Tone Jensen: A star who let’s others shine

- I believe my greatest achievement has been fueling the development of all the graduates we have hired, says Tone. My most important job as a manager is to see young talents for what they can become, support them, and give them opportunities to grow. Just like someone did for me, when I started in programming, with time became a solutions architect and now lead a department.

Today, 50 % of the colleagues in her department are graduates who joined in 2020 or later.
- I will never get tired of seeing young talents shine and fulfill a potential they perhaps weren’t aware of.

Maybe the most important app you’ve never heard of

Tone works in the department for card issuing at Tietoevry and had the idea for an app that is used by hundreds of thousands of consumers – without them knowing.
- The app is basically a digital extension of your credit and debit cards, where you can administer them, make changes, add Apple Pay and Google Pay and give you insights. It’s used by a great number of banks, airlines, retailers – integrated in their own services. That’s why very few people have heard of the My Cards app, but it’s used across the Nordics, the UK and Ireland.

Developing an app like this demands highly competent colleagues in a wide range of technical disciplines.
- We don’t only work with app development, frontend applications and user experience (UX), but we also must understand the banking system, compliance demands and ever-changing regulations that go with this very important part of our daily lives. We must also balance increased security demands and increased expectations for great UX.

Being in charge of change together

It’s not only regulations that change in the card issuing domain – Tone and her team are also committed to meeting evolving consumer demands.
- I have been in this business from the first digital banks that we developed in Java, to people now using their mobile banking apps on the bus as the most natural thing in the world. It has been fascinating and fun to witness and to be part of this development.

The future of the industry is still uncertain, the scenarios are plentiful.
- To cater to new generations, we must explore gamification, personalized experiences and make things much more instant. Supporting instant virtual payment cards - which will reduce the need for plastic, paper and transport and sets focus on sustainability. My two daughters don’t really understand why we need a physical payment card when they can simply tap their phones, and it’s hard to argue with that. I’m also very curious about the influence of generative AI on our line of work.

Another critical issue Tone’s team is working hard on is stopping various fraud tactics without making the apps slow and difficult to use.
- We can’t not solve this issue, seeing that it’s extremely important not only for us as individuals but also for society to function.

Even when she is not 100 % sure about the solution, Tone knows how to get there.
- I believe the key to success is putting very smart people in the same room and giving them the freedom to solve problems the way they see fit, fostering a collaborative environment and knowledge sharing. That’s the kind of spirit that both my team and I thrive in.

Join our team and reinvent the world. For good.
Visit our career site!