Former fintech manager takes on new role in bank’s payments department
9 May 2023
Former Central Payments CEO Trent Sorbe has joined the management team at First International Bank & Trust.
Sorbe will serve as chief payments officer, leading the growth and expansion of the nearly $5 billion North Dakota-based bank’s local and national digital payments initiatives.
He will lead the bank’s Kotapay division, a top-40 ACH originator predicted to settle more than $100 billion of electronic payments through Nacha by 2023, as well as its card services division.
Sorbe will also spearhead the organisation’s expansion into new forms of digital payments to be offered both locally and nationwide, the bank said in a statement.
“We are thrilled to welcome Trent to the leadership team and plan to take full advantage of his more than 30 years of financial technology experience, entrepreneurship and passion for payments innovation,” said Michael Toy, chief strategy and operations officer.
“Under Trent’s leadership, FIBT customers will enjoy access to the latest payment options, and we can leverage our Kotapay division to deliver new payment applications on a nationwide scale.”
Sorbe founded Central Payments in 2014 with Central Bank of Kansas City. It spun out of the parent company last year with an equity increase of $30 million. He is the inventor of 14 patents related to consumer financial services.
“Scaling payment products and services in today’s banking-as-a-service model requires a unique combination of technology, scale and experience,” Sorbe said in a statement. “Real-time payments, traditional card-based payments and virtual/mobile payments have quickly become table stakes. I am here because FIBT and Kotapay are among a handful of community banks with the foundations in place to meet these market demands.”
Central Payments does not plan to hire a CEO at this time and uses a management team of three executive vice presidents, the company said. Eric Cotton is Executive Vice President and General Manager; Heather Schumacher is Executive Vice President and CEO; and Nikkee Rhody is Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President, Falls Fintech.
First International Bank & Trust has grown in Sioux Falls, including a new downtown location, and executives have said the Sioux Falls market is appealing to grow its payments business because of the fintech workforce in the area.
New offices in the city center position the bank for growth
