A British financial technology company which snapped up assets from the collapsed German company Wirecard has lured the former chairman of MasterCard to spearhead its expansion.

Sky News understands that Railsr, which was previously known as Railsbank, will announce this week that Rick Haythornthwaite has become its first chairman.

The heavyweight appointment, which will fuel speculation about a long-term public listing for Railsr, comes as the company closes in on so-called ‘unicorn’ status with its latest funding round.

Mr Haythornthwaite is one of the UK’s most prominent businessmen, having chaired companies including Centrica and Network Rail.

He is currently chairman of Ocado Group and the AA, the roadside recovery service.

MasterCard had a market value of $342bn when Mr Haythornthwaite stepped down at the end of 2020.

In response to an enquiry from Sky News, Railsr confirmed Mr Haythornthwaite’s appointment.

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The company’s inaugural chairman said: “Railsr is a major innovator and a visionary for the future of the financial services industry.

“The Railsr team have spent the last six years building a global business and platform that enables brands and companies to make finance a phenomenal experience.”

Railsr was established by Nigel Verdon, who has claimed that the company is “transforming the finance industry in the same way that Apple did to the music industry when they created iTunes”.

It specialises in what it calls ’embedded finance experiences’, helping companies provide banking services, credit cards and digital wallets.

To date, Railsr has raised more than $100m in equity funding, with backing from investors including Visa.

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