Open Banking platform Curve has appointed the former head of Samsung Pay Europe as its new chief operating officer (COO).

Nathalie Oestmann held senior management positions at the likes of American Express, Samsung Pay and IDEMIA, before taking the helm at Samsung Pay’s European division, where she launched the Samsung Pay solution across six European countries and established several strategic partnerships.

Curve’s cloud-based banking platform uses data sharing to consolidate multiple cards and accounts into a single smart card controlled by an app.

Oestmann’s new role will see her take on operations and people at the startup, which was founded in 2015. She will be responsible for executing the strategy developed by the leadership team and ensure that all parts of the organisation continue to work in harmony, in preparation for its expansion into Europe and the US in 2020.

Shachar Bialick, founder and chief executive, said: “Nathalie is an incredibly talented and energetic force and it is testament to the heights Curve has reached that we can welcome someone of Nathalie’s calibre to the team at Curve as our new COO.”

Last month Curve announced it had raised £4 million on Crowdcube in the first 42 minutes of its latest crowdfunding campaign, taking total investment in the business to over £60 million.

Oestmann commented: “The company’s vision of moving banking to the cloud is both unique and powerful and it provides its customers with a compelling value proposition with minimal behavioural change – my primary objective at Curve will be to ensure we realise our full potential as we take the company into our next chapter of growth.”

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