Conferma Pay has named longtime payments executive Jason Lalor as its new CEO, a move the virtual payments technology company is calling “the next step in [its] payments journey.”
Lalor succeeds interim CEO Martin Cowley, Sabre’s former Europe, Middle East and Africa SVP who took the position when Sabre acquired Conferma last August. Lalor most recently was chief executive of the European business of financial services platform Square, and he also has had leadership roles at Mastercard, Barclaycard, American Express and Dell.
Conferma and Sabre did not specify when Lalor would start the role, and Lalor in a LinkedIn post on Monday said he would begin “soon.”
Lalor joins Conferma in what Sabre Travel Solutions EVP and chief commercial officer Roshan Mendis called “a pivotal year” for the company. “He brings extensive commercial leadership experience and a deep understanding of the payments ecosystem,” Mendis said in a statement. “This will be integral in advancing our goal to accelerate the digitization of business-to-business travel payments.”
In November, Mastercard—where Lalor’s previous roles included general manager for Ireland and VP of European digital and fintech partnerships—announced a new partnership with Sabre and Conferma to build new capabilities for virtual cards. The partnership included a minority investment by Mastercard, which was completed on Jan. 31, according to Conferma.
In a statement, Lalor said “the new investments have given Conferma Pay the opportunity to be at the forefront of developments, which will help ensure that we continue to meet the fast-evolving needs of our customers.”
Conferma reports connections to more than 700 travel management companies, 100 online booking tools and all major global distribution systems. It works with all major card schemes and more than 50 banking partners, who issue Conferma’s virtual cards in almost 100 currencies.
