Thredd Promotes Payments Veteran Jim McCarthy to CEO

Payments platform Thredd has named Visa and i2C veteran Jim McCarthy as its CEO.

McCarthy, who joined the London-based company earlier this year, will replace Kevin Schultz, who is set to retire later this year, Thredd said in a Thursday (Oct. 19) news release. 

“Jim is an extraordinary and proven leader in the global payments sector, and we are delighted that he has agreed to lead Thredd through its next period of innovation and acceleration,” said Gene Lockhart, chairman of Thredd’s board. 

“We would like to thank Kevin for his enormous contribution to the company as CEO, and the key role he has played in its success and transformation during this time.”

McCarthy has spent more than 30 years in the payments sector, much of that time with Visa, where he worked in senior sales, risk and authentication, and consumer credit roles. He joined Thredd in January of this year following a stint as president of i2C. 

Among his accomplishments at Visa was overseeing the introduction of 3D Secure and Visa Token Service, “which have become industry standards and contributed to the launch of Apple Pay,” according to the release.

 “I’m extremely excited to take on the role of CEO at Thredd,” said McCarthy. “Since joining the organization earlier this year, I could not have been more impressed by the incredible offering and team that we’re building here. Innovation is the lifeblood of any payments business, and I’m looking forward to continuing to deliver for our clients with new product development in a client-centric approach.”

PYMNTS’ Karen Webster spoke with McCarthy in May about the future of the payments industry, and about Thredd’s own plans.

He said there’s an opportunity to move beyond debit and prepaid cards, and capitalize on buy now, pay later (BNPL) and other lines of credit. 

“We need a credit platform, and we need to be a global provider, and we need to service both cash in and cash out … we’re looking at many ways to get there,” he said.

The companies that succeed in the future, he told Webster, “will not be wed to card processing or ACH and wire processing or payouts … They’ll have a set of services that allow corporates or commercial banks or FinTechs to build services that put payments at the heart of their businesses.”

Until April, Thredd was known as Global Processing Services. The company said its rebrand was aimed at illustrating its role in “weaving together” the different stands of the global payments ecosystem.