risk dashboard.
- Renewal price and terms have not yet been checked against the order form, and Katrin is planning budget with finance in the autumn.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- An onboarding team for new merchants may be added next year; Katrin owns it as an idea, not a project.
- A value summary built from the customer's own usage counts could support the renewal case with her director.
- A session for account managers who ask rarely, built on their own watch-list merchants, could widen adoption.
Transcript
Elena NovakHello Katrin, good afternoon. Can you hear me properly?
Katrin VogelsangYes, good afternoon Elena, I hear you well. And you see me? The camera sometimes takes a moment.- Elena NovakI see you, yes. Very clear. Thank you for making the time, I know the week is busy for you.
- Katrin VogelsangIt is, the month end is coming and the merchants never stop. But this slot after lunch is quiet, so it is good.
- Elena NovakGood. So, to confirm the agenda I emailed this morning. First, usage over the last quarter. Second, the one ticket you raised last month. Third, the EU data region and the nightly refresh. Fourth, the evidence you need for your auditor. Fifth, the renewal in February and what we should prepare before it. Is that still right for you?
- Katrin VogelsangYes, it matches my notes. I would add one thing under the fourth point, to be precise: for every answer the brain gives, what is the source? The auditor asks this every time.
- Elena NovakAs agreed, I will make sure we cover that. I will put it into the written actions as its own line.
- Katrin VogelsangGood. Then please begin with usage.
- Elena NovakOf course. Let me share my screen, one moment. Can you see the usage page now?
- Katrin VogelsangYes, I see it. The chart with the weekly questions, correct?
- Elena NovakCorrect. So the headline is that active users are steady. On a typical day it is around eleven people, which is almost exactly the same as the previous quarter, just a touch higher. You are licensed for forty on the Growth tier, so there is a lot of room.
- Katrin VogelsangEleven, yes. That is what I expected. It is the account managers and the merchant risk analysts, the core group. The wider sales colleagues look at it only occasionally.
- Elena NovakThat is helpful context. And is the core group stable, or are there people who stopped?
- Katrin VogelsangStable. Nobody has left the team. Two colleagues were on leave in the summer, which is why you see a dip in August, I think.
- Elena NovakYes, the dip is there in August and it comes back in September. So I read that as seasonal, not as a loss of interest. May I ask something? Who asks the most questions? I see the names, but I would like your view.
- Katrin VogelsangHonestly, it is me and two of the risk analysts. I would say the three of us are a large part. This is something I have thought about. If I am away, it goes quieter.
- Elena NovakI think that is a fair observation, and I would like to say it plainly: it is a small risk for you, not for us. If a few people carry the usage, the value is also carried by few people. So one idea is that we run a short session for the account managers who ask rarely. A practical walk through, using their own merchants.
- Katrin VogelsangMm. I like this. But to be precise, they must not feel it is another tool they are forced into. If the session is built on a merchant they already worry about, they will come.
- Elena NovakAgreed. So I propose you give me two or three merchants that are on a watch list, no names in the invitation, and I prepare the examples. I will make sure the session is in German or English, as you prefer.
- Katrin VogelsangEnglish is fine for the material, German for the discussion. Let me think about the merchants and I will send you a note by the end of the week.
- Elena NovakPerfect. I write that down: Katrin sends merchant examples by the end of this week.
- Katrin VogelsangYes. Good.
- Elena NovakNow the questions asked. If I look month on month, the volume is level. Slightly higher than the same period before the summer. Nothing dramatic. The pages your team built are being opened regularly, and the dashboards you set up in the spring are still being used, which I take as a good sign.
- Katrin VogelsangThe merchant risk dashboard, yes. That one is used in the Monday meeting, so it is used every week. The other dashboard, for the account managers, is less alive. I should say this honestly.
- Elena NovakThank you, that is useful. Perhaps the session we just discussed also helps that dashboard. We can look at what the account managers actually want to see, and adjust it. It is a quarterly review item anyway.
- Katrin VogelsangYes, let us agree that as a next step. A short review of the account manager dashboard, with me and one of the managers.
- Elena NovakNoted. Shall we move to the ticket?
- Katrin VogelsangYes, please.
- Elena NovakSo there was one ticket in the last thirty days, and it was not high priority. As I understand it, it was a question about how a merchant group is shown when two legal entities belong to the same owner. It was answered, and I see you marked it as resolved. Was the answer satisfactory? I want to hear it from you, not only from the helpdesk.
- Katrin VogelsangIt was answered quickly, I have no complaint on speed. The content, though, I want to be sure about. The answer said the brain groups them by the owner field in the CRM. My question is, what is the source of that owner field? If the CRM is wrong, the grouping is wrong.
- Elena NovakThat is exactly the right question. The grouping follows what is in your CRM, so the brain is only as correct as the field. It does not correct it. What the brain can do is show you where the two sources disagree, for example between the CRM and your payment records.
