Trustly appoints first Group CPO as it accelerates its AI-powered growth strategy and US expansion

• Trustly, the leading open banking payments network, appoints Neil Morrison as its first Group Chief People Officer.
• Morrison joins from Staffbase, a leading communications technology firm, and previously spent 15 years at Yum! Brands, the world’s largest restaurant company, where he led the people operation and served as Managing Director of KFC UKI. 
• He will shape Trustly’s talent and culture as it enters the next stage of its AI-powered growth strategy and increases its focus on the US.

London, Monday 2nd November: Trustly, the leading open banking payments network, today announces the appointment of Neil Morrison as its first Group Chief People Officer (CPO). Morrison will enhance Trustly’s people and organisation strategy as it accelerates the build of new products that use AI to turn payments into intelligence to help businesses win new customers, keep them longer, and stay ahead of risk. 

Most recently, Morrison spent four years at Staffbase in a dual role as Chief People Officer and General Manager of its International Go-to-Market division. Before that, he spent 15 years at Yum! Brands across operations, HR and General Management, including three years in global HR for the KFC division whilst based in the US, and 6 years serving both as Chief People Officer and later as Managing Director of the  KFC UKI business. 

His appointment follows signed equity commitment letters of more than USD 40m from Nordic Capital, its principal shareholder, and Alfvén & Didrikson. The capital raise, expected to conclude in November, will fund the next stage of Trustly’s growth strategy as it builds on its leading open banking payments network to create a real-time intelligence platform. 

His appointment also comes as Trustly focuses on growing faster in the US, where demand for open banking is rising quickly. Since entering the US in 2019, Trustly has opened hubs in New York and San Francisco and works with enterprise merchants including Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile. 

As Trustly grows internationally, Morrison will build its teams and culture, drawing on world-class technology talent in the US. 

Johan Tjärnberg, Group CEO of Trustly, said: ‘Our people and culture have been central to our success so far, and getting this right will be even more important as we invest in new products and scale the business. Neil has led people strategy at global organisations on both sides of the Atlantic and knows how to grow a business without losing what makes it distinctive. I’m delighted to welcome him to the executive team.’

Neil Morrison, Chief People Officer at Trustly, said: ‘I’m thrilled to join Trustly, having been inspired by its market-leading product and brilliant team. There is huge potential to scale the business internationally, especially in the US, and I’m joining at a pivotal time as Trustly invests in its next stage of growth.

‘My focus will be scaling our talent and culture in a way that’s unique to Trustly, taking our identity as a European-born company and enhancing our growth as a global organisation, on both sides of the Atlantic.’