Payments acceptance system provider Ingenico have appointed Laurent Blanchard as the company’s new President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Blanchard, a highly experienced technology sector veteran, will assume his new role on April 3rd, 2023, and will be based in Paris, France.
Formerly a global executive at IBM, HP, and Cisco, Blanchard was most recently the Chief Operating Officer of Cegid, where he successfully led the company’s transformation to a cloud-based software business. Throughout his career, Blanchard has strongly and consistently advocated for sustainability as well as being a champion for technology as a catalyst for business innovation.
Board appointment
Blanchard has been appointed by Ingenico’s Board of Directors to lead the company through its next phase of transformation and growth. As Catherine Guillouard, Chairwoman and an Independent Supervisory Board Member, explained, “We are confident in his ability to drive growth and deliver exceptional value to our clients and partners. With Laurent at the helm, we are excited to continue innovating and transforming the payment industry, and we look forward to the successes that we will achieve together.”
Blanchard’s leadership and experience will be critical as Ingenico seeks to accelerate its transition to cloud and SaaS-based services including Payments-Platform-as-a-Service (PPaaS), its Android AXIUM solutions, and Terminal-as-a-Service (TaaS).
His focus on sustainability and innovation and his international experience will help him position the business for growth while driving value for its partners, clients, and staff.
Former CEO steps down
While Gerrard Schmid and Rolf Stangl will step down as co-CEOs, they will retain roles on Ingenico’s Supervisory Board, working closely with Blanchard and other Board directors to accelerate the company’s momentum and strategic direction. The former CEO said, “We are thrilled to welcome Laurent Blanchard as our new CEO. Laurent’s extensive experience and leadership skills are precisely what we need to drive our transformation.”
Ingenico’s newly appointed CEO is excited about the opportunities that lie ahead. “The company has an exceptional team of talented individuals and leading technologies that we can leverage to assist our clients and partners in navigating the rapidly evolving payments industry,” Blanchard said. “We have an extraordinary opportunity to help our clients drive their businesses forward while taking Ingenico’s business to a whole new level.”
High calibre partnerships
Blanchard’s appointment as both technical and managerial CEO of Ingenico, comes after Ingenico announced a series of high-calibre partnerships, including one with cryptocurrency giant Binance in February.
With up to 40 million POS terminals active worldwide, Ingenico has become the preferred technology partner for over 1,000 banks, ISVs, acquirers, payment aggregators, and fintech customers. It serves retailers ranging from micro businesses to some of the most well-known international companies and brands. The company’s top-notch terminals, solutions, and services support the world’s payments acceptance ecosystem.
Further details available via the Ingenico website.