- Katrin VogelsangThen this is interesting for us. We have a handful of merchants where the group structure in the CRM is old. Could you show a list of those where the sources disagree?
- Elena NovakI believe so, but I do not want to promise before I check with our solutions colleagues what is possible with your connected sources. To confirm, I will come back to you in writing with what we can list and what we cannot.
- Katrin VogelsangThat is fine. In writing is better for me, also for the minutes.
- Elena NovakOf course. Now, the third point. The EU region and the nightly refresh. Let me bring up the freshness view. You see the line here, the refresh completes before seven in the morning your time on business days. Over the last quarter it has done so every business day I can see. Is that your experience too?
- Katrin VogelsangYes. The Monday meeting at half past eight has the current numbers. I have not had a morning where the data was old. If it happened, my analysts would tell me very fast.
- Elena NovakGood. And the data stays in the EU region, as agreed in the order form. I can confirm there has been no change to that configuration. Do you have a question from your side on residency?
- Katrin VogelsangFrom my side no, but our compliance colleagues will ask for a statement at the next review. Something short, saying where the data sits and who operates it. Can you provide this?
- Elena NovakYes. I will make sure you receive a short written statement: the data is kept in the EU region, it runs inside your own Snowflake account, and BG-Demo operates it under the order form. I will ask a colleague to check the wording before I send it, so that it is precise.
- Katrin VogelsangInside our Snowflake account, yes, this is the important sentence. The auditor likes it. Please keep that sentence exactly.
- Elena NovakI will keep it exactly. Which brings us to your fourth point, the evidence. Tell me what the auditor actually asks for, as concretely as you can, so I do not guess.
- Katrin VogelsangThree things, to be precise. One: which systems feed the brain. Two: when it was last refreshed, for any answer we rely on. Three: for a specific statement about a merchant, which record it comes from. If I cannot show the source, the statement is not evidence for them.
- Elena NovakThank you. Let me answer one by one, and correct me. For the first, I can give you the list of connected systems, with the date each was connected. For the second, the refresh log is available and I can show you where to find it yourself. For the third, the answers in the chat carry references to the underlying records. Have your analysts been using those references?
- Katrin VogelsangSome do, some do not. This is what I want to fix. Perhaps it also belongs in the session for the account managers.
- Elena NovakYes, I think so. We make it a rule of the session: no statement about a merchant leaves the team without the source open next to it.
- Katrin VogelsangI would put it in our own working guide too. Good. Let us write it down as a rule.
- Elena NovakThen I will draft a one page note for the auditor with those three points, the connected systems, the refresh evidence and how to trace an answer to its record. You review it, you change what does not fit your audit language. Would that help?
- Katrin VogelsangThat helps a lot. When can I have a draft? I need to say a date to my director.
- Elena NovakLet me be careful here. The note itself I can write this week and send it within a few days. But the list of connection dates comes from our platform team, and I do not want to give a date for their part before I have asked them. May I confirm tomorrow?
- Katrin VogelsangYes, that is correct. Please confirm tomorrow, and I will write in the minutes that a date follows.
- Elena NovakThank you. Now, the renewal. I would like to be open about timing, because it is not far. Your contract runs to 2 Feb 2027 and the renewal date is 3 Feb 2027. It is on the Growth tier, fifty thousand a year, forty licensed users, and that matches what has been invoiced.
- Katrin VogelsangYes, February. I know. Fifty thousand is what I have in my budget file as well. Is there any change coming for the price?
- Elena NovakGood question, and I want to answer correctly, not from memory. I will check the exact renewal terms against the order form and put them in writing for you, so that you have the price and the conditions in one document. I do not want to quote a number today that I have not verified for your contract.
- Katrin VogelsangUnderstood. I prefer that. When will this be?
- Elena NovakI will include it in the written summary of this call. Matteo Ricci, who is your account owner on our side, will also be involved in the commercial part, and I will let him know that you asked.
- Katrin VogelsangGood, I know Matteo. Please tell him there is no rush from my side, but I need to plan the budget with finance in the autumn.
- Elena NovakNoted, autumn planning. So before the renewal, what would make it easy for you to say yes inside your company? I mean the value, not the price. What would your director want to see?
- Katrin VogelsangHm. I think two things. First, that merchant risk and account management use the same facts. Before the brain, they argued about whose spreadsheet was right. Now they look at one view. My director knows this story, but I should give it numbers. Second, evidence for the auditor, as we said. If that is in good order, it is a strong argument.
- Elena NovakBoth are things we can support. For the first, we can look at the questions asked by the two teams about the same merchants and show how much of it overlaps. That would be a factual picture from your own usage, not a general claim. Would you be comfortable with that?
- Katrin VogelsangYes, if it is based on our usage and not on assumptions. What is the source of such a picture? The usage log?
- Elena NovakYes, the usage log in your environment, the questions and who asked them. I would not include the content of the questions in anything that leaves your team, only the counts and the pattern. Is that acceptable?
- Katrin VogelsangThat is acceptable. Counts and pattern, not content. Good.
