Reward appoints ex-Mastercard executive Jamie Samaha as new CEOGavin Dein moves to Founder & Deputy Chairman role to support International and corporate developmentAppointment to drive new phase of global growth and expansion
LONDON, Oct. 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Reward, a pioneering force in commerce media, customer engagement, and data insights, is thrilled to announce the appointment of Jamie Samaha as its new Chief Executive Officer. This strategic move aims to guide the company through an exciting new chapter of global growth and expansion.
With a stellar global career spanning over two and a half decades, Mr. Samaha brings a wealth of experience to Reward. His experience spans 7 years at Mastercard, where he was Executive Vice-President Loyalty & Engagement Services, and built digital-first differentiated consumer value propositions for Mastercard’s customers across 60+ markets. Most recently he served as Group CEO of Prezzee and oversaw the international scale-up phase of the Australian fintech unicorn earning recognition as Deloitte’s TechFast 50 and Australian Financial Review’s #1 Best Place to Work in its category. Mr. Samaha’s experience also includes serving as Managing Director of Pinpoint from 2010 to 2014, supporting the company’s expansion into multiple Asian markets and concluding in its acquisition by Mastercard in 2014. Beyond his corporate achievements, Jamie is a passionate advocate for gender equality and has actively served on advisory boards across various sectors. His commitment to making a positive impact extends beyond the boardroom, reflecting Reward’s dedication to values that go beyond financial success.
“I’ve long held admiration for Reward’s outstanding work, led by Gavin, and it’s an honour to lead this remarkable company that he and his team have built. With established offices in London, Belfast, Singapore, and Dubai, our immediate focus is to propel Reward’s presence across these markets and beyond” said Samaha. “As the new CEO of Reward, my vision is clear: we’re at the cutting edge of customer engagement, commerce media, and data insights. I’m committed to preserving our exceptional culture while elevating our operational focus to achieve global success.”
With Jamie assuming the role of CEO, current Founder and CEO, Gavin Dein, will step away from daily managerial responsibilities and into a Founder & Deputy Chairman role, where he will focus on supporting international growth initiatives and corporate development from the U.A.E. Effective immediately, this carefully orchestrated transition has seen Jamie working closely with the outgoing CEO over the past five months, immersing himself in the business to ensure seamless continuity for customers, partners, and the leadership team.
“Collaborating with Jamie at Mastercard and Prezzee provided me with a front-row seat to his transformative leadership style. Jamie embodies dynamism, inspiration, and, most crucially, resonates with our corporate culture and values. I’m convinced he is the visionary that Reward needs as it gears up for its next global ascent. My passion for Reward’s vision and mission remains unyielding, and I eagerly anticipate supporting Jamie and our fantastic team as we navigate this promising transition said Mr Dein.
About Jamie Samaha
Jamie’s career highlights include serving as the Group CEO of Prezzee, a digital gifting fintech, overseeing its global expansion and achieving remarkable growth and financial performance, leading to accolades like Deloitte’s 50 in 2022. Before Prezzee, he held key executive positions at Mastercard for 7 years, culminating in his role as Executive Vice-President of Loyalty and Engagement. In this role, he managed a global team responsible for developing digital-first consumer value propositions. Jamie also held various Senior Vice-President roles at Mastercard, covering areas like global value-added services, and premium credit products and consumer loyalty in Europe.
From 2010 to 2014, Jamie served as Managing Director of Pinpoint, a leading consumer engagement technology business across 8 Asia Pacific markets, where he expanded the company’s offering in the payments industry. Additionally, he has served on Non-Exec Director and Advisory Boards in sport, retail, public policy, and charities, including notable organisations such as The Australian Ballet and Sydney’s Childrens Hospital.
A strong advocate for gender equality, Jamie has actively mentored female executives and was recognised as a 2020 Male Agent of Change Finalist for the Everywoman Awards. He holds an Executive MBA from UTS and a B.Com in Finance/Marketing from UNSW Australia and resides in London, UK, with his family.
About Reward
Founded in 2001, Reward is an industry leader transforming the world of customer engagement and commerce media.
Operating in 15 countries across Europe, Middle East and Asia, Reward’s cloud-based API platform integrates content, advertising, and commerce to deliver exceptional experiences for consumers resulting in increased customer engagement, retention, and overall satisfaction.
Reward’s Loyalty-tech platform is behind many award-winning bank loyalty programmes seen today from brands such as Visa, NatWest Group, Barclays, and First Abu Dhabi Bank to name a few.
Reward also works with the world’s largest retailers such as McDonald’s, eBay, Deliveroo and Amazon. Their leading commerce media platform fuses purchase insights with loyalty-tech, offering an unparalleled edge in digital advertising and performance marketing for retailers. Leveraging rich data and insights, the Reward platform provides a comprehensive view of consumer behaviour, empowering retailers to target marketing messages more effectively, resulting in independently verified sales uplift and long-term customer lifetime value.
Beyond bridging the gap between content and commerce, Reward is a purpose driven business. Their mission is to make everyday spending more rewarding. During the last 5 years, Reward has proudly given back more than $1billion in cashback rewards to consumers world-wide.
Most recently, Reward’s rapid growth was recognised in The Independent’s E2ETech100 list of fastest growing tech scale-ups in the UK. Reward, in conjunction with partners NatWest Group, was also awarded the Industry Achievement Award 2023 at the prestigious Card and Payments Awards.
For more information, please visit www.rewardinsight.com.
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