Deluxe Appoints Celero Commerce Founder Kevin Jones as President of Merchant Services

Deluxe has appointed Kevin Jones as President of its Merchant Services division following the strategic acquisition of Celero Commerce. This leadership change signals a significant shift for the payments and data firm as it integrates high-growth assets to challenge established players, moving into the top tier of non-bank merchant acquirers globally.

What was announced

Deluxe (NYSE: DLX) confirmed the appointment of Kevin Jones to lead its Merchant Services division, a move directly tied to the company's acquisition of Celero Commerce earlier this month. Jones, who founded Celero in 2018, joins the Deluxe leadership team with a mandate to scale the company’s merchant business by leveraging his experience in building high-growth payment platforms.

The acquisition of Celero Commerce brings substantial scale to Deluxe. Before the deal, Celero had grown to process more than $28 billion in annual volume, supported by a network of 175 banking partners and a client base of 55,000 small business customers. By folding these operations into its existing infrastructure, Deluxe Merchant Services now ranks as a top-10 non-bank merchant acquirer, according to Nilson reporting.

Jones is tasked with implementing innovative payment solutions through a high-tech bundle designed for user-friendliness. His history with Deluxe’s current assets is deep; he previously led the strategic partner channel at First American Payment Systems - which Deluxe acquired in 2021 - before founding Anovia Payments. His return to the fold via the Celero acquisition brings his career full circle, placing him in charge of the very division that now uses First American as its operational backbone.

"The strength, scale, and scope of the combined entity position us to win and grow faster than either organization could alone. The marriage of shared customer focus, distribution channels, proprietary processing platforms, and award-winning service creates a uniquely compelling offer in the marketplace."

Kevin Jones, President of Merchant Services at Deluxe.

The companies involved

Deluxe is a payments and data company that has undergone a massive transformation from its historical roots in check printing to becoming a major force in fintech. The company operates across several segments, with Merchant Services becoming an increasingly dominant part of its portfolio. Its growth strategy has been heavily reliant on M&A, most notably the 2021 acquisition of First American Payment Systems, which provided the foundational technology and scale for its current merchant offerings.

First American Payment Systems, based in Fort Worth, Texas, was a long-standing independent payment processor before its integration into Deluxe. Similarly, Anovia Payments, another firm founded by Jones, represented an earlier wave of innovation in the strategic partner channel space. The newest addition, Celero Commerce, was built specifically to bridge the gap between software and payments for small to mid-sized businesses. By consolidating these entities, Deluxe has positioned itself against major industry benchmarks tracked by Nilson, the leading publication for the global card and mobile payment industry.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has tracked the evolving leadership and governance structure at Deluxe as it pivots toward a technology-first payments model. Most recently, we covered the expansion of the company’s oversight in Michelle Collins Elected to Deluxe Board of Directors, a move that signaled the company’s commitment to strengthening its corporate governance during this period of aggressive acquisition and integration.

What this means

This is more than a standard executive hire; it is the final piece of an integration puzzle. By putting the founder of the acquired company in charge of the entire division, Barry McCarthy at Deluxe is betting that Jones can replicate Celero’s rapid $28 billion scaling across the much larger Deluxe ecosystem. The move puts immediate pressure on other non-bank acquirers who may have underestimated Deluxe’s ability to transition from a legacy business to a modern payments powerhouse. Watch for Jones to aggressively cross-sell Celero’s "high-tech bundle" to Deluxe’s massive existing legacy customer base, which could significantly accelerate their merchant volume in the next four quarters.