In what might be the freshest start to a new year for any fintech in 2017, banking software innovator CR2 has announced two major changes at the top. Fintan Byrne, formerly General Manager for Europe with MasterCard Payment Gateway Services, will take the helm as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer. Paul Geraghty, previously CFO at Curam Software for IBM, joins CR2 as Chief Financial Officer.
CR2 Chairman Kieran Nagle praised both executives’ “strong track records and weighty experience within the financial services and financial technology sector.” In addition to his tenure at Mastercard, Byrne (pictured) previously served as Managing Director, General Manager, Europe; and VP Sales, UK and Ireland for Transaction Network Services. He also spent five years in sales and marketing at NCR. Byrne has degrees from Marist College and University of Limerick, as well as an MBA from the University College Dublin.
“I can see both the strength and potential within (CR2),” Byrne said, “and will focus on developing the business to meet the needs of both existing and new customers as banks look to serve their customers in the digital world.”
Geraghty spent more than 11 years at Curam Software as Financial Controller and Operations Manager before the company was acquired by IBM in 2011. For the past three and a half years as Curam Software’s CFO within IBM, Geraghty was responsible for financial and business strategy, as well as developing analytics resources to help articulate financial performance. Geraghty studied at Dublin Business School and earned advanced degrees from Trinity College, Dublin. In a statement announcing his move to CR2, he pledged to bring a “fresh perspective” to the 20-year old company “as it continues through this exciting time of growth and change.”
Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, CR2 demonstrated its BankWorld Money Voucher at FinovateFall 2014. The company unveiled its next-generation ATM software, BankWorld ATM Client 5 and BankWorld Studio last fall, and announced a number of deployments of its technology including at Botswana Savings Bank and Nigeria’s Diamond Bank. CR2 introduced a new logo and corporate identity almost a year ago last February.