Modo Announces Addition of Matthew R. Leavenworth, Former Head of Strategy and Innovation, Global Transaction Services, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

DALLAS, July 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Modo, the payments technology company leading the connection of legacy financial services infrastructure to new digital experiences, today announced the addition of Matthew Leavenworth. Matthew is formerly the Head of Strategy and Innovation, Global Transaction Services, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and an Amazon.com alumnus. Modo, which is focused on enabling interoperability between payment systems, will leverage Leavenworth's extensive payments industry expertise as it continues to create a more connected payments and financial services ecosystem.

"Adding a #paymentsgeek with a track record of building new products to the Modo team simply rocks," said Bruce Parker, CEO of Modo. "Matthew has more ideas for how to make payments COIN operated than I've ever come up with, and he's seen his fair share of scaled payments platforms. I don't know if he's as comfortable with my over commitment to humor. Or nicknames. Or public displays of affection."

Bruce and Matthew have collaborated on payments innovations for several years, culminating in the partnership between Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Modo announced last October. Today's announcement marks the formal pairing of the payments duo, who are better together than apart, evoking analogies to peanut butter and jelly.

"Modo's COIN technology is incredibly powerful, and a unique solution to many of the sticky unsolved problems in the payments marketplace that leave us less connected than we ought to be," said Leavenworth. "I believe in this team of technologists and industry veterans and the platform they've created. Modo is perfectly positioned to spread connectivity across all participants in a payment. We expect to make a significant contribution to our industry, and, in many respects, to the world. The mission and the opportunity is really that big. I'm beyond thrilled to be a part of it. But, I hate peanut butter and jelly."

The Modo team has pre-stocked the Dallas office with bulk amounts of Lucky Charms and a custom monogrammed Snuggie, as requested by Leavenworth. Given that he is a payments rockstar, these special requirements were to be expected. Leavenworth will officially be trading in his banking suit for a Modo t-shirt and jeans in August 2017.

This announcement comes on the back of a series of wins for Modo. Since the beginning of 2017, the team has:

• solidified their partnership with Verifone & FIS.
• won an invisible innovation award.
• been selected as a finalist for the SXSW Innovation Awards.
• added Dee Hock to the advisory board.
• been accepted into Mastercard's Start Path program.
• shared insights with the industry at Money2020 Europe.
• sent singing telegrams as birthday surprises.
• kept the fidget spinner trend alive for just a little bit longer.

About Modo:

Modo provides a COIN® operated platform that connects new digital experiences to payments systems worldwide. Modo's patented COIN® transaction takes monetary value from just about any source, and can deliver it to just about any destination, without requiring partners to modify their systems. Truly a 'shipping container for global payments', the Modo COIN® simplifies the complex world of payments in the digital era. Visit https://modopayments.com to learn more.

About Matthew Leavenworth:

Matthew is a seasoned executive with strategy, product development, and startup experience across consumer and business-to-business segments. Most recently he worked at Bank of America for seven years in both the consumer and corporate bank driving payments innovation. Matthew joined the bank from Amazon.com where he led key payments initiatives across the Amazon platform. For both Bank of America and Amazon, he has a proven record of developing and improving complex payments systems and working across diverse constituent groups to generate buy-in and deliver the right results.  Matthew is a graduate of Connecticut College. He and his family live in Charlotte, North Carolina.

CONTACT: Rob Wells, [email protected]

SOURCE Modo

Related Links

http://www.modopayments.com