Zūm Rails has announced the launch of a large-scale Banking as a Service (BaaS) project, aiming to expand its platform with bank-like services for enterprise clients.
This new offering will enable companies to provide a suite of banking services directly to their customers, utilising the same platform that currently powers their flexible payment capabilities.
Miro Pavletic, the newly appointed head of Banking as a Service at Zūm Rails, will lead this initiative. Pavletic brings a decade of experience in leading emerging FinTech companies to successful exits and creating new market opportunities for established products. His role at Zūm Rails marks his newest challenge: introducing North America’s first AI-powered BaaS platform that leverages open banking and helps businesses stay ahead of regulatory requirements.
The introduction of BaaS is a significant opportunity for consumer-facing companies across various industries. These services, traditionally provided by banks, include card issuing, program management, transaction settlement, identity validation, and real-time fraud assessment. Offering these services can enhance the customer experience and drive revenue growth. However, implementing BaaS has posed challenges, often requiring multiple integrations and facing roadblocks in executing risk management at the speed of payments.
Pavletic will oversee the development and rollout of Zūm Rails’ BaaS product roadmap, focusing on transaction settlement, identity validation, and real-time fraud assessment. His goal is to integrate these functionalities with Zūm Rails’ existing payments offerings, allowing companies to comply with open banking timelines and leverage AI for risk management.
Before joining Zūm Rails, Pavletic founded and led the payments company STACK! to its 2020 acquisition by Credit Sesame, where he launched Sesame Cash. He was also a founding member of Virgin Plus, scaling the company to over 1m customers and more than 1bn in just over five years before its acquisition by Bell. His executive-level positions at TD Bank, CIBC Capital Markets, and CSAM, where he led digital wallet initiatives, further demonstrate his expertise in the field.
Marc Milewski, CEO at Zūm Rails, said, “Over the past five years, we’ve proven that companies can move forward with any payment rails they want, including instant payments, without waiting for regulators to create the infrastructure for them. Now we’re looking to do the same with bank-like services. Miro is one of few people in our industry who has been able to consistently bring ambitious projects like this to life, and we will lean on his experience as we work to solve the North American market’s most significant challenges.”
Pavletic added, “There is an immense market opportunity for non-banks to harness BaaS and accelerate their speed to market. Two major roadblocks currently standing in the way of implementation are regulators pushing back the goal post on open banking and the need for multiple vendors and resources. Our work will remove these roadblocks so that our clients can better personalize their experiences, deepen customer relationships, and accelerate their time to revenue.”
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