Zenith Payments appoints Anthony Drury as Chief Executive

Zenith Payments has appointed Anthony Drury as Chief Executive Officer, with former Chief Executive Officer Kevin Butler moving into the new role of Chief Payments Officer.

Drury will lead the Australian payments provider, which owns B2Bpay and a portfolio of specialist brands serving business and sector-specific payments markets. He will work with customers and partners across the group as Zenith seeks to expand in payments.

His appointment follows a broader reshaping of the senior team over the past year. Zenith has also named Jane Grant as Chief of B2Bpay, Dana Lippett as Chief Marketing Officer and James Swan as Chief Financial Officer.

Drury brings more than two decades of experience across payments, financial services and technology. His previous executive roles include positions at American Express, easyJet, PayPal and Zip, spanning Australia and the UK.

More recently, he has advised scale-up, international fintech, software and private equity-backed businesses on market entry, growth strategy and sales performance. That gives Zenith a Chief Executive Officer with experience in both large payments groups and smaller growth-stage companies.

Butler's move marks a significant handover after 21 years with the company. As Chief Payments Officer, he will focus on integration solutions, partnerships, product functionality and other strategic initiatives.

The transition comes as Australia's payments sector faces regulatory and commercial change, including impending changes to credit card surcharging. Butler's new remit will centre on operational and strategic areas linked to those shifts.

Leadership change

Zenith Payments operates several brands beyond B2Bpay, including TravelPay, ZenPay, School EasyPay, ChildCare EasyPay, Rental Rewards and Thoroughbred Payments. Its structure reflects a strategy of serving distinct customer segments through separate payment brands.

B2Bpay is one of the best-known businesses in that portfolio and focuses on business payments for small and medium-sized enterprises. Drury's experience is expected to support the continued expansion of services for SME customers in Australia.

The appointment points to a continued emphasis on growth through management depth rather than a change in ownership or structure. With a new Chief Executive Officer and an expanded executive bench, Zenith is adding senior oversight across payments, marketing, finance and brand leadership.

For Drury, the role marks a return to an operating position after advisory work with growing technology and fintech companies. His career has included overseeing payments and technology businesses and helping companies enter new markets.

That mix of travel, payments and financial services experience may be especially relevant to Zenith's portfolio model, which spans industries from education and childcare to rental and racing-related transactions. Each of those verticals has distinct payment flows, customer requirements and partner relationships.

Zenith has not outlined further operational changes alongside the leadership announcement. For now, the shift is focused on executive responsibilities, with Drury taking the top role while Butler remains with the business in a newly created post.

Drury commented on the appointment.

"Zenith Payments has built a solid foundation over many years, with a deep understanding of the industries it specialises in. Payments are changing faster than ever, and there's a big opportunity to help small business owners pay their bills more easily and get rewarded for doing so," said Anthony Drury, Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Payments.

Butler also commented on the transition and his move into the new role.

"Leading the Zenith business units for much of my time here has been one of the privileges of my career. I'm proud of what we have built. After 21 years, now is the right time for me personally to step back from the front seat, and it is a great time to bring in new leadership for Zenith's next phase of growth, while I focus on the areas I love best: our integration solutions, payment partners and products. I'm looking forward to supporting Anthony and the team," said Kevin Butler, Chief Payments Officer of Zenith Payments.