Stephen Benton sounds like an excellent addition to the Board?
Appointment of Stephen Benton as Non-Executive Director
Plenti Group Limited (Plenti) announces the appointment of Stephen Benton to its Board of Directors as an Independent Non-Executive Director, effective 1 July 2022.
Stephen has 30 years’ experience driving business strategy in financial services across large organisations, challenger brands and growth companies.
He also holds experience specific to consumer lending, product development, and debt collection.
Stephen’s most recent executive role was CEO and Managing Director of EFTPOS, where he spearheaded a strategic reset.
Prior to that, he was Head of Consumer Finance, Payments and Emerging Businesses at Westpac.
Stephen has also held executive and commercial roles at Bankwest and Citibank, and financial services growth company Once.
Stephen’s board experience includes acting as Chairman of Infochoice Limited and of Once Private Group, and as a director of EFTPOS and Baycorp Collection Services.
Stephen holds a Bachelor of Commerce, Accounting and Finance and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Plenti’s Chairman Mary Ploughman said: “We are delighted to welcome Stephen to Plenti’s Board. Stephen is an accomplished director and executive with significant expertise across many important facets of financial services. Stephen’s experience will be valuable as Plenti continues to execute on its strategic priorities.
The amalgamation of eftpos, BPAY and NPPA under the AP+ banner is the start of a new financial era, eftpos Australia CEO Stephen Benton is "retiring" and says he will take on some board and advisory roles.
eftpos Australia CEO Stephen Benton (pictured) is stepping down from the role he has held since May 2018, as a new beginning for eftpos Australia and its group of companies unfolds with the amalgamation of BPAY, eftpos and NPPA into AP+.
As reported at iTWire, eftpos Australia subsidiary Beem It has just launched its new Beem Rewards program, while also certifiyinh of Australia’s GPayments system, along with Beem It releasing research on payments and conscious spending during the just-passed Christmas and New Year festive seasons.
A man for the times, and leaving eftpos Australia in a strong position, Benton has clearly helped guide eftpos into this new reality, alongside the teams from Beem It, BPAY and NPPA, and he wrote an excellent article which is reprinted below, in full:
"An important new chapter in eftpos’ 38-year history is soon to begin with formation of AP+, bringing together three wonderful Australian payments companies, eftpos, BPAY and NPPA.
"Today I would like to thank eftpos Networker readers for your interest and support of eftpos over many years.
"As many of you may already know, after a long and fulfilling career, I am “retiring” from executive life following the completion of the AP+ consolidation and will take on some board and advisory roles.
"The dedicated team at eftpos is very much looking forward to working as part of Australian Payments Plus, and the new CEO of AP+ Lynn Kraus who starts in March.
"There is strong alignment between AP+’s objectives and eftpos’ purpose of being 'Good For Australia', and a commitment to the delivery of our Roadmap."
Benton continued: "This alignment should see eftpos continue to drive competition and innovation in debit card payments and digital, while pursuing new opportunities to innovate with other parts of the new AP+ organisation.
"It has been a privilege and an honour to lead the eftpos team with a clear sense of purpose, and to work so closely with you over the past four years.
"I leave eftpos in good hands and with a great Leadership team. Our company is rapidly evolving into a leader in the delivery of digital services, beyond payments. Online, digital identity, QR and digital wallets are becoming increasingly important, with consumers quickly changing their payment preferences and habits in the post-COVID economy.
"eftpos now has a clear strategy for growth and success, led by our purpose – Good For Australia. We are now a proud Australian company that is:
Strategically placed to add value to businesses and consumers
Now in the centre of digital commerce rather than a largely card present point of sale payment business
Changing the way Australians pay into the next decade though eQR and connect ID, Beem It and other wallets
Positioned in the market with a new brand and articulation of the purpose of being Good For Australia, which is a passion that motivates the eftpos team
Access to equitable, affordable and reliable payments in a truly competitive environment continues to be a hugely important issue for small businesses and retailers, and for the
Australian economy and community generally. We believe in the role we can play in making Australia an efficient digital economy.
"Although much more still needs to be done on issues like Least Cost Routing (LCR), mobile competition, digital platforms and ecommerce, over the past few years we have seen some significant benefits for merchants and consumers where competition truly exists, and the beginnings of some regulatory change. Regulator enshrining of competition remains critical for small business, consumers and government, and encourage continued advocacy for this principle.
"It has been a pleasure working with many of you both at eftpos and over my career.
"While I’m sure many of our paths will cross again, until then I wish you all the very best for the future, and for the success of eftpos and AP+," Benton concluded.
A new CEO for eftpos Australia is yet to be announced, but we'll be reporting on it when an annoucement is made.
We wish Stephen Benton the best of success in his new endeavours with mentoring and board positions, and it's great to see the new direction the AP+ company is taking to strengthen its position in the Australian payments space!
(20min delay)