Swedish Mobile Wallet Maker Recruits Ex-Ikano Bank Execs

Plexian, the Swedish FinTech company, announced Tuesday (June 26) that it is strengthing its management team by getting a new chief executive and chief technology officer.

In a press release, the maker of mobile wallets and digital loyalty programs said it is bringing on Staffan Mattson as CEO and Per-Anders Eriksson as CTO.  The two come from the Swedish Ikano Bank. As a result of the appointments, the company said its Founder and former CEO Sami Sulieman will become COO and a member of the board.

Mattson has served most recently as a management consultant. Prior, he was CEO at Ikano Bank in Russia. There, he was credited with building a bank from the ground up and within two years — they had more than 150,000 customers with 12 offices in 9 Russian cities, said Plexian. Before Staffan moved to Moscow, he was CFO at the holding company for Ikano Bank and, at the same time, was responsible for business development, sales and marketing.

Eriksson is the former Head of Application Development at Ikano Bank with responsibility for around 140 employees.

“I know from experience that there is a great demand for the kind of services that Plexian offers. The traditional model where loyalty is associated with transactions is changing and, instead, focus is put on building genuine and honest relations.,” said Mattson in the press release. “The solution is not to offer a loyalty program. The future is to be a loyalty company. Plexian works with modern technology and a mindset that will make it possible to introduce solutions, which are creating real value for both partners and users.”

According to Plexian, custom communications is growing in popularity as companies find generic newsletters don’t cut it anymore. Plexian wants to take customer loyalty further than the communications, with its tools aimed at turning users into fans.

Eriksson said, “Plexian has a very interesting strategy. With my experience in loyalty and payments, paired with modern technology, all conditions are there to create the loyalty company of the future. To be a part of the business development, and thereby creating a better service for the customers, feels incredibly stimulating and fulfilling.”