Prepay Nation, a leading global B2B prepaid products marketplace, announces the appointment of Paolo Montessori as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The Board of Directors has chosen Montessori to succeed A.J. Hanna as CEO by January 2023 after a thorough succession planning exercise.  

After over 3 1/2 years at Prepay Nation, including the past 2 1/2 years as CEO, A.J. Hanna announced he will be leaving his role as CEO and Chairman of Prepay Nation by December 31st, 2022. A.J. will continue to support the transition as a special advisor to the Board of Directors and newly appointed CEO.

Paolo Montessori joined Prepay Nation in October 2021 as the Chief Revenue Officer. Throughout his more than 25-year career, Montessori has established a solid record of accomplishments leading telecom and financial services firms on a wide range of strategic and business-building possibilities during a time of constant evolution in the financial services and payments world. As CEO, Montessori's primary goals will be to strengthen Prepay Nation's financial position and solid foundation of assets, including a worldwide interconnected distribution network and prepaid marketplace, as well as to accelerate the company's growth plans and expand its payment alternatives.  

Prepay Nation Board Chairman and CEO A.J. Hanna said, “We are delighted to welcome Paolo Montessori as the next CEO of Prepay Nation. Paolo is a proven leader known for talent development and leadership of teams while spurring growth and innovation in the fintech and telco industries. With his extensive experience expanding Comviva into new geographic regions, as the CEO of eServGlobal where he formed HomeSend, the cross-border joint venture with MasterCard, as Chief Executive of Novatti’s transaction processing business and CEO of innovative AI-powered risk analytics fintech LenddoEFL, he is well-positioned to lead Prepay Nation in this new era. Paolo’s focus on accelerating the company’s growth and gaining wider adoption of our ecosystem offerings and prepaid marketplace capabilities with users and businesses will launch Prepay Nation 2.0.” 

Anurag Jain, Co-Founder of Prepay Nation added: “On behalf of the Board of Directors, our global employees, clients, and business partners, I want to thank A.J. for his dedication and enthusiasm to Prepay Nation and congratulate him on the many achievements and milestones we celebrated while he has been at the helm of this dynamic company. Under A.J.’s leadership, Prepay Nation expanded its global reach and grew an industry-leading marketplace for prepaid products and turned our capabilities into a competitive advantage.” 

Incoming CEO Paolo Montessori said, “Being selected to lead such a well-respected organization as Prepay Nation, a global technology and prepaid global marketplace, serving more than 150+ countries and over 5 billion users is a great honour and a tremendously exciting opportunity.  

The passion for innovating with customer needs at heart is what has guided Prepay Nation since its start over a decade ago. I look forward to leading the team at Prepay Nation and working together to chart a future of growth, creating value for our shareholders while supplying essential prepaid services to our global audience.” 

A.J. Hanna added, “It has been an honour and privilege to lead Prepay Nation and help serve our worldwide partners and their users. I have many cherished memories of the time I spent working with our colleagues, whose talent, loyalty, and commitment to our clients are unmatched. I am proud of the purpose-driven business we shaped together, and I look forward to seeing the company and team flourish under Paolo’s leadership.”