MX looks to PayPal for new CEO

Ellie Duncan
29 Jul 2022

US-based fintech MX Technologies has hired Jim Magats as its new CEO, from PayPal, where he has spent the past 18 years.

Magats has been appointed CEO of MX, effective 17 August 2022, and will also join the board of directors.

Most recently, he served as PayPal’s SVP for Omni Payments Solutions, which included overseeing the company’s Open Banking strategy and solutions, having started at the company in 2004.

He spent some time based in Europe, where he partnered with the regulators on the creation of PSD2. Magats and his teams also helped PayPal to develop its relationships with banks and payment networks and built open, secure API capabilities to make it easier for their customers to make digital payments.

Jim Magats, CEO of MX

More recently, he led the product and technology teams responsible for PayPal’s merchant-facing products, including Braintree and Zettle, as well as the payment platforms that power PayPal Check Out and Venmo.

Ryan Caldwell, founder and executive chairman of the board of directors at MX, said: “Jim Magats brings a wealth of experience and knowledge about how to deliver high-impact financial solutions and products for consumers, merchants, and financial organizations, along with a vast network of partners and customers at the world’s leading financial institutions and fintechs.

“We have tremendous confidence in Jim’s ability to lead the organization through the next phase of our growth in establishing our leadership in the Open Finance economy, helping organizations of all sizes access and act on financial data to improve customer outcomes and grow their businesses.”

Shane Evans, who was named interim CEO and president in January this year, following the appointment of Caldwell, will continue as a senior advisor, providing strategic counsel to Magats and the executive team.

Magats added: “After 18 amazing years at PayPal, I’m incredibly excited to join MX, a company on a mission to build the Open Finance economy and empower the world to be financially strong.

“We are going to deepen and extend our partnerships with financial institutions and fintechs to fuel the next wave of innovation while fostering greater participation in the global economy through new products, use cases, and services.”

MX, which is based in Lehi, Utah, combines Open Finance APIs with enhanced financial data to securely connect to and verify data for hundreds of use cases.