New Year, new executives — that’s true, especially in the payments ecosystem. 2018 proved to be a major year for payments focused companies like PayPal, bank-backed P2P service Zelle, or even retailers like Amazon and Walmart, payments made up a large part of the market conversation.

And in this first month of the new year. already there’s been some big moves taking place in the payments space as well as other areas in digital banking and fintech.

Here is a list of notable hires that Bank Innovation has taken note of:

CAN Capital, SMB-focused Finance Company, Hires New CEO

CAN Capital, a small business specialty finance company, today announced the appointment of Edward J. Siciliano as its Chief Executive Officer. Prior to CAN Capital, Siciliano served as COO and interim CEO at commercial financing provider Marlin Business Services.

Based in Atlanta, CAN provides alternative financing to small business nationwide. According to the website, it has provided over $7 billion in capital to over 81,000 SMBs.

Indeed, this is an interesting time for alternative lenders in the commercial and retail space, as customers have increasingly been opting for these companies instead of banks. In fact, Bank Innovation previously reported that 48% of millennial SME owners and 27% of SME owners over 35 years old preferred alternative lenders to traditional ones in 2018.

In today’s announcement, Siciliano said:

It’s rare to have the opportunity to work with a company that is a pioneer in its space yet has so much growth potential. CAN Capital’s experience, brand recognition, data, and partner relationships make it uniquely positioned to support the expansion of the small businesses that drive the U.S. economy.

Square Finds Replacement for CFO Sarah Friar in Amrita Ahuja

Square has had a big year, from experiencing a 32% YOY increase in payment volume to $17.4 billion, based on its most recent earnings, to launching new services like Square Installments and Square Terminal. And while CEO Jack Dorsey gets a lot of credit for the company’s success, and rightfully so, its CFO Sarah Friar has been just as crucial, which is why when she announced she decided to leave the company, there was an industry gasp.

Luckily, the company announced this week that it found a new CFO in Amrita Ahuja, current CFO of media company Blizzard Entertainment.

At Blizzard Entertainment, Ahuja spent eight years leading the company’s Activision Blizzard division in roles ranging from SVP of Investor Relations, VP of Finance and Operations, and VP of Strategy and Business Development.

Jack Dorsey, Square CEO, said in the announcement last week:

In Amrita, we have found an amazing, multidimensional business leader. Amrita brings the ability to consider and balance opportunities across our entire business, and she will help strengthen our discipline as we invest, build, and scale. She is willing to challenge herself and others has the courage to take principled risks and is passionate about our customers and our purpose.

Ahuja will start in January and will report to Dorsey.

Mastercard Hires Chief Experience Officer

It’s the first week of 2019 and already Mastercard has been up to a lot. It recently launched a new payments platforms development team, hired its first chief experience officer and let’s not forget, yesterday the company said it was dropping the name “Mastercard” from its logo. (um, ok!).

But getting back to the new hire part of things, the company added a new C-suite position titled chief experience officer. Donald Chesnut, global chief experience officer from SapientRazorfish will be taking on this role.

In this role, Chesnut will lead a team supporting Mastercard’s consumer payment experience as well as provide merchants, issuers and other partners “a more holistic way to work with Mastercard’s products and services,” according to the announcement.

Michael Miebach, chief product officer, said in the announcement:

Providing customers with clear, consistent and rewarding experience is what differentiates leaders from the rest of the pack. Donald’s background and extensive work with leading brands across cultures and countries will build on a strong foundation and strengthen our ongoing activities.

Chesnut will officially join the company Jan. 14.

And although technically last year and therefore missing Bank Innovation’s January list by a few days,  it’s worth giving an honorable mention to U.K. bank Barclays newest head of consumer strategy, Megan Caywood, whom the bank poached from challenger Starling. At Starling, Caywood served as chief platform officer.