- Elena NovakThen the plan could be like this, and please say if it is too much. One: the session for the account managers, in the next weeks. Two: the review of the account manager dashboard. Three: the note for the auditor. Four: a value summary for your director, ready well before the renewal conversation starts. Does that look realistic?
- Katrin VogelsangIt looks realistic, but I want to protect one point. The auditor note is the most urgent for me. The value summary can wait a little. The dates must be clear, because I do not let a deadline pass without a note.
- Elena NovakUnderstood, the auditor note first. Thank you. I will order them that way in the written actions.
- Katrin VogelsangOne more question, if I may. Is there a quarterly review on the calendar? I thought Growth includes it.
- Elena NovakYes, the quarterly review is part of Growth, and this call is a check-in before the next one. I will send an invitation for the review for the coming quarter, and we can use it to bring the value summary. I will propose a date in the written summary and you tell me what suits.
- Katrin VogelsangFine. Send two options, please, not one.
- Elena NovakTwo options, as agreed.
- Katrin VogelsangNow something that is not on your agenda, but I would like to mention. We may add a team next year. Our onboarding team for new merchants. They are curious. I do not know yet, it is only an idea.
- Elena NovakThank you for telling me, that is useful to hear early. You have plenty of room in the licensed users, so adding a team is not a question of seats at this point. What would they need to see? New merchants, I assume, and perhaps the documents collected at the start?
- Katrin VogelsangYes, more or less. The onboarding documents, the first transactions, and the risk assessment at the start. But I would have to check which system holds this. It might be two systems, and one of them is old.
- Elena NovakThen the sensible step is small. When you know which systems hold it, tell me, and I will check with our solutions colleagues whether they can be connected. I do not want to say yes or no before I know the systems. Is that fair?
- Katrin VogelsangFair. I will find out first. It may be a few weeks, they are busy with the new reporting rules.
- Elena NovakNo problem at all. There is no deadline from our side. I just note it as an idea, with you as the owner.
- Katrin VogelsangYes. Please note it as an idea, not a project.
- Elena NovakNoted exactly like that. Is there anything else on the usage side, anything that annoys your people? Sometimes small things are the real reasons for silence.
- Katrin VogelsangSmall things, yes. One analyst said the search sometimes returns older pages first, when she wants the newest. It is not a big problem, but she mentioned it twice.
- Elena NovakThank you, I am glad you said it. I cannot tell from here whether it is a setting or how the pages are named. Could she send me one example, the search she typed and what she expected? Then I can look at it properly.
- Katrin VogelsangI will ask her. She is quite precise, so you will receive a good example.
- Elena NovakWonderful. Then let me summarise the actions, so we agree before we close. Number one, Katrin sends two or three merchant examples for the session by the end of this week. Number two, I confirm tomorrow the date for the auditor note and the connection list, after checking with our platform team. Number three, I send the short statement on the EU region and your own Snowflake account, wording checked first.
- Katrin VogelsangYes. Continue.
- Elena NovakNumber four, I check what we can list where the CRM and the payment records disagree on the merchant groups, and answer in writing. Number five, the review of the account manager dashboard, with you and one manager, date to be agreed. Number six, I send two options for the quarterly review. Number seven, I verify the renewal terms against the order form and put them in the summary, and I inform Matteo. Number eight, the analyst sends one search example.
- Katrin VogelsangEight actions. Good. I have the same list. Only one correction: the idea of the onboarding team is not an action, you said, so it stays as a note.
- Elena NovakCorrect, a note with you as owner. I will mark it that way.
- Katrin VogelsangThen let us agree the next step formally: your written summary arrives within a day or two, and I answer with corrections if there are any.
- Elena NovakYes. I will send it today if I can, otherwise first thing tomorrow, with the actions numbered and the owners named.
- Katrin VogelsangGood. Now, one practical thing before we finish. The weather in Frankfurt is turning, and my train home is long today. Do you have the same grey weather in Amsterdam?
- Elena NovakVery grey, and rain since the morning. I think the autumn has arrived. At least the canal looks nice from my window.
- Katrin VogelsangThen we are both in the same weather. I am glad we did this. The call helped me to organise my thoughts for the auditor.
- Elena NovakI am glad as well. Thank you for being so open about the usage, including the dashboard that is less alive. That makes it easier for me to help.
- Katrin VogelsangIt is better to say it. Otherwise you discover it in February, and then it is difficult.
- Elena NovakExactly. I would much rather we find these things now, with time to act. Is there anything else you want to raise, anything I have not asked?
- Katrin VogelsangNo, I think it is complete. Maybe only: please keep the minutes short. My director reads only the first half page.
- Elena NovakUnderstood. Actions first, on one page, and the detail below for the file. I will make sure of it.
- Katrin VogelsangPerfect. Then thank you, Elena. Kind regards, and speak soon.
- Elena NovakThank you, Katrin. Kind regards from Amsterdam. Speak soon, and have a good journey home.
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