Railsbank, an established embedded finance platform, has reportedly hired Ben Smith as General Manager for Australia as the banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platform expands operations across the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.
Smith has earned a degree in Chemistry from The University of Manchester before he moved to London in the 1990s. Then in 2005, Smith left Britain to work in Australia where he focused on sales in the Fintech sector.
Smith will now be tasked with managing the strategic direction at Railsbank in Australia’s markets. He will be focused on further developing embedded finance services. He will also help with enhancing Railsbank’s business partnerships with clients and various stakeholders. Smith will also be focusing on the strategic development of company products.
London-based Railsbank is registered as a business in Australia (as RailsPay). The company branched out into the Australian market in March 2020, following a strategic partnership with the nation’s first neobank, Volt, allowing it to offer its embedded finance solutions.
Smith reportedly has over 20 years of professional experience working at different startups and multinational firms in Australia and the UK. Prior to Railsbank, Smith worked as Head of Sales (ANZ) for WorldFirst (an Ant Group business). Before that, Smith served as Global Sales Director at Nexpay.
Smith remarked:
“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. 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. I’ve known Nigel Verdon for more than a decade and am thrilled to finally be able to join him, and his stellar team, on its mission to democratise financial services.”
Nigel Verdon, CEO and Co-founder at Railsbank, stated:
“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.”
Railsbank is based in the UK and maintains business offices in Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, the US, Germany, and Lithuania.