Charles Damen, Chief Product Officer (CPO), and Artashes Torosyan, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), join Token.io to build out the company’s Account-to-Account (A2A) payment platform, which delivers best-in-class open payment and data connectivity across 16 European countries.

Charles joins Token.io from Worldpay, where he served as SVP of Product Strategy for global Real Time Payments and Open Banking products. He has over 20 years of experience in senior roles at payments, mobile and internet companies, and prior to Worldpay founded and led the global cross border payments division of Thunes, enabling real-time payments to and from emerging markets. He is a member of the European Payments Council (EPC) and was previously a board member for the Merchant Risk Council.

Based at Token’s Berlin office, Artashes brings over 25 years of experience in FinTech and blockchain technology. Previous roles include CTO for the German-based open banking data-driven loyalty and rewards platform, OptioPay, and CTO for Artory, a leading art and objects registry utilising blockchain technology.

“Open banking is a huge opportunity for the financial services industry, enabling the development of innovative payments and data services offering customers secure, fast and frictionless payment experiences at lower transaction costs,” comments Charles Damen, Chief Product Officer at Token.io. “Owning and operating a global open banking network, Token has a highly strategic position in the open banking ecosystem and one that is difficult to replicate. By doing the heavy lifting for many of the leading PSPs, acquirers, banks and financial institutions, Token is driving the shift from card to bank payments in a way few other players are able to.”

“Token’s history as a pioneer in open banking technology is what first attracted me to the role,“ comments Artashes Torosyan, Chief Technology Officer at Token. “The Token platform already has deep functionality to enable simple and elegant bank-direct payments for a range of use cases, from eCommerce and bill payments, to funding an account or paying off debt via loan or credit card repayments. I look forward to working with the team to build out these capabilities as new use cases continue to emerge.”

“Token’s technology underpins the open banking propositions of some of the world's most respected financial institutions and fintech disruptors,” comments Todd Clyde, Token.io CEO. “We are making account-to-account payments a true competitor to cards and alternative payment methods. With the expertise of Artashes and Charles behind us, Token will continue to push the boundaries of functionality beyond regulation through new open payments and data capabilities, premium APIs and value-added services.”

Token.io processes tens of millions of open payments annually for payment service providers, gateways, banks, wallet providers and large merchants. Customers that plug and play, white-label or have used Token.io’s open banking infrastructure to build their own propositions include BNP Paribas, HSBC, Mastercard, Nuvei, Ecommpay, Rewire, Coingate, Sonae Universo, Volt and Vyne.