(21 October 2016 – Australia) Merchant payment service provider, Tyro Payments has appointed UBank founder Gerd Schenkel as chief executive.
The appointment comes as the firm begins to take compete with the country’s biggest financial institutions with a push into the small business banking market.
According to the firm, it currently serves more than 16,000 small businesses and processed A$8.6 billion of transactions and generated more than A$95 million in revenue in fiscal 2016.
The country’s banking and financial service regulator awarded the firm a banking license in 2015, which was followed by a A$100 million capital raising round that included Tiger Global Management in New York, TDM Asset Management in Sydney and Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes.
Commenting on the appointment, Stollman said: “Now that Tyro has a bank licence and A$100 million in new capital, Gerd joining the Tyro team as new CEO is the last piece needed to deliver very strong growth in the years ahead.”
Schenkel, who has more than 17 years’ experience in Australian banking and technology-related businesses added: “Tyro is a new kind of company with a uniquely attractive culture.
“It’s a technology company that happens to be a bank, not the other way around.”