Verifone has brought on two new executives to head up its Asia Pacific and China regions on the heels of its disappointing results in those markets.
Steve Aliferis will join Verifone on August 3 as president of the company's Asia Pacific region, while Arthur Jiang became senior vice president and general manager for the newly established China region on July 7. The appointments are aimed at boosting the company's business in Asia, according to a July 9 news release.
Aliferis and Jiang have demonstrated the ability to build and grow successful client franchises throughout Asia, said Paul Galant, chief executive of Verifone, noting that they will help the company to be a better, more nimble partner for our Asia Pacific and China clients and will provide the leadership that we need to accelerate investment in this critically important part of the world.
Aliferis, who will be based in the company's Singapore office, most recently served as the head of business banking, product and Australian financial services at Westpac Group. He has also held executive positions at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank and Assure Worldwide.
Jiang will work from Verifone's Beijing office. He most recently worked as vice general manager of the payments business at Aisino Corporation, leading merchant acquiring and services initiatives in China. He has also previously served as CEO of PAX Technologies, among other leadership positions at various corporations.
The two new appointments follow the departure of Sunil Kappagoda, who served as president of the Asia Pacific region and executive vice president for corporate strategy. Kappagoda left these roles as of July 6 and will leave the company July 23, according to an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
During Verifone's June earnings call, Galant highlighted plans to change how the company operates in the Asia-Pacific region in light of 33% decline from the previous year in net revenues from the region to $49.6 million. One of those changes was establishing a separate business line for China.
"These changes, along with additional planned leadership upgrades, will fix our issue and deliver positive impact on our business in Asia," Galant said during the call. "We won't get there overnight. In fact it will take many quarters. But we're on the right track and continue to be fully committed for the long term."
