Martin Blessing appointed Chairman of Unzer's newly formed Advisory Board
Heidelberg, September 23, 2022 – Unzer, a leading European payments company, has appointed Martin Blessing as the Chairman of its newly created Advisory Board. This appointment, as well as the establishment of the Advisory Board, further strengthen the company’s leadership and corporate structure as it continues its ambitious growth journey, together with its majority shareholder KKR.
A highly respected figure in the global financial services industry, Martin Blessing has previously held numerous Board and management roles including as CEO of Commerzbank AG (2008-2016) and Co-President of UBS Global Wealth Management (2018-2019). Throughout his career, Martin Blessing has built a strong track-record of driving both business growth and agility, with a focus on best-in-class compliance standards.
Robert Bueninck, CEO of Unzer, states: “Martin Blessing is a globally renowned and respected leader in the financial services industry. His counsel and support will be invaluable in enabling us to follow the ambitions of a high-growth FinTech while at the same time enhancing our governance. This will help us on our journey to become one of the leading unified commerce partners for European merchants.”
“I am excited to chair Unzer’s Advisory Board and to work with the management team in continuing to build a payment and software champion rooted in the DACH region. I look forward to helping Unzer fulfil this ambition”, says Martin Blessing.
Daan Knottenbelt, Partner and Head of EMEA Financial Services at KKR, says: “Martin Blessing’s track record in steering leading financial services companies and his reputation speak for themselves. We are fortunate to be working with him as well as Unzer’s management team in the next stage of the company’s development.”
In addition to Martin Blessing, the Advisory Board includes Rupert Keeley (former CEO of PayPal Europe from 2013 to 2018), Annika Poutiainen (a respected corporate governance expert and Board Member of numerous companies), as well as members of Unzer’s majority shareholder KKR. The Advisory Board will play a leading role in Unzer’s future, consulting with management on all key decisions related to strategy, operations, compliance and finances.
About Unzer
Unzer is one of the leading payment companies in Europe. More than 70,000 merchants rely on the company's end-to-end solutions for greater growth – online, mobile, and at the point of sale. From international payment processing and risk management to analysis of customer behaviour, merchants can combine Unzer’s data-driven services on a modular basis. This means that merchants only need a single partner to make their payment systems flexible, innovative, and future-proof.
Unzer serves businesses of all sizes across Europe. The company employs more than 750 people across ten offices in Germany, Austria, Denmark and Luxemburg. In 2021, Unzer group generated a revenue of EUR 176 million.