CULedger has selected former Mastercard EVP of North AmericaMarkets John Ainsworth as its next president and CEO, theorganization announced Wednesday.

Ainsworth's first day on the job will be December 18.

“A large part of my financial services career has been helpingcredit unions meet the evolving needs of its members,” Ainsworthsaid. “It's well documented that we can anticipate more change inthe next 10 years than over the last 50 years. Staying relevant inthe