Payments Canada Announces New CEO

The Payments Canada Board of Directors has announced the appointment of Tracey Black as new president and CEO, replacing Gerry Gaetz. Black will take over the job starting on March 1, 2020, according to a release.

“Tracey joined Payments Canada in 2018 to lead the payments Modernization program. Her leadership, deep payments expertise and industry relationships have driven the program forward and helped foster positive change,” said Eileen Mercier, chair of the Payments Canada Board of Directors. “Her promotion to the role of President and CEO should give the marketplace great confidence in Payments Canada’s ability to deliver this critical program.”

Before she joined Payments Canada, Tracey was the president of GFH Group, a company that managed the Canadian Chip Trial Program Management Office supporting the launch of EMV in Canada. She also previously worked at TD, RBC and McKinsey & Company, where she helped with the development of the Vision for the Canadian Payments Ecosystem.

“Gerry led the organization during a critical period of time and through monumental change, laying the foundation for modern payments in Canada,” said Mercier. “He oversaw changes to Payments Canada’s governance structure, carved out a strategy to modernize the country’s payments system, tripled the size of the organization to deliver on the strategy, brought the industry together to establish a collective vision and direction for the future and transitioned us from planning to execution. Tracey takes the helm with the groundwork in place for successful delivery of payments Modernization.”

Payments Canada wants to help modernize the infrastructure, standards and rules that govern payments in the country. The goal is to help Canadians to more easily pay for goods and services, transfer money easier and exchange payment data.

“We have an ambitious Modernization agenda, strong industry alignment and the internal capability to deliver,” said Black. “I look forward to leading an excellent team of people and engaging with our members and stakeholders more broadly.”