Industry & Services >> CEO Interviews >> March 17, 2003
KURT CAVANO is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TradeCard,
Inc., an e-commerce network that enables buyers and sellers to
initiate, conduct and settle international trade transactions
securely over the Internet. He has held this position since
January 1999. Mr. Cavano's affiliation with TradeCard predates
his tenure as Chairman and CEO of the company. When the World
Trade Centers Association originally conceived of TradeCard, they
selected Mr. Cavano, then the Vice President of the Corporate
Banking practice of American Management Systems' (AMS) Finance
Group, to spearhead the project. When it was determined that
TradeCard should be commercialized and become an independent
company, Mr. Cavano was asked by TradeCard's majority private
equity funders, E.M. Warburg Pincus, to lead this initiative and
head the company. Mr. Cavano spent nearly two decades at American
Management Systems (AMS) prior to joining TradeCard, working with
financial institutions to improve their performance through the
application of technology. Focusing on the international trade,
cash management and securities processing areas, he spearheaded
projects ranging from business strategy consulting to custom
development and implementation. He also launched AMS' British and
Australian consulting practices, and worked with the
international divisions of more than 25 global banks. In his
nearly 20 years of experience at AMS, Mr. Cavano participated in
the development and installation of letter of credit processing
software at 30 of the top global banks. In addition, he oversaw
the creation of a Windows-based treasury management platform,
development and implementation of imaging technology specific for
international trade, and an object-oriented trade services
processing system. Mr. Cavano further served as senior technical
advisor to the AT&T Universal Card project, overseeing the design
of the overall technical environment for the nation's second
largest credit card issuer. In addition, for the New York City
Housing Authority, he developed the cash and investment
management portion for their financial management system, and
participated in the implementation of a child tracking system for
the New York City Board of Education. Mr. Cavano is a frequent
speaker and writer on issues involving international trade and
supply chains, online payment and marketplace trends, and
wholesale banking. Mr. Cavano holds a Master of Business
Administration degree in Computer Applications and Information
Systems from New York University, and a Bachelor of Science
degree from Pennsylvania State University. Profile
and a picture of what you're doing at the present time?
Mr. Cavano: TradeCard is a six-year-old company. It was founded
by the
