The CEO of fintech company Tyro has resigned after only eight months in the role.
Gerd Schenkel informed the board of Australia's newest bank that he wanted to "focus on other business opportunities and spend more time with family", Tyro said in a statement on Tuesday evening.
Schenkel's appointment in October was touted as a "coup" for the bank, given the German's past experience as head of Telstra Digital and founder of Australia’s first home-grown digital deposit and mortgage bank UBank, which sits within National Australia Bank.
“My departure will allow a new CEO to lead the implementation of Tyro’s significant growth program. I felt privileged to lead the organisation and I thank the Board for the opportunity,” Schenkel said in a statement.
Long-serving non-executive director Rob Ferguson, who has been involved with the company for more than a decade, has been appointed acting managing director, effective immediately.
Former CEO and current executive director Jost Stollmann – the company's biggest shareholder – will become a full-time non-executive director.
Change at the top
The past few months have seen some high profile appointments and departures at the Sydney-based company.
Tyro appointed Kareem al Bassam from PayPal as head of product in January, with Natalie Dinsdale from UBank joining as head of brand and marketing later in the month. Joshua Walther, former head of direct distribution at ING Direct, was appointed director of sales in May. Former general manager strategy and architecture at Tabcorp, Dr Dave Coombes joined as director of engineering last week.
In April, co-founder and head of sales Andrew Rothwell left after 14-years with the company to join Data Republic as chief operating officer. Jessica Ellerm, go to market lead and key player behind the scenes at the company, departed in April to found superannuation start-up Zuper.
Tyro chairman Kerry Roxburgh said: “We thank Mr Schenkel for his positive contribution, and we all wish him every success in future.”
Tyro, which received investment from Atlassian founder Mike Cannon-Brookes in 2009, provides credit, debit, EFTPOS card acquiring, Medicare and private health fund claiming and rebating services as well as a transaction and deposit account integrated with Xero cloud accounting.
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority awarded the company a banking licence in 2015 and it now serves around 16,000 customers as Australia’s only independent EFTPOS banking institution.
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