PublicSquare Names Former Klarna North America CEO Brian Billingsley as President of Newly Formed PSQ Payments Subsidiary

Rhea-AI Summary

PSQ Holdings, Inc. announces Brian Billingsley as President of PSQ Payments, a new subsidiary focusing on uncancellable payments solutions for the Company's marketplace and third-party merchants. The move aims to enhance the parallel economy infrastructure and improve the checkout experience for customers.

Insights

Financial Analyst

The appointment of Brian Billingsley as President of PSQ Payments can be seen as a strategic move to bolster PublicSquare's foothold in the payments industry. With his extensive background in the sector, Billingsley's expertise could be instrumental in developing a robust payments platform. This move could potentially enhance the company's revenue streams by monetizing marketplace transactions and improving the checkout experience.

From a financial perspective, the creation of PSQ Payments and the integration with Credova could lead to increased transaction volume and higher margins. Investors should monitor the subsidiary's performance metrics, such as transaction growth rate and the adoption rate among third-party merchants, as these will be indicative of the new subsidiary's impact on PublicSquare's bottom line.

Market Research Analyst

PublicSquare's focus on building a 'parallel economy' indicates a targeted approach to a niche market of patriotic businesses and consumers. This strategy may reduce competition from mainstream payment processors and appeal to a specific customer base. However, it also limits market size and scalability.

Understanding consumer behavior within this niche will be essential for PSQ Payments' success. It will be important to evaluate whether there is a sufficient market demand for an 'uncancellable payments solution' and if this demand can support sustainable growth. The company's ability to provide a 'best-of-breed checkout experience' will be key in retaining users and attracting new merchants.

Technology Industry Analyst

The development of proprietary payments technology by PublicSquare could offer a competitive edge, especially if it addresses specific pain points such as 'cancellation' concerns mentioned by the CEO. Technological innovation in payment solutions is often a driving force for customer satisfaction and retention.

However, the payments industry is highly regulated and complex. Billingsley's previous experience with companies like Klarna and FIS will be valuable, but the challenge will be in navigating regulatory compliance while innovating. The success of PSQ Payments will depend on how well it can integrate with existing systems and provide security and reliability to its users.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- PSQ Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PSQH) (“PublicSquare,” or the “Company”), a leading marketplace of patriotic businesses and consumers, today announced that Brian Billingsley has joined the Company as its President of PSQ Payments, a new subsidiary focused on building and providing an uncancellable payments solution, for the Company’s marketplace, its wholly owned subsidiaries, as well as third-party merchants supporting the parallel economy.

Michael Seifert, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PublicSquare, commented, “I am extremely excited to have Brian join the PublicSquare team. The experience, expertise, and industry reputation Brian brings to our company will help us immeasurably as we look to build and scale a payments ecosystem. Our development of PSQ Payments and its associated technology is one more step on our journey to owning the infrastructure foundational to the parallel economy. Combined with the power of our Credova subsidiary, PSQ Payments will position us to monetize our marketplace transactions further, provide what we expect to be a best-of-breed checkout experience, and protect our merchants and customers from cancellation.” The company believes that Brian joining the team is indicative of the Company’s ability to attract highly qualified, values-aligned leadership.

Brian Billingsley has more than 15 years of experience in payments, e-commerce, and consumer credit. Mr. Billingsley previously co-founded Basis Theory - a fully programmable vault for independently controlling payment data, and currently sits on its board of directors. Brian’s payments experience includes the launch of Klarna in the United States as the fintech unicorn’s North American CEO, Chief Revenue Officer for Modopayments, a payments orchestration platform with Fortune 100 customers, Director of Strategic Business Development and senior leadership team member for Alliance Data (now Bread Financial), a leading provider of private label and co-branded credit for many of the world's most recognizable brands, and a member of the Enterprise Strategy team at FIS - the world’s largest Fintech company.

About PublicSquare

PublicSquare is an app and website that connects patriotic Americans to high-quality businesses that share their values, both online and in their local communities. The primary mission of the platform is to help consumers “shop their values” and put purpose behind their purchases. In just over one year since its nationwide launch, PublicSquare has seen tremendous growth and proven to the nation that the parallel, “patriotic” economy can be a major force in commerce. The platform has over 75,000 businesses from a variety of different industries and over 1.6 million consumer members. Additionally, PublicSquare leverages data and insights from the platform to assess its members’ needs and provide wholly-owned quality financing products, such as Credova, D2C products such as EveryLife diapers and wipes, and B2B products such as PSQ Link, to fill those needs. PublicSquare is free to join for both consumers and business owners alike, and to learn more, download the app on the App Store or Google Play, or visit PublicSquare.com.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and for purposes of the “safe harbor” provisions under the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements other than statements of historical fact contained herein are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions, plans, prospects, financial results or strategies regarding PublicSquare and Credova, anticipated product launches, our products and markets, future financial condition, expected future performance and market opportunities of PublicSquare and Credova. Forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “expect,” “estimate,” “future,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “strategy,” “opportunity,” “plan,” “project,” “possible,” “potential,” “project,” “predict,” “scales,” “representative of,” “valuation,” “should,” “will,” “would,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will likely result,” and similar expressions, and in this press release, include statements about the anticipated benefits of the acquisition of Credova; however, the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections, and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this communication, including, without limitation: (i) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against PublicSquare related to the acquisition of Credova, (ii) unforeseen liabilities, future capital expenditures, revenues, expenses, earnings, synergies, economic performance, indebtedness, financial condition, losses, future prospects, business and management strategies for the management, expansion and growth of the combined company’s operations, including the possibility that any of the anticipated benefits of the transaction will not be realized or will not be realized within the expected time period, (iii) the ability of PublicSquare and Credova to integrate the business successfully and to achieve anticipated synergies and value creation, (iv) changes in the competitive industries and markets in which PublicSquare operates, variations in performance across competitors, changes in laws and regulations affecting PublicSquare’s business and changes in the combined capital structure, (v) the ability to implement business plans, growth, marketplace and other expectations, and identify and realize additional opportunities, (vi) risks related to PublicSquare’s limited operating history, the rollout and/or expansion of its business and the timing of expected business milestones, including Every Life, PSQ Link, E-commerce, the Tucker Carlson partnership and Credova, (vii) risks related to PublicSquare’s potential inability to achieve or maintain profitability and generate significant revenue, (viii) the ability to raise capital on reasonable terms as necessary to develop its products in the timeframe contemplated by PublicSquare’s business plan, (ix) the ability to execute PublicSquare’s anticipated business plans and strategy, (x) the ability of PublicSquare to enforce its current or future intellectual property, including patents and trademarks, along with potential claims of infringement by PublicSquare of the intellectual property rights of others, (xi) actual or potential loss of key influencers, media outlets and promoters of PublicSquare’s business or a loss of reputation of PublicSquare or reduced interest in the mission and values of PublicSquare and the segment of the consumer marketplace it intends to serve, and (xii) the risk of economic downturn, increased competition, a changing regulatory landscape and related impacts that could occur in the highly competitive consumer marketplace, both online and through “bricks and mortar” operations. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Recipients should carefully consider such factors and the other risks and uncertainties described and to be described in PublicSquare’s public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Recipients are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and PublicSquare does not assume any obligation to, nor does it intend to, update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law. PublicSquare gives no assurance that PublicSquare will achieve its expectations.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240318339206/en/

Investors Contact:

William I. Kent, IRC

+1 561.203.0780

investment@publicsq.com



Media Contact:

pr@publicsq.com

Source: PSQ Holdings, Inc.

FAQ

Who is the new President of PSQ Payments at PSQ Holdings, Inc.?

Brian Billingsley has joined as the President of PSQ Payments at PSQ Holdings, Inc.

What is the focus of the new subsidiary at PSQ Holdings, Inc.?

The new subsidiary, PSQ Payments, is focused on building and providing an uncancellable payments solution for the Company's marketplace and third-party merchants.

What is Brian Billingsley's background in payments and e-commerce?

Brian Billingsley has over 15 years of experience in payments, e-commerce, and consumer credit. He has held leadership positions at companies like Klarna, Modopayments, and Alliance Data.

How does PSQ Holdings, Inc. plan to leverage PSQ Payments and Credova?

PSQ Holdings, Inc. aims to monetize marketplace transactions further, enhance the checkout experience, and protect merchants and customers from cancellation through PSQ Payments and Credova.