Ex-Chancellor Philip Hammond appointed as chair of fintech Railsr
Former Chancellor Philip Hammond has been appointed as the chair of Railsr, a year after the embedded banking platform was rescued from collapse.
Embedded Finance, Railsr’s parent company, has announced that Lord Hammond will take over from Rick Haythornthwaite, who is set to become chair of Natwest on 15 April.
Since leaving politics in 2019, Lord Hammond has been busy in the fintech and banking spaces, with a chairmanship at cryptocurrency firm Copper Technologies and a senior adviser position at challenger bank Oaknorth.
Lord Hammond served as Chancellor under Theresa May between 2016 and 2019, with previously holding Cabinet posts as foreign secretary, defence secretary and transport secretary.
Railsr was rescued from collapse last March after it was snapped up by a group of investors led by London-based D Squared Capital. The fintech had run into cash troubles and regulatory difficulties over the previous year.
The firm has since eyed up expansion, last October raising around £20m from investors including D Squared Capital and Moneta Venture Capital.
Lord Hammond said on Thursday: “I’m delighted to be joining Railsr at this pivotal moment in its development. I would like to thank Rick Haythornthwaite who has done an excellent job in steering Railsr to its current position.
“I am confident that the business has a strong future ahead of it and that it will become the preeminent provider of embedded finance.”
Haythornthwaite commented: “I am very pleased to be passing the baton to someone of such international standing. The company will benefit enormously from Lord Hammond’s extensive business and political experience at this key juncture.”
Philippe Morel, who was appointed as chief executive of Railsr following the rescue, added: “This is another very positive step for Railsr after we secured significant new funding in October last year. We have completely rebuilt momentum at the company and we have a clear path to regaining industry leadership.”