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Jon Davey, the CEO of fintech Tyro Payments (ASX: TYR), is leaving after more than five years with the company, laying plans to join an undisclosed private equity-backed business.
Davey, who joined Tyro in 2021 as CEO of the company’s health division Medipass after the company acquired the business, was appointed group CEO in September 2022.
He replaced Robbie Cooke who fatefully accepted the position of CEO at The Star Entertainment Group (ASX: SGR) several months earlier.
While Tyro has not revealed the name of the company Davey plans to join, the company says the role is based in Melbourne where he lives and is “outside of the financial services sector”.
Since taking on the role of group CEO in 2022, Davey has overseen a solid turnaround in the company’s performance which had been plagued by multiple distractions including a now settled class action stemming from a three-week outage of its point-of-sale network in 2021.
At the time of his appointment, the company was also subject to takeover bids from Potentia Capital Management and Westpac, neither of which proceeded.
His departure follows a strong profit performance in the first half of FY25 during which Tyro reported a doubling of net profit before tax of $10.3 million and a 20.6 per cent increase in EBITDA to $33 million thanks to improved margins.
Gross profit of $112 million was up 6.5 per cent and Tyro at the time of its profit announcement announced gross profit guidance of between $218 million and $226 million for FY25.
“Jon has made a substantial contribution to Tyro leading the company through a period of significant transformation,” says Tyro chair Fiona Pak Poy.
“He has cultivated a high-performance culture, executed with focus, and laid the foundations for sustainable growth.
“Jon leaves the company in excellent shape, with a strong leadership team committed to delivering our growth strategy for FY26 and beyond, including the expansion of the health business and banking proposition and entry into new verticals including aged care and pet insurance.”
Tyro announced yesterday that it had secured a partnership with pet insurance claims service GapOnly to bring all-in-one payments and claiming to Australia’s $4 billion pet veterinary services industry from 2026.
The deal followed an announcement in May of a new payment solution for Australia’s aged care sector designed to support the Federal Government’s new Support at Home funding model.
Davey will remain CEO of Tyro for up to six months to ensure a smooth transition while the company undertakes an executive search for his replacement.
“It’s been a privilege to lead Tyro,” says Davey.
“I’m proud of what we’ve achieved and confident in the company’s future. I remain fully committed to supporting the business and ensuring a seamless handover to the next CEO.”
Davey, a former primary school and physical education teacher, spent a decade with National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB) prior to joining Tyro.
While at NAB, he was responsible for digital, innovation and customer experience, while also founding the bank’s innovation and corporate venture capital teams.
During his tenure with NAB, Davey was involved in several fintechs and startups, including Medipass which he led as CEO prior to Tyro’s $22.5 million buyout of the medical payment business in 2021.
Both Davey and Medipass founder Peter Williams, who were shareholders in Medipass along with NAB at the time, remained with the business following Tyro’s acquisition.
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