Railsbank Appoints Ben Smith as General Manager, Australia

Railsbank, a leading global embedded finance platform, has appointed Ben Smith as General Manager for Australia as it expands across the Asia Pacific region.

Smith received a degree in Chemistry from The University of Manchester before heading down to London in the late 1990s. In 2005 he left Britain and journeyed overseas to Australia where he built a career in fintech sales.

In his role, Smith will be responsible for managing the strategic direction of Railsbank in the Australian market, particularly the growth of embedded finance. He will also oversee and strengthen Railsbank’s partnerships with customers and key stakeholders, as well as focusing on the strategic development of products and operations.

Railsbank is based in London but is registered locally in Australia under the name RailsPay. It entered the Australian market last March via a partnership with the country’s first neobank, Volt, enabling it to launch its embedded finance offering in the country.

Smith has more than 20 years of experience across startups and global multinational companies in the UK and Australia. Before joining Railsbank, he was Head of Sales (ANZ) for WorldFirst (an Ant Group Company). Prior to that, he was Global Sales Director at Nexpay.

Smith said: “Railsbank is well-placed to tap the growth opportunity in Australia’s thriving fintech scene and I’m excited to take on this role and play my part in supporting companies to rapidly prototype, launch and scale their financial products.

The chance to help fintechs, companies and brands to take their solutions to a wider international audience also strikes a happy note for me personally. I’ve known Nigel Verdon for more than a decade and am thrilled to finally be able to join him, and his stellar team, on its mission to democratise financial services.”

Nigel Verdon, CEO, and Co-founder, Railsbank, added: “As a passionate fintech professional with a wealth of experience, Ben is a key addition to our growing Railsbank team. His appointment reflects our commitment to strengthen Railsbank’s Australian presence and is representative of the strategic value we see in the embedded finance market in the region. As we look to deepen our footprint across APAC, we are confident Ben will be instrumental in taking us to greater heights.”

Railsbank is headquartered in the UK and has offices in Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, the US, Germany, and Lithuania.