Banking Circle Names Mastercard Vet Kush Saxena as CEO

Commerce-focused FinTech platform Banking Circle picked a new chief executive.

Kush Saxena, a veteran of Mastercard and merchant acquirer Getnet, was named to the CEO role Monday (May 18), the company said in a news release.

He replaces co-founder Anders la Cour, who will move into a senior advisory role, the release said. Laust Bertelsen, the company’s other co-founder, will stay on as CEO of the affiliate Banking Circle S.A. and transition out over the next 12 months.

“Anders, Laust and the team have built something genuinely unique, a technology-led financial infrastructure platform of real global scale, trusted by some of the most demanding clients in financial services and digital commerce,” Saxena said in the release. “I am honored to be joining at this exciting moment.”

Saxena has more than two decades of experience in the global payments and FinTech space, serving most recently as CEO of Santander-owned Getnet, Latin America’s largest merchant acquirer. Before that, he spent eight years with Mastercard, most recently as a member of its global management committee and executive vice president of Mastercard’s merchants and acceptance division, according to the release.

“His proven track record in scaling global payments platforms, strong operating rigor and technology-led approach is complementary to the existing group board and management team, and I am excited to partner with him to deliver on the significant growth opportunity that lies ahead,” Banking Circle Chairman Ralph Hamer said in the release.

The personnel change follows Banking Circle’s receipt of a cryptocurrency-asset service provider (CASP) license and the launch of its stablecoin settlement services in April.

“The award of our CASP license is an important milestone for Banking Circle, as well as for the broader payments ecosystem,” Bertelsen said in a news release at the time. “Stablecoins have fast evolved from a peripheral innovation into core infrastructure for cross-border settlement, treasury management and financial inclusion.”

The stablecoin market’s market cap is $293 billion, with annual payment-related transaction volumes estimated at $387 billion, and monthly on-chain volumes of over $9.3 trillion, the company said in April.

Against this backdrop, Banking Circle’s stablecoin settlement service is designed to provide a “fully integrated solution” for institutions aiming to capitalize on stablecoin rails’ speed and efficiency, the company said at the time.