To consolidate its constant growth further and set its international ambitions on the right track, Ogone has appointed a brand-new COO. Jurgen Verstraete will be responsible for the further development of the operations team and for rolling out current and new product initiatives.
The 36-year old Jurgen Verstraete is taking over as COO from Peter De Caluwe, who was concurrently CEO in recent years. The specialist in online payment services had registered such rapid and constant growth in recent years that it became vital to appoint a COO to lead Ogone’s strategic projects.
Jurgen Verstraete has been working for Ogone for 7 years already. Under his leadership, the Customer Care Department registered impressive growth, and he was subsequently promoted to Head of Operations, reporting to Senior Management. His thorough knowledge of Ogone’s strategy and modus operandi, his pragmatic approach and his technological experience are just some of the winning assets that led the Executive Committee (on which he will sit as of today) to appoint him COO. He owes his extensive technological knowledge to his training in computer sciences and his former work experience in such firms as IP Globalnet, Telindus and PerkinElmer.
“I am looking forward to working closely together with Peter De Caluwe, our CEO, and to turning Ogone’s strong expansion strategy into reality,” explains Jurgen Verstraete. “We form an excellent team thanks to our comparable management styles and complementary strengths.”
“Ogone has been in high gear this year, emerging from a European to a world player, whereby the takeover of EBS in India constitutes an important step,” adds Peter De Caluwe. “We have the utmost confidence that Jurgen will provide expert support to the Executive Committee to give our international plans concrete shape by developing our operations team further and by rolling out current and new initiatives. He started to work for us in one of the “sources” of our success – our proficient customer service – and will continue to capitalise on this winning asset.”