Currensea, the market-leading payments technology platform for co-branded debit cards and the UK’s top-rated travel spending card, today announces the appointments of James Hickman as Commercial Director and George Head as Head of Business Development. The strategic hires both join from Ecospend, a UK market leader in Open Banking technology. They bring deep commercial expertise and a strong track record of developing and scaling successful applications built around Open Banking - the technology which underpins Currensea’s unique multi-bank debit card platform. 

James has over 20 years’ experience in sales and business development. As Chief Commercial Officer at Ecospend, James played a key role in securing and maintaining contracts with global brands across the public sector, financial services and digital commerce. This included the landmark contract with HM Revenue & Customs, enabling UK taxpayers to make direct account-to-account bank transfers. He was also involved in the business’s 2023 acquisition by Trustly and subsequent integration. Prior to Ecospend, James spent over a decade managing business development at News UK and CNN, and has held various board roles within digital organisations. 

George joins Currensea as Head of Business Development after a successful tenure at Ecospend, where he also led business development and supported its integration into Trustly. At Ecospend he led key commercial wins including Hargreaves Lansdown and NS&I. George’s background in client development includes senior roles at Oracle, TripleLift, and Criteo.

The new hires will support Currensea’s mission to redefine everyday loyalty for the world’s biggest brands and disrupt the European payments landscape with its innovative multi-bank debit card proposition - powered by Open Banking. Unlike traditional co-branded cards that require customers to switch or manage multiple accounts, Currensea’s platform allows seamless onboarding by connecting directly to any UK bank account. 

James Lynn, Co-Founder and CEO of Currensea, said: “We’re delighted to welcome James and George to the business. Their experience in scaling Ecospend - a true Open Banking pioneer - will be instrumental to the next phase of our growth. The application of Open Banking technology is critical to our unique multi-bank debit card model, allowing co-brand partners to put their brand top of wallet without requiring customers to go through the arduous process of switching bank accounts. As we continue to expand our co-brand portfolio, James and George’s experience of leveraging Open Banking technology to create a more rewarding experience for consumers will be a major asset for Currensea.”

Commenting on his appointment, James Hickman said: “I have long admired how Currensea had found the most commercially viable application of Open Banking in the market, and see it as an exemplary application of the technology, while the potential for the multi-bank debit co-brand market is vast. Allowing consumers to link a reward-earning payment product to an existing bank account, like a co-branded debit card that earns loyalty points with a blue-chip hotel brand on all your day-to-day spend, is a brilliant and innovative application. I’m excited to join a company using Open Banking to disrupt the European payments and loyalty landscape, and looking forward to working with James and the team on the next stage in its impressive growth trajectory.”

Today’s announcement follows the appointment of Enrique Garland as COO last month, and comes at a moment of significant growth, with the recent launch 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.