Brian Dammeir, Plaid’s new head of Europe.
Plaid
US financial technology company Plaid hires former employee Adien Executive Brian Dammer has been named the new head of Europe, the company exclusively told CNBC.
Mr. Dammeir previously served as global head of unified commerce at Adyen, leading the role from the Dutch payments company’s San Francisco office. Dammeir oversaw a key part of Adyen’s business: integrating various payment experiences such as online, in-store and app-based into his one platform.
Dammer will take over the reins from Lipsey Vandoorian, who previously oversaw the company’s expansion across Europe, at a pivotal time for the company to expand into other financial areas such as payments and lending.
Plaid, last valued at $13.4 billion by investors in a funding round, offers technology that allows financial technology apps to capture data from people’s bank accounts and initiate payments on their behalf. .
This is part of a financial and technology movement known as “open banking,” which encourages non-bank financial institutions to open up their financial data to foster competition in the sector.
Dammer told CNBC in an exclusive interview on Monday that what excited him most about joining the company was “the opportunity around open finance,” the evolution of open banking that aims to innovate in all areas of finance, including lending. .
“When we think about Europe, it’s about how can we become more relevant to the world, how can we find more use cases outside of the starting point of fintech,” Damia told CNBC. Ta.
“At the moment, we are looking to expand not only into lending and traditional banking, but also into account-to-account payments,” he added.
Former Vandorian Booking.com The company executive was named the company’s first European head last year. She worked with her Keith Grose, former international head of Plaid, who has since left the business to join business-to-business billing platform Sequence.
“Lipsey leaves Plaid after leading the business at a pivotal time and building continued momentum in the region,” a Plaid spokesperson told CNBC. Mr. Plaid declined to comment on the basis for Mr. Bandourian’s departure.
Damer did not take the decision to leave Adyen lightly. A long-time fintech executive, he spent more than eight years at Adyen’s North American and European offices, starting in product roles and later working in general management and strategy across North America and Europe.
Dammeyer said Plaid wants to encourage a broader movement towards so-called “open finance”, which enables the creation of innovative new products in lending, insurance and other financial ecosystems. Ta.
Payments are a big focus for Plaid beyond financial data, with payment values on the platform increasing by more than 90% in the UK in 2023.
Plaid is currently considering working with partners outside of fintech, Dammer said, but declined to name potential future partners. The company is already working with Monzo et al. Checkout.compublic, and piggy bank.
