FDATA appoints Kathryn Petralia as global chair

Kathryn Petralia, co-founder and president of Keep Financial, has agreed to chair the global board of the Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA).

FDATA Global said the appointment of Petralia had received “unanimous approval” from company directors and regional non-executive directors.

In a LinkedIn post, FDATA Global confirmed that she will serve in the role for an initial two-year term.

Petralia co-founded compensation management software company Keep Financial in June 2022.

Prior to that, she co-founded fintech Kabbage in 2008, which is now part of American Express and helps simplify small businesses’ cash flow management.

Richard Prior, chief executive officer of FDATA, said: “Kathryn is a profoundly successful serial entrepreneur and a renowned, passionate champion for regulated Open Data.

“She has deep, diverse industry and regulatory connections at the highest levels, extensive board experience, dynamic vision, and clarity of strategic insight.”

Petralia also serves on the boards of CARE.org, PadSplit, Tricolor, CoreCard, and Near, and is a member of the digital advisory council at Fannie Mae.

Prior added: “For FDATA, the immediate future will see a reimagining of the organization with continued governance reform, and a broadening of mission scope to face into market environments being shaped by distinct regulatory frameworks, such as Australia’s CDR, Canada’s CDF, the highly-anticipated rulemaking on Dodd-Frank 1033 in the US, proliferation of Open Finance predicated on or leapfrogging Brazil’s Open Finance regime, and the continued evolution of Open Banking in the UK/PSD2 in Europe.

“As it becomes more the association for regulated Open Data, the organization continues to strategically monitor and engage with other markets, including Africa and GCC.”

He called Petralia “the perfect choice to guide us successfully through this period of transformation”.

She said: “Frameworks for regulated Open Data are proliferating across the globe; this is no longer a phenomenon focused predominantly within financial services but one reaching across multiple sectors.”

Petralia added: “With a global presence and proven history of impactful advocacy leveraging cross-market intelligence on behalf of a diverse membership, FDATA is uniquely positioned to not just pave the policy pathway, but help enable the Open Data economy.”