Former Mastercard and Afterpay exec Zahir Khoja to become CEO of Wave Inc
After 12 years of leading Wave Financial Inc., the company’s CEO Kirk Simpson is stepping down at the end of June. Simpson co-founded the company in 2009 with James Lochrie and has been serving as CEO since that time.
Zahir Khoja will become Wave’s CEO effective July 1. Khoja most recently served as General Manager, North America at Afterpay, a leader in “Buy Now, Pay Later” payments where he led the rapid market expansion overseeing sales, client relationships, business growth, and partnerships.
Khoja has significant fintech and financial services experience, serving in various leadership roles for nearly a decade at MasterCard, rising to Executive Vice President, Global Merchant Solutions and Partnerships. At Wave, Khoja will report to H&R Block President and CEO Jeff Jones, as a member of Block’s Senior Leadership Team.
Simpson will remain in an advisory role for 90-days through September. In addition, the current Wave leadership team, including Chief Operating Officer Paul Marshall, Chief Financial Officer Tam Khuu, Chief Financial Services Officer Les Whiting, Chief Technology Officer Geoff Vona, and Chief People Officer Ashira Gobrin will remain in their current roles reporting to Khoja.
“I am ecstatic to lead the next chapter of Wave’s success,” said Khoja. “The company provides valuable services to small business owners. The pandemic showed us that small businesses are crucial to the health of the economy and our local communities. They are a group worth fighting for and more and more of them need the financial management tools that Wave provides.”