Onbe Names Melissa Hentschel Chief Executive Officer

Bala Janakiraman Retiring After Nearly Five Years Leading the Company

Onbe, a leading corporate payouts platform, announced that Melissa Hentschel, formerly Chief Client Officer, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer and will join the Onbe Board of Directors. She succeeds Bala Janakiraman, who is retiring after nearly five years leading the company and serving on the Board. Juli Spottiswood will continue to serve as Executive Chairman of the Board.

Janakiraman joined Onbe at its founding and built and scaled the company into a modern payouts platform, growing its enterprise client base, expanding into new markets and use cases, and delivering the financial performance that has made Onbe a recognized leader in corporate payouts.

The B2C payouts market represents a $3 trillion opportunity, driven by the ongoing shift away from check and legacy disbursement methods across industries, including automotive, healthcare, telecom, financial services, utilities, and insurance. Onbe operates at the center of that shift, managing and modernizing the payout programs that enterprises and financial institutions rely on to pay consumers at scale.

“Bala built Onbe into a formidable business with a client roster and platform that speak for themselves. He came in with a mandate and delivered growth, financial performance, and expansion into new channels and use cases. The Board is grateful for his leadership, and we could not be more confident in where Onbe goes from here,” said Juli Spottiswood, Executive Chairman of the Board.

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“Leading Onbe through its first five years has been the opportunity of a lifetime. We set out to bring two businesses, two platforms, and two cultures together, and this team turned that challenge into a strong company with real momentum and a clear sense of purpose in reshaping the payouts market,” said Bala Janakiraman. “As I step into my next chapter, I do so with deep gratitude for the people of Onbe and complete confidence in Melissa’s leadership. She knows our business, our clients and partners, and our people, and her deep orientation toward delivering value is exactly what Onbe needs in its next leader.”

Hentschel has spent over two decades building and scaling payments businesses, which include multiple successful exits. Having held leadership roles at Ingo Money and KeyBank, she served as an operating executive at Parago, acquired by Blackhawk Network, and daVinci Payments, which merged to create Onbe. She joined Onbe at its founding as Chief Delivery Officer, led the operational work that established the company’s foundation, and was promoted to Chief Client Officer in 2023, taking direct ownership of the company’s most important enterprise relationships.

“The demand for a better way to move money to consumers is accelerating across every industry, and I have never been more excited about what comes next,” said Melissa Hentschel, Chief Executive Officer. “Onbe is built for exactly this moment; with the platform, expertise, partnerships, and a team that has proven it can execute. We have built a strong foundation, and we are just getting started. I am honored to lead this company.”

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