Visa Direct Veteran Ruben Salazar Genovez Now President of TerraPay

TerraPay appointed former Visa Direct Global Head Ruben Salazar Genovez as president.

In his new role, Salazar Genovez will lead TerraPay’s global expansion and the development of its payments infrastructure and non-card network capabilities, the global money movement company said in a Monday (Feb. 19) press release.

When announcing the appointment, TerraPay founder and CEO Ambar Sur highlighted in the release Salazar Genovez’s “deep knowledge of the payments industry, coupled with his proven track record in driving global growth.”

“We are confident that under Ruben’s leadership, TerraPay will continue to revolutionize the payments and money movement landscape and meet evolving customer demands,” Sur said in the release.

As global head of Visa Direct, Salazar Genovez spearheaded initiatives that contributed to the growth and transformation of Visa’s money movement offering, according to the release.

The payments industry veteran’s experience also includes roles at Citibank, Barclays and Mastercard, the release said.

As president of Terrapay, he will use that experience to further strengthen the company’s position in the cross-border money movement and non-traditional payments markets, per the release.

“TerraPay has already demonstrated its ability to revolutionize cross-border payments, and I am excited to contribute to the next chapter of its success,” Salazar Genovez said in the release. “With a strong foundation in place, I am confident that we can accelerate our global expansion and develop new, innovative solutions that will shape the future of the payments landscape.”

The company provides a single connection to a cross-border payments network that is regulated in 30 global markets and enables payments to more than 140 receive countries, over 210 send countries, more than 7.5 billion bank accounts and over 2.1 billion mobile wallets, according to the release.

Hundreds of millions of consumers and businesses use digital wallets — and non-traditional bank accounts — to transact across the globe, Salazar Genovez told PYMNTS in an interview posted in May.

That’s especially true in emerging markets, where the ubiquity of mobile devices offers a springboard to transitioning away from bills and coins, he added.

At the center of this transition, Salazar Genovez said, is the “consumer who is demanding a better experience as they send funds … They want a digital solution, but they also want the ability to send money to accounts and to mobile wallets.”