MINNEAPOLIS, August 18 — Deluxe (NYSE: DLX), a trusted payments and data company, today announced the appointment of Kevin Jones as President of its Merchant Services division.
Jones founded Celero Commerce in 2018, rapidly scaling it to process more than $28 billion across 175 banking partners and 55,000 small business customers annually. Deluxe acquired Celero earlier this month, positioning Deluxe Merchant Services as a top-10 non-bank merchant acquirer, based on Nilson reporting.
Prior to launching Celero, Jones led First American Payment Systems’ strategic partner channel before leaving to found Anovia Payments, where he delivered an 8.5x investment return. Deluxe later acquired First American in 2021, which now serves as the backbone of the company’s Merchant Services division.
“Kevin brings the experience and leadership to expand our merchant business, and I am excited to welcome him as part of the Deluxe leadership team,” said Barry McCarthy, President and CEO of Deluxe. “He brings the perspective that comes with creating entirely new ventures in a rapidly changing payments environment and has helped the payments industry evolve in ways we could’ve only imagined 10 years ago. His demonstrated ability to deliver for customers and drive ROI is a natural fit for our culture.”
Jones’ track record has been one of implementing innovative payments solutions through a user-friendly high-tech bundle.
“I am excited to be joining Barry and the team at Deluxe,” Jones said. “The strength, scale, and scope of the combined entity position us to win and grow faster than either organization could alone. The marriage of shared customer focus, distribution channels, proprietary processing platforms, and award-winning service creates a uniquely compelling offer in the marketplace.”