International payments software and services company GFG Group Ltd has appointed senior management team member Wayne Robinson to the new position of Senior Vice President - Sales and Marketing, based in Auckland. Robinson will continue to manage GFG's growth in the Middle East/Africa region while actively recruiting for his replacement.
GFG Group Executive Director Dennis Row says Robinson's new appointment is strategic as they look to build on two years of solid, profitable growth with a major 'step change' in the positioning of the company's services.
"We have been successful with our card and mobile payment solutions, alongside our sophisticated testing tools," Row says. "However, there is a much bigger opportunity to build on that platform by delivering secure, end-to-end payment solutions spanning all mobile devices and card types. Our experience with both card and mobile payment solutions means we are uniquely well placed to deliver end-to-end converged electronic payment solutions.
"Wayne is the perfect fit for this new role - he has the experience and skill set we need to lead this step change in our sales and marketing.
"Wayne has been with GFG Group since 1995 and has worked across all areas of the business. He has extensive software development experience, coupled with in-depth experience in project management, sales and senior leadership. Wayne has a solid and proven track record in growing revenues and managing teams in various geographies. His excellent technical and business nous and profound understanding of the company mean he knows what needs to be done to help it succeed," Row says.
Most recently, before returning to Auckland in November 2011, Robinson was based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), as General Manager Middle East and Africa, where he set up and managed the company's Dubai office and was responsible for existing GFG Group customers such as Etisalat, the largest telecommunications provider in the UAE, as well as developing the company's interests in the Middle East/North Africa region, growing the customer base and establishing the sales and service capabilities to support these customers.
Robinson has over three decades of experience in the financial and electronic payment solutions industries, specialising in elect electronic banking solutions. He has designed and developed real-time banking systems and been responsible for delivering transaction switches, ATM systems, phone banking, credit/debit card systems, loyalty systems and e-commerce solutions - including payment gateways and a multi-merchant Internet shopping mall.
Prior to joining GFG Group, Robinson worked at New Zealand's Trust Bank and ASB Bank and was part of the team that designed and wrote the initial online real-time core banking system for ASB Bank.
Joining GFG Group in June 1995 as Project Director, Robinson moved to Moscow, Russia, for two years to manage a card system installation at The Savings Bank of the Russian Federation (Sberbank) - today the largest credit institution in Russia and CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States).
Returning to Auckland in June 1997, Robinson moved into a business development role and took over management of the development team. He and his team were responsible for launching the ASB True Rewards system.
In 2000, Robinson moved to Melbourne to establish GFG Group in Australia. Within five years, GFG Group Australia was responsible for up to half the turnover of the whole Group.
In 2006 Robinson returned to Auckland, stepping into the role of Group Operations Manager and resuming leadership of the development team. During this time, he oversaw GFG Group's transition from Cobol (GFG:Unicard) to Java (CadencieTM).
From November 2009, until moving to Dubai in August 2010, Robinson held the Group Business Development Manager role and was also responsible for providing support to the sales team.