John Grund joined First Annapolis in 1995 and co-manages the Card Issuing practice area where he helps clients develop and execute payment product strategies. One of John’s principal specialties is the formation and growth of financial services partnerships between leading financial institutions and market leaders in the retail, grocery, airline, hotel, automobile, and technology sectors. John and his First Annapolis colleagues routinely advise clients on the development of unique partnership structures involving highly customized marketing, financial and contractual arrangements. He also supports clients in areas such as strategy development, benchmarking, outsourcing, new product development, and mergers and acquisitions.
John’s clients include the world’s largest retailers, banks, manufacturers, airlines, hotels, oil companies and wireless companies. For over 15 years, he has advised clients on the formation, expansion, and restructuring of complex multi-faceted credit card partnerships. He also advises clients on a range of emerging payment products at both a strategic and tactical level particularly as they relate to consumer and merchant adoption. John has been a thought leader in the emergence and growth of prepaid products including traditional gift cards, digital cards, and specialized open-loop programs with unique distribution arrangements.
In the early 1990s, John worked at General Electric Company in its credit card business, GE Money. John is a frequent speaker and presenter at industry conferences, executive forums, and client conferences.
John received his M.B.A. from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration and his B.S. in finance and economics from the University of Maryland.
