Currensea Appoints Former Amex and Wise Exec as Chief Operating Officer

Currensea, the market-leading payments technology platform for co-branded debit cards and the UK’s top-rated travel spending card, announces the appointment of Enrique Garland as Chief Operating Officer.

Enrique Garland brings a wealth of experience across both partnerships and operations within the financial services industry. He joins Currensea from Dealstack, a technology platform for private equity professionals, where he served as Head of Operations. Before that, Enrique spent almost a decade in the loyalty and partnerships space, culminating in over three years at American Express, where he managed product strategy and international loyalty partnerships. He held a similar role at the global remittances technology company Wise and began his career at Affinion Group (then acquired by JPM Chase).

Enrique Garland’s deep knowledge of the rewards space in the UK and Europe will support Currensea’s mission to redefine everyday loyalty for the world’s biggest brands. His appointment follows the recent announcement of Currensea’s partnership with Marriott Bonvoy and Mastercard to offer two co-branded multi-bank debit cards to Marriott’s UK customers, allowing cardholders to earn loyalty points wherever and whenever they spend. This represented Currensea’s second landmark co-brand partnership, after the launch of two loyalty debit cards with Hilton in September 2024. Enrique’s appointment will help Currensea’s ongoing work to establish more co-branded partnerships in the coming years.

James Lynn, Co-Founder and CEO of Currensea, said: “We are tremendously excited to work with Enrique. His industry knowledge and relentless focus on creating value for customers and partners will be a real asset as we build out our market-leading offering to co-brand partners through our unique multi-bank debit card. For too long, consumers in the UK have not been able to earn genuinely impactful rewards from their everyday spending. Our debit card model has the potential to change that – but it requires us to keep bringing in the very best talent across the business to do so. Enrique is going to be a big part of our growth in the coming years as we expand our co-brand portfolio, and we are delighted to welcome him to Currensea.”

Commenting on his appointment, Enrique Garland said: “I’m excited to join Currensea at a time of significant expansion and contribute to its mission of redefining everyday loyalty in the European payments landscape. Currensea is charting an impressive growth trajectory, and I’m looking forward to working alongside James and his excellent team in supporting its next phase and building a debit-led rewards model that truly works.”