Nick has founded and led multiple high-profile financial companies, including payments processing company WorldPay, a pioneer in the payments industry which sold earlier this year for $35bn to FIS. He is currently founder and director of ClearBank as well as a non-executive director for business financing firm Funding Options.

Jim is the former Citi EMEA CEO and has over 30 years of banking and financial services experience. Jim has recently stepped down from the chief executive role at the bank and will take up his non-exec role at Shieldpay as well as running The Venn Media, a company he set up earlier this year.

With decades of financial services and specific payments industry experience, both Nick and Jim bring with them a deep understanding of the sector and add further specialist expertise to the board.

Peter Janes, Founder and CEO, Shieldpay commented: “Strengthening our senior team is key to driving growth and we’re incredibly honoured to welcome both Nick and Jim to the board. Their previous experience will prove invaluable to Shieldpay as we broaden our activity in the UK, US and further afield.”

Nick Ogden said: “I’ve been following Shieldpay’s development closely over the last couple of years, from its partnership with Visa to the strides it has made in the mortgage market. It’s an incredibly exciting time to join the team with some highly innovative initiatives on the horizon. Driving the business forward will be a key focus of mine as we enter the next phase of growth.”

Jim Cowles said: “Innovation in the payments industry is critical to improving customer outcomes, be that reducing levels of fraud or making the home buying process more efficient. Shieldpay is leading the charge on this in the payments space and I’m looking forward to being part of the journey.”

Both join Shieldpay’s board with immediate effect.