Navan’s Tim Russo Elected to MRC Americas Advisory Board

Tim Russo, Navan’s Senior Director of Global Partnerships, has been elected to the Americas Advisory Board of the Merchant Risk Council (MRC), a non-profit membership association for payments and fraud prevention.

The MRC brings together e-commerce payments and fraud prevention professionals from global merchants, solution providers, and law enforcement agencies to share fraud/risk mitigation and payment optimization strategies — making the entire e-commerce ecosystem safer and more profitable.

“The MRC is an invaluable resource that provides a voice for merchants on topics both big and small; from advocating for change with government entities to intimate roundtable events,” said Russo. “I started my payments and fraud career by attending conferences and learning about the ever-changing nature of these topics. The MRC offered a network of like-minded professionals across companies like Mastercard, Visa, Google, and Facebook, and gave me speaking opportunities to share my own insights. The connections I made also helped my own career path, opening up opportunities across a wide swath of companies, such as Cleverbridge, Apple, JP Morgan Chase, and Navan.”

“Over a decade into my career, I am lucky enough to join the American Advisory Board, advocating for B2B companies like Navan, which now face different payment, risk, and regulatory challenges in this new and expanding fintech/BaaS ecosystem,” he continued.

The MRC’s Regional Advisors offer invaluable leadership, experience, and local industry knowledge. The complete list of board members on the Americas Advisory Board include:

• Jim Cho, Checkout.com
• Kevin Crockett, CardinalCommerce
• Elizabeth Cronan, GeoComply
• Alexandra Lara, Netflix
• Kevin Lee, Sift
• Marko Medenica, Grammarly
• Aparna Nemana, Google
• Irina Nichol, PayPal
• Tim Russo, Navan
• Holly Sandberg, Reverb
• Dave Senci, Mastercard
• Rakhi Seth-Forrest, Warner Bros. Discovery
• Gordon Sheppard, Sony
• Peter Shore, Comcast
• Kolin Whitley, Visa

“Each of these new board members will add tremendous value to the organization and bring expertise unique to their region on payments and fraud trends, as well as innovations,” said Julie Fergerson, Merchant Risk Council CEO, in a press release. “Our board members are an integral part of the organization as their ideas, direction, and contributions provide guidance and support to the MRC.”

During his tenure at Navan, Russo has helped negotiate impactful global partnerships and driven innovation.

He was a key leader in the launch of Navan Connect, the innovative card-link technology compatible with any enrolled corporate or business Mastercard® or Visa® card, and an industry-first strategic agreement with Citi that combines Navan’s all-in-one T&E solution with Citi’s leading commercial card solutions. Most recently, Russo oversaw the Navan Connect partnership with Rho, an SMB-focused neobank that offers founders and entrepreneurs an out-of-the-box finance stack.

Previously, Russo worked at Apple and JPMorgan Chase, helping to expand global payment options for customers like direct carrier billing and mobile wallets throughout Asia, and enabling U.S.-headquartered companies to penetrate new markets like Japan. He also drove solutions around topics like first-party abuse and PSD2 with a consortium of industry partners.

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