Australian credit card challenger hires industry veteran Tanya Ward as first CFO

Sydney-based fintech Cape has bolstered its leadership team once more, appointing Tanya Ward as its first CFO.

Cape, which is gearing up to launch its first product, an SME credit card, later on this year, has appointed Ward to the role to strengthen its executive team.

Ward brings with her over two decades worth of experience in the financial world, having worked across the US, Canada, Asia and Australia along the way. 

Of her appointment, Ward said: “What really attracted me to the role is that I’d be focused not just on the data and the unit economics, but I’ll be working in a startup that’s sole focus is on helping small business owners save time and money through innovative digital solutions.”

“Given Cape’s product is dedicated to helping CFO’s and finance teams spend smarter, I felt that I can really help to develop the product and contribute to the direction of the business with my experience.”

Most recently, Ward was group head of financial planning and analysis for Pepper Money, an Australasia-based credit provider, helping it through its acquisition by private equity group KKR in 2017.

Ryan Edwards-Pritchard, CEO and co-founder of Cape, added: “Since we started 5 months ago we’ve fortunately been able to hire some of the most talented fintech senior executives from across the globe. Tanya’s joining a formidable team that’s focused on solving some of the most difficult issues facing finance teams and business owners across Australia.”

“Tanya’s unique knowledge of the cashflow & treasury landscape made her the ideal candidate to build out our finance function from scratch as we gear up to launch our MVP and to advance Cape’s mission to converge the fragmented world of money for SME’s, leading our customers to a healthier financial life.”

Cape first burst onto the scene in September 2020 and is founded by Edwards-Pritchard, former managing director of Funding Options,Edo Omoniyi, who previously worked as a senior product manager at 11:FS, and Steve Martin, ex OutFund & Funding Circle’s first Engineer.

The fintech hopes to tap into Australia’s 2.1m-strong SME market with its “recession-fighting” open banking-powered credit card.

Cape’s soon-to-be-released card will allow businesses to manage their cash flow through live file management, access buy-now-pay-later finance and make revenue-based repayments. 

Just shy of a month ago, Cape hired long-serving Funding Circle and MarketFinance chief risk officer Rahul Pakrashi.

Pakrashi joined Cape as its first chief risk officer and will help oversee the fintech’s imminent launch and expansion into the Australian SME market.