Operating at the Polish Bank Association, the Acquirers' Association has once again entrusted Joanna Seklecka, President of eService, with the position of chairwoman of the Presiding Committee. The election for the next term was held by voting, which also resulted in the appointment of the Presiding Committee: Piotr Majer, Vice President of Elavon, and Grzegorz Mierzwiński, Head of Commercial at Polskie ePłatności, both of whom took on the role of Vice Presidents. The Presiding Committee also includes Sylwia Kowalczyk and Bartłomiej Nocoń, representing the Polish Bank Association.
Joanna Seklecka's first term as chairwoman of the KAR began on January 22, 2020 and lasted three years. As of January 31, 2023, it has been extended for two consecutive years. During this time, Joanna Seklecka will combine her role as chairwoman with her duties as President of eService which she has managed since October 2017.
"Re-election as chairwoman of the Presiding Committee of the Acquirers' Association is a great honour. Thank you for your trust and for giving me the opportunity to continue the activities carried out by the Association. During the previous term, we succeeded in many important projects and initiatives. Some are still in progress, and new ones are still emerging. This is evidence of the rapidly advancing development of the Polish payments market and the important role that the Acquirers' Association plays in this process," said Joanna Seklecka, President of eService.
The Acquirers' Association is a consultative and advisory forum of the Board of Directors of the Polish Bank Association (ZBP) and operates in accordance with its Articles of Association. The Acquirers' Association main tasks are to create and promote high standards of operation in the market for processing card payment transactions carried out through POS terminals, as well as to support and coordinate initiatives that contribute to the stable, secure and customer-friendly development of the card payment market. Poland's largest acquirers are members of the Acquirers' Association.
Joanna Seklecka is a graduate of the Warsaw School of Economics and holds a PhD in Management. She graduated from the elite Stanford Executive Program, run by the Stanford University Graduate School of Business for top executives.
She gained her professional experience in the gaming, consulting and auditing industries to name just a few. She started her career at eService in 2004, as Director of the Finance and Accounting Department, and later as Managing Director of the business and operations department. After seven years, in 2011, she became Vice President of the Management Board of eService S.A., part of the PKO Bank Polski Corporate Group. There she was responsible for the business and financial aspects of the Company's operations, and in 2014, she coordinated the transformation process of the Company and its entry into the NASDAQ-listed, international EVO Payments group, where she assumed the position of General Manager Poland. In October 2017, she was appointed President of the Management Board of eService Sp. z o.o., where, within the group, she is responsible for the entire CEE (Central, Eastern Europe) area.
eService, managed by Joanna Seklecka, is Poland's largest acquirer and one of the most active participants and the most popular provider of payment terminals in the Cashless Poland Program.
The number of payment terminals that eService operates in Poland reached 324,500 by the end of 2022. That's about 57 percent of all devices for which the company settles transactions across Europe (570,000). These results give it the position of the largest acquirer in the region. The company's strong commitment to the development of the domestic market for payment services and its support for Polish entrepreneurs also led to it once again being awarded the title of Sales Leader of the Cashless Poland Program. As the first, and so far only participant in the Cashless Poland Program, eService crossed the threshold of 100,000 terminals made available free of charge to Polish entrepreneurs.
The company's operations are not limited to services provided via terminals. It boasts strong growth rates in e-commerce and m-commerce markets. The number of online stores using payment gateways operated by eService is approaching 25,000.