Railsbank hires general manager for Australia

Embedded finance platform Railsbank has appointed Ben Smith to manage the strategic direction of the business in the Australian market, where it is registered locally under the name RailsPay.

Smith joins the company as general manager for Australia from WorldFirst, an Ant Group company, where he was head of sales. Prior to that, he was global sales director at Nexpay.

UK-headquartered Railsbank entered the Australian market in March via a partnership with neobank Volt, enabling it to launch its embedded finance offering.

In his new role, Smith will oversee and strengthen Railsbank’s partnerships with customers and key stakeholders, as well as focusing on the strategic development of products and operations.

“Railsbank is well-placed to tap the growth opportunity in Australia’s thriving fintech scene and I’m excited to take on this role and play my part in supporting companies to rapidly prototype, launch and scale their financial products,” said Smith.

“The chance to help fintechs, companies and brands to take their solutions to a wider international audience also strikes a happy note for me personally.”

Nigel Verdon, CEO and co-founder of Railsbank, added: “As a passionate fintech professional with a wealth of experience, Ben is a key addition to our growing Railsbank team.

“His appointment reflects our commitment to strengthen Railsbank’s Australian presence and is representative of the strategic value we see in the embedded finance market in the region. As we look to deepen our footprint across APAC, we are confident Ben will be instrumental in taking us to greater heights.”

In April this year, Railsbank appointed John Hammond, formerly of Currencycloud, as chief commercial officer ahead of an international push.