CPPO appoints Wealthsimple, KOHO & ABCorp directors

The Canadian Prepaid Providers Organisation has appointed three new members to its Board of Directors, adding representatives from Wealthsimple, KOHO and ABCorp.

Adriana Iglesias Romero, Director of Payments Operations & Compliance at Wealthsimple; David Merriby, Chief Executive Officer at the future KOHO Bank; and Asad Saeed, Vice President & General Manager, Canada at ABCorp, will each serve one-year terms as general board members.

The appointments broaden the board's representation across fintech, digital banking, compliance and payments infrastructure as prepaid products play a more central role in how financial services are delivered in Canada.

CPPO represents organisations involved in Canada's open-loop prepaid market, which it values at USD $14 billion. Its membership includes banks, card networks, fintechs, processors, programme managers and other prepaid payments service providers.

Board changes

Jennifer Tramontana, Executive Director of CPPO, said the new directors would broaden the group's perspective as prepaid products continue to underpin newer forms of digital banking.

"CPPO is proud to welcome Adriana, David and Asad to our Board of Directors," said Jennifer Tramontana, Executive Director of CPPO. "Their commitment and experience strengthens our ability to represent the industry's full range of players, from established networks to the challenger banks now built on prepaid rails. As board members, they'll help guide CPPO's work advocating for a regulatory environment that lets prepaid keep expanding access to the digital economy."

Over the past decade, prepaid has shifted from a more limited payment product to a broader part of the financial system, especially for digital-first services aimed at consumers seeking alternatives to conventional banking offers.

According to CPPO, Wealthsimple and KOHO both use prepaid rails to deliver customer banking services, making the addition of executives from those businesses notable for a board seeking to reflect Canada's evolving payments market.

Industry role

Iglesias Romero oversees payments operations and compliance at Wealthsimple, adding an operations and compliance perspective from one of Canada's larger fintech groups.

"Prepaid has become essential infrastructure for expanding financial access in Canada, and I'm thrilled to help guide its next chapter as part of CPPO's Board. I'm grateful to bring Wealthsimple's perspective to an organisation doing such important advocacy work," said Iglesias Romero.

Merriby previously led compliance and risk at KOHO before becoming Chief Executive Officer at the future KOHO Bank. His background adds a regulatory and digital banking perspective to the board.

"Payments play an increasingly important role in how Canadians manage their financial lives, and there is a real opportunity to keep improving how the industry serves them," said Merriby. "I'm pleased to join CPPO's Board of Directors and look forward to working with new and existing board members to bring together different perspectives from across fintech, payments and financial services."

Saeed leads strategic accounts and growth initiatives for ABCorp's Canadian unit, giving the board representation from a company involved in payments infrastructure.

"The Canadian payments landscape is at a critical inflection point, where security, scale, and flexibility must intersect to drive the next wave of financial innovation," said Saeed. "This is a time of deep transformation in payments and ABCorp is committed to anchoring the ecosystem. I am excited to join the CPPO board and collaborate with fellow industry leaders to champion forward-thinking advocacy and change."

Market backdrop

Open-loop prepaid products can be used across card networks rather than within a closed merchant system. They have increasingly been adopted as the underlying structure for spending and account tools offered by fintechs and challenger banking groups. In Canada, that has brought prepaid products into policy discussions about access, consumer protection and the regulation of newer financial services models.

CPPO engages with regulators, produces research and advocates on behalf of the sector as policy decisions affect prepaid providers and related companies. The organisation describes itself as the main association focused on Canada's prepaid payments industry.

The latest board appointments underscore how closely prepaid products are now tied to mainstream financial technology and digital banking in Canada, rather than serving only as a specialised payments segment.