Global Payments and Transaction Services (GP&TS) is a unique and rapidly growing business segment which encompasses a broad range of industries and business lines that facilitate and support the secure and timely transmission of complex data communications and payment related transactional business.

Our GP&TS practice has grown rapidly over the last five years, with the industry witnessing a significant increase in overall transactional volume. The emergence of mobile, contactless and micro-payments serves to heighten interest and increase product adoption in this area, and the talent required to support this niche and continuously evolving business is highly specialized and sought after. 

Most recently, the global payments industry has been impacted by negative credit climates, enhanced risk regulations, compliance reforms and the emergence of fresh consumer demand for new and innovative technologies. Organizations within this industry sector face significant challenges when it comes to identifying skilled and knowledgeable professionals. Our clients frequently demand executive level talent who can support and promote the growth of their businesses, or who just as importantly, can implement stringent risk mitigation measures to ensure the continued stability and security of their operations. 

GP&TS is one of EMA’s most comprehensive practice groups and has been strategically designed to support our clients in the Payments and Transactions services business across all functional areas. Our strategy is simple; we believe that becoming an authority in a specific area allows us to conduct searches more efficiently and permits us to react quickly to industry trends and changing market climates. A recent notable example can be seen in the response to the credit crunch in 2007, when our clients across the Globe consistently identified an immediate need to source for talent in the areas of risk, fraud, audit, technology, compliance and analytics. These are very specific functional areas within payments, demanding dedicated subject matter experts who have exceptional knowledge and hands-on experience in the field. 

Our Partners and Senior Associates have deep expertise in the GP&TS area, a number of whom have worked within this sector for well known brand name financial institutions and technology firms across the globe. This knowledge, coupled with many years of search experience in the GP&TS sector, ensures that our search practitioners can provide unparalleled value, wisdom and support to our clients. As a result of our firm’s extensive payments knowledge and insight, we are constantly active in the market, conducting search work across all of the critical functional areas. Our clients can be assured that each of our firm’s practitioners has strong relationships with and access to, a remarkably comprehensive and high caliber pool of qualified and dedicated Payments executives.

In addition to the aforementioned functional areas of risk and compliance, our clients are often seeking to expand, develop and in some cases re-invent payment product lines and technologies. As such, our firm is acutely aware of our client’s enhanced interest in the areas of innovation, technology, new product development and marketing and the identification of talent in this area can be just as challenging. The need to source for external payments and transactions services talent is a global requirement, and competition to secure premium talented executives who have a proven track record of success is high. Most often our clients are seeking C-level industry professionals who are both strategic and tactical in their leadership prowess. 

EMA Partners GP&TS Practice group is an area of hyper-specialty and one in which our firm is passionately committed to. It is one of the most exciting and growing global market segments and our practice has been specifically developed to support this niche industry around the world. Our practice is comprised of six core global offices and each office is responsible for managing a specific region across the globe.  In addition we have consultants in other regions that support, and are a part of EMA Partners GP&TS practice. As a firm, we retain a select and carefully targeted base of valued clients supporting them across the following lines of business:

• Credit Card Issuers (both banks and retailers)
• Debit Card Issuers
• Merchant Acquirers and Processors
• Third Party Outsourcers
• Hardware/Software Manufactures
• Networks
• Card Manufacturers
• Technology Firms
• Associations/Non-Profit Organizations
• Pre-Paid
• Cash Management
• Treasury Management
• Deposits
• Electronic Banking
• Business Intelligence & Analytics

Practice Group Leader, Global Payments & Transaction Services

Chris Pantelidis, Managing Partner Office: Toronto

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