Ixaris makes two senior appointments to drive expansion plans

Ixaris makes two senior appointments to drive expansion plans

Travel specialist global payments company reports 75% year-on-year growth

Travel specialist global payments company Ixaris has announced two senior appointments to its management team.

The UK firm has appointed a new chief legal and compliance officer, Georg von Brevern, and a new commercial director Sean Ashton.

The company said the appointments come as part of a wider expansion plan, having seen 75% year-on-year growth.

Ixaris has announced plans to open a Belgian office in April and aims to branch out to new geographies including Latin America later this year.

Von Brevern will take responsibility for all legal and compliance matters across the global business.

Ixaris said he brings “a wealth of expertise”, having worked in legal and compliance roles for more than 25 years at KPMG, General Electric, Paysafe and Kantox.

Ashton brings years of financial commerce sales experience to Ixaris, with previous roles at fintech companies Skrill (now Paysafe), CloudPay and Hyperwallet.

He has been tasked with building the sales team at Ixaris to accelerate its ambitious international growth plans, as well as aligning the commercial strategy of the company to its revenue targets.

Chief executive Aran Brown said: “It is an exciting time for Ixaris. Our impressive 75% year on year growth is an achievement in itself, but is also a sign of the market opportunity and the expansion still to come.

“Our headcount will continue to grow as we look to enter new markets and geographies to allow us to offer our disruptive, market-leading payments optimisation technology on a truly global scale.

“Only by employing the very best talent and minds can we expect our ambitious plans to succeed, and as such we are delighted to welcome Georg and Sean, both veritable experts in the payments technology landscape.”

Ashton added: “In many sectors and specifically in travel, where margins are so tight, optimising payments can be a real game-changer.

“To do this effectively, businesses need payment solutions that are not only built on the latest technology, but which are tailored to their own industry’s unique challenges.

“Ixaris’ combination of truly disruptive technology, entrepreneurial culture and deep market understanding of the travel sector provides the perfect platform for innovation.”

Von Brevern said:“Where there is the opportunity for innovation, however, there is inevitably regulation to navigate.

“For Ixaris to deliver the right payment solutions for its customers it must always be one step ahead and anticipate the future payment challenges.

“This is certainly true in regard to the ever-changing financial regulatory landscape and I look forward to furthering this facet of Ixaris’ capabilities as the company expands and continues to innovate.”

Ixaris believes the travel industry’s high volume low margin nature means it is vital that payments processes are optimized, particularly as profitability is squeezed by regulatory, geopolitical, technology and market pressures.

The firm works with over 200 customers in 50 countries to ensure that payments processing is not just a necessary cost of business, but is also efficient and even revenue generating.