John Karantzis
CEO and Managing Director, iSignthis Ltd (ASX : ISX)
John Karantzis, B.E. LL.M M.Ent FIEAust EurIng CPEng MRI Adj, is the founder and CEO of Australian Securities and Frankfurt Stock Exchange listed, iSignthis Ltd (ASX : ISX, FRA : TA8)
John holds qualifications in electrical engineering, law and business enterprise, from the University of Western Australia and the University of Melbourne respectively.
John is a fully chartered Electrical, electronics and IT engineer in the UK, Australia and Europe, a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia, a member of the Association of Certified Anti Money-Laundering Specialists (ACAMS), member of the Resolution Institute, and a Department of Justice registered Adjudicator.
John holds a number of various granted and pending patents in Australia, Asia, Africa, the US and Europe based on payments, antifraud and anti-money laundering technologies, many of which have or are being deployed as part of iSignthis.
John’s career commenced as a communications engineer working on Australian and Pacific Island defence projects in 1990, in particular secure communications, cryptographic, instrumentation and control systems for naval vessels. John’s career progressed to Oil & Gas in 1994, working with major operators in field development from Perth and Melbourne (Australia), Oslo (Norway), Monaco, Aberdeen (UK) and The Hague (Netherlands).
Following his return to Australia in 2003, John joined Data & Commerce Ltd (ASX:DCL/PNW), as a director and CEO of the communications division. The communications division was responsible for telecommunications projects, including design and construct of some of Australia’s major fibre optic backbone systems and national broadband DSL systems. Data & Commerce was also at the time developing systems for a nascent technology known as Video on Demand, whilst also the operator of broadcast radio stations Melbourne radio 3AK and 3MP.
As part of John’s interest in telecommunications, video on demand, with the corresponding introduction to digital rights management, and copyright law, John founded and launched ASX listed Reeltime Media Ltd (ASX : RMA). John was responsible for the listing and capital raising, including bringing Sony Pictures as Reeltime’s single largest (non-founding) shareholder. In 2006, Reeltime launched the world’s first download to own movie system with fully licensed Hollywood content from the major motion picture studios. Reeltime, via its player software, was also one of the first to offer mobile, PC and set top box download to rent movies, both of which are now established business, legal and technical models used by the likes of Apple and Netflix. The management of card not present fraud and chargebacks was beginning to become an issue that would require resolution for the business to scale globally. Reeltime was acquired by VideoEzy, Australia’s largest Video chain, in 2008.
John’s career then continued in private practice for a number of areas, including adjudication, intellectual property, regulatory and management consulting, until in 2011 he patented a process for payment instrument verification (PIV). The PIV process was originally intended to solve the challenge associated with identifying persons offering credit cards remotely, minimising the opportunity for chargebacks whilst allowing customers to purchase products on his wife’s online store. Following grant of patents in late 2013, and John’s consulting work in payments during 2013 involving him with the lead up to the Payment Services Directive 2 and discussions on the upcoming 4th AML Directive, John recognised that an adaption of PIV could serve the dual purpose of Strong Customer Authentication for the PSD2, in addition to proving control of a regulated account for the purpose of customer due diligence.
Australian Securities and Frankfurt Stock Exchange listed, iSignthis Ltd (ASX : ISX / FRA : TA8) was listed in March 2015, off the back of a number of agreements for payment processing and payment instrument verification. John has been responsible for the listing, capital raising, strategy, regulatory management, legal affairs and executive management of iSignthis, in addition to architecting the technical framework. iSignthis is now an enhanced due diligence platform, serving some of the world’s largest FX firms, with a reach of circa 3.5Bn persons whose identities can be verified dynamically and on request. iSignthis is also recently an EEA authorised eMoney Monetary Financial Institution, and a payment facilitator for the National Australia Bank (ASX : NAB).