Former Westpac CEO to chair BNPL start-up

Mr Hartzer has joined another former Westpac executive at Beforepay, with chief executive Jamie Twiss previously being chief strategy officer and chief data officer at the big four bank.

Mr Hartzer was most recently chief executive of Westpac Group, until he stepped down amid a widely publicised scandal, where AUSTRAC revealed the bank had made 23 million alleged breaches of anti-money laundering laws.

The breaches ultimately resulted in the largest corporate penalty in Australia to date, totalling $1.3 billion.

Prior to Westpac, Mr Hartzer had held senior roles at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group and at ANZ in a number of roles, including CEO, Australia.

Mr Hartzer commented that he was looking forward to supporting the leadership team at Beforepay during an “exciting time in their growth”.

“Beforepay meets a genuine need in the market for short-term consumer finance that has largely been overlooked by banks,” he said.

“I was impressed by its model and how its success is tied to a customer’s good repayment habits, in stark contrast to predatory models in the market.”

Mr Twiss, CEO of Beforepay, added: “I’m delighted to be working with Brian again. His strategic capabilities are what we need in a chairman and will add tremendous depth of experience to our board and support the leadership team as Beforepay continues to grow and evolve.”

Mr Twiss was only appointed as CEO last month, after almost five years with Westpac.

Prior to Westpac, he held senior roles at First State Investments and CBA.

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