TOKYO & ALPHARETTA, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--OPN Holdings (operating as “Opn”), the one-stop financial solutions company from Southeast Asia, today announced that payments industry veteran Vaden C. Landers has been named President and Chief Executive Officer of MerchantE, its U.S. subsidiary.
In his role, Landers will be responsible for overseeing and accelerating growth at Alpharetta, Georgia-based MerchantE, including bolstering the financial solutions and integrations that it provides to businesses and speeding its expansion into new geographic markets and verticals.
Landers will also drive the integration of Opn’s innovative frontend merchant solutions and MerchantE’s unique direct connectivity to all the major card brands, enabling a combined Opn and MerchantE to provide a seamless payments experience to businesses of all sizes across the U.S., Asia and beyond.
Landers brings with him nearly 40 years of payments experience in both corporate and entrepreneurial settings, during which time he spent spearheading growth and driving results at numerous public and private payments companies. His past leadership roles include positions at Global Payments, iPayment Holdings, PMT Services, Usio (previously known as Payment Data Systems) and most recently as CEO of S2 Cognition, each of which underscore his proven track record as a leading operator in payments and software. Landers was also notably a member of the original management team that took Global Payments public in 2001 while serving as its President of the ISO Business. In 2017, he successfully negotiated the sale of his own ISO, Singular Payments, to Usio, where he later served as Chief Revenue Officer and led the company through its entry into the payment facilitation arena.
Over the course of his career, Landers, widely recognized as a transformative leader in the space, has been involved in over 100 M&A transactions, has led organizations to double-digit growth in terms of monthly new account production, top line revenues and earnings and founded or led seven different payments startups, three of which he has successfully exited.
“Vaden is an exceptional leader whose proven track record of driving sustained results and growing real value is what MerchantE needs,” said Ezra Don Harinsut, Opn’s Co-founder and Group CEO. “Vaden possesses the type of direct hands-on experience across all critical functions in payments, including sales, marketing, risk management, operations, product and technology organizations, and has the background necessary to support the Opn Group in creating a truly global payments platform.”
Harinsut added, “During this critical time that we are navigating, we’re confident that Vaden will be able to quickly step into the business and chart a new strategic path that will ultimately translate to value creation for our customers, employees, shareholders and business partners.”
Commenting on his appointment, Landers said, “I am excited to be joining the MerchantE and wider Opn team and for the opportunity to return to the payments space where I had spent my entire professional career. The more I learn about MerchantE, it is evident that this is one of those situations where all the foundational components are in place to build true value for our customers, employees and key stakeholders. Having changed hands a number of times in recent years, and having previously endured some fairly significant headwinds, the business is poised for a reboot, and I believe, with the talented staff and management team we have assembled, the future is bright for MerchantE.”
About Opn
Founded in 2013, Opn specializes in one-stop online payment and digital transformation solutions used by thousands of merchants and businesses around the world, with bases in Japan, Southeast Asia and the U.S. Opn is a leader in payments in the Asia-Pacific region and a top 25 provider of payment processing in the U.S. Guided by a vision of enabling access to the digital economy for everyone, Opn connects people, businesses and society in innovative ways to provide open access to a growing financial ecosystem. Privately-held Opn’s major shareholders include Toyota Financial Services Corporation, the financial services arm of Toyota Motor Corporation, and SCB 10X, the venture capital arm of Siam Commercial Bank. Visit our website for more information at www.opn.ooo/
About MerchantE
MerchantE is a leading payments and commerce solutions provider focused on addressing the complex needs of mid-market B2B customers. The company is a full-stack payments platform with front- and back-end processing capabilities and direct connectivity to all major card brands. It is a top 25 provider of payment processing in the U.S. For more information on MerchantE please visit www.merchante.com/
