Dive Brief:
- Card issuing platform Marqeta named JPMorgan Chase and Stripe alum Patti Kangwankij as its next CFO, effective Feb. 9, with the goal of aiding the business by enhancing profitability and driving growth, according to a Wednesday press release and securities filing.
- The Oakland, California-based company said in September it would begin a search for a new finance chief after its previous one, Mike Milotich, became CEO. Milotich has held dual roles as CFO and CEO since assuming the top executive seat on an interim basis last February.
- Kangwankij’s expertise in the payments space and financial leadership will be a “critical asset as we continue to execute our strategy, scale our platform, and enable customer innovation in card issuing,” Milotich said in a statement Wednesday. “Patti is the right leader to guide our finance organization and help accelerate our momentum and capture the significant opportunities ahead.”
Dive Insight:
Kangwankij will be joining the payments firm from Roofstock, a real estate technology business where she has served as CFO for about a year, according to her LinkedIn profile.
She logged a four-year span at Stripe in such roles as head of payments finance and strategy, and served 14 years at JPMorgan in such senior leadership positions as CFO of merchant services and CFO of co-branded credit card business.
Kangwankij is set to receive an annual base salary of $475,000 from Marqeta, and will be eligible to receive a bonus worth another 75% of that, according to Wednesday’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. She will also be eligible for a one-time discretionary sign-on bonus of $250,000 if she stays at Marqeta for at least a year.
Kangwankij will also receive a restricted stock unit award of nearly $6 million, set to vest over a three-year period, and will be granted performance stock units worth roughly $2.5 million.
In a statement, Kangwankij said she is joining Marqeta at a “pivotal moment.” The company has taken several steps to foster continued growth over the past year amid stiff competition in the commercial credit card space. Top priorities for Milotich, a Visa alum, include improving profitability and platform expansion, analysts have said.
Among other moves, the business has honed its focus on embedded finance — tools that integrate payment options into other digital functions — and targeted expansion in key areas such as Europe. In February, the company announced it would be acquiring European money transfer business TransactPay for about $47 million. Marqeta closed that acquisition in August.
Marqeta announced in November an expanded team-up with Visa and payment platform Klarna to help support the launch of Klarna’s debit card product in Europe.
Milotich highlighted the company’s efforts during its third-quarter earnings report, pointing to positive jumps in revenue, net processing volume and gross profit. Marqeta reported $115 million in gross profit — a 27% jump year-over-year, according to the Nov. 5 release. Its net loss also dropped by 87% YoY to roughly $4 million, compared with $28 million a year earlier.
Marqeta did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
