MX has named PayPal executive Jim Magats as its new CEO. MX competes against Plaid in helping connect financial institutions and fintech companies. According to MX founder Ryan Caldwell, Magats, a nearly two-decade PayPal veteran, most recently senior vice president of Omni-payment solutions, will join MX in mid-August. “We’re thrilled with the resonance that we’ve had with Jim, being a tenured executive in the space who fully understands not just the payments world, but the data and the connectivity world and really gets what MX is about,” Caldwell said in an interview.
In recent years, MX has benefited from and assisted with the growth of the U.S. fintech ecosystem, along with its rivals Plaid and Yodlee. The company uses software called application programming interfaces to help banks and fintech securely “talk” to each other regarding transactions and account data. Magats takes over at an intriguing time: he replaces Shane Evans, who was named interim CEO in January when the company was preparing for an IPO or possible sale. Magats spent 18 years at PayPal, helping its international growth and fostering partnerships with financial incumbents who may have been reluctant to work with a disruptor. He said he joined MX because he saw the potential for a two-sided network between traditional financial players and fintechs. “When I got to learn about MX and the mission, I got really excited because I think this is where fintech is going, around having an open, secure data platform where people can contribute data to and actually cultivate that data thereafter,” Magats said.