Crown Agents Bank Appoints Head of FinTech and Chief Commercial Officer

Crown Agents Bank has today announced two significant hires to its Executive Committee. David Mountain joins as Executive Vice President (EVP) and, in a newly created role, Head of Fintech. The leadership team is further strengthened by Joe Hurley joining as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). The appointments come following a transformational 18-month period for the bank, with the launch of new digital financial services and a continued 65% year-on-year growth in the business.

David Mountain will be responsible for M&A and strategy, as well as the use of strategic technology. David brings over two decades of experience to the role, having been a successful entrepreneur building Accucard, an online credit card business that was sold to Lloyds TSB and, most recently, as a board member of US-based fintech ProducePay, which was voted the top start-up in Los Angeles in 2020.  

Joe Hurley joins Crown Agents Bank as CCO, building the bank’s strategic client coverage and business development. Joe was previously Senior Vice President and member of the Management Committee at Discover Financial Services, working on innovative M&As such as the acquisition of the Pulse Debit business, Diners Club International and investment in fintech companies, including Marqeta. Joe also spearheaded putting together Discover Financial’s Net to Net partnerships, which included ELO, RuPay, JCB and UnionPay.

CEO of Crown Agents Bank, Bhairav Trivedi, comments on the new hires: “My vision for the bank very much involves being a first-mover on developing and offering our clients cutting edge technologies that give them an advantage over their competitors. David’s and Joe’s expertise in the finance sector and their impressive network, built up over years of being at the forefront of the fintech scene, place them in the perfect roles for driving forward Crown Agents Bank’s technology-first strategy.  Particularly in emerging and frontier markets, digital services are a priority, and through David’s and Joe’s leadership, we will continue to achieve – and accelerate – our growth in delivering tech-driven, market-relevant solutions to these often-underserved regions.”

On his role at Crown Agents Bank, David Mountain, EVP and Head of Fintech, comments: “Crown Agents Bank has a phenomenal global network in markets where it is traditionally difficult to build strong relationships. This, coupled with the bank’s technology capabilities, places it in a unique position to best serve these hard-to-reach markets. My job now is to continue to build on these solid foundations. I’m excited by the innovation in financial services that have emerged over the last 12-18 months and look forward to working with the Crown Agents Bank product teams to develop and add even more new services to our portfolio.”

Joe Hurley, EVP and Chief Commercial Officer, added, “I am driven by being part of the dynamic growth at Crown Agents Bank. It’s hugely exciting to be joining at a time when Crown Agents Bank is looking at how new innovations can be applied to deliver traditional banking services more efficiently, as well as expand its technology services to offer completely new services that meet the needs of those who have struggled to access financial services. Our team will be laser-focused, with a clear product roadmap to target the best-of-breed partners, and I look forward to leading the charge on continuing to drive this forward.”

As well as the appointment of David Mountain and Joe Hurley, Steven Marshall moves from Chief Commercial Officer to undertake a newly created strategic role of Chief Product and Network Officer. Steven and his team will be focused on creating and building new products to support market growth as part of Crown Agents Bank’s global expansion plans.