Former fintech CEO takes on new role at bank’s payments division
May 9, 2023
Former Central Payments CEO Trent Sorbe has joined the executive team at First International Bank & Trust.
Sorbe will serve as chief payments officer, leading growth and expansion of the nearly $5 billion North Dakota-based bank’s local and national digital payments initiatives.
He will direct the bank’s Kotapay division, a top-40 ACH originator forecasted to settle more than $100 billion of electronic payments through Nacha in 2023, as well as its card services division.
Sorbe also will spearhead the organization’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 30-plus 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 payments capabilities, and we can leverage our Kotapay division to deliver new payments 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 a $30 million equity raise. He is the inventor on 14 patents related to consumer financial services.
“Scaling payments products and services in today’s banking-as-a-service model requires a unique combination of technology, size, and experience,” Sorbe said in a statement. “Real-time payments, traditional card-based payments, and virtual/mobile payments have quickly become table stakes. I’m here because FIBT and Kotapay are among a handful of community banks with the foundation in place to meet these market demands.”
Central Payments is not planning to hire a CEO at this time and is using a leadership 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 chief operating officer; and Nikkee Rhody is executive vice president, chief of strategy and executive vice president, Falls Fintech.
First International Bank & Trust has been growing in Sioux Falls, including a new downtown location, and its leaders have said the Sioux Falls market is appealing for growing its payments business, because of the fintech workforce in the area.
