Surecomp, a provider of trade finance systems to banks and corporates, has appointed Gary Cutress as a sales director in the UK and Richard Ferrari as sales and account management director in the US.

Cutress (pictured) joins Surecomp from Tungsten Network, a global e-invoicing firm that provides supply chain financing services, where he had worked as enterprise new business director.

Prior to Tungsten Network, Cutress held senior sales roles at several technology companies, including Pendo.io, Bolero and Corticon Technologies. During his five-year stint at Bolero as international sales director, he was responsible for helping corporate customers to digitise trade documentation and optimise their global supply chains.

In his new role, Cutress will work with banks and corporates across Europe and the Middle East to help them digitise and enhance their trade finance operations.

“Gary’s broad experience in the trade finance arena ties in perfectly with Surecomp’s desire to develop a holistic ecosystem of trade finance solutions to meet the rapidly evolving trade finance marketplace,” says Guy Perry, Surecomp’s president.

Cutress and Ferrari both report to Robin Findlay, vice-president of global sales and marketing.

Ferrari moves to Surecomp from his role in business development at Ten10 Group, an engineering and software testing consultancy. Before this, he worked at payments company Baton Systems as a director of sales. He has also previously held similar roles at fintech companies Calypso Technology, Numerix and Finastra.

The hires follow Surecomp launching a multi-bank trade finance application designed specifically for SME businesses in June.

Fastrade allows banks to extend trade finance capabilities, including outgoing guarantees and letters of credit, to their SME clients, while SMEs can interact with all of their banking partners through one channel, using preconfigured workflows to minimise processing time and the risk of human error.

Surecomp has benefitted from the uptick in open banking to develop API standard marketplaces to connect banks with clients. In 2019, it released two innovations: APIsure, an open API platform which enables its clients to easily adopt third-party trade finance services and fintech solutions, and an online app store for trade finance-focused fintech solutions.