Uplinq Welcomes Distinguished Technology and Financial Services Leader Kris Hansen to its Board of Advisors

People Moves
26.09.2023 04:55 pm

Uplinq Financial Technologies – the first global credit decisioning support platform for small business lenders – today announced the addition of fintech innovator and industry veteran Kris Hansen to its advisory board. Hansen will serve as the lead technology advisor, helping to guide and advance Uplinq’s strategic priorities.

A prominent fintech executive in the United States and Canada, Hansen brings a wealth of experience developing transformative solutions in financial services that leave a lasting impact on people's financial lives. Hansen currently serves as co-founder and chief technology officer at Banking as a Service platform Synctera and also has worked with, invested in and advised a number of fintech firms, including KOHO Financial and Wealthsimple.

“Throughout my career, I’ve championed innovation in financial services and advocated for the role of technology in shaping our future,” said Kris Hansen. “Many of today’s most prevalent challenges in financial services center around missing technology infrastructure – and that’s exactly the gap that Uplinq bridges at financial institutions worldwide. Today, we have a unique opportunity to rethink how credit risk is understood at financial institutions worldwide, particularly with the meteoric rise of digital banking. I look forward to supporting Uplinq on its growth trajectory and scaling its team, ultimately broadening the reach of its cutting-edge platform.”

Hansen boasts an illustrious career as a fintech entrepreneur and innovator, including starting one of the first internet providers in Canada in 1993, building one of the largest technology services and software companies in the Hawaiian Islands and overhauling all technology at ATB Financial in the span of four years. Later at RBC, Hansen helped oversee solution architecture and $2 billion in projects, focusing on global banking, capital markets and wealth management. He also served as CTO of venture capital firm Portage Ventures and portfolio company KOHO Financial.

“We are grateful and honoured to add Kris, who understands like few others the power of leveraging data and technology in financial services to improve people’s lives, to our team,” said Ron Benegbi, founder and CEO of Uplinq. “From his history of transforming businesses to his relentless passion for applying creative tech solutions to address challenges in financial services, Kris will undoubtedly help take Uplinq to the next level in our quest to expand access to working capital for small business owners globally.”

This announcement builds on a series of milestones and unprecedented momentum from Uplinq, including a recent partnership with Visa, a collaboration with the SME Finance Forum, and recognition as “Fintech Startup of the Year – Lending” by the 2023 Banking Tech Awards USA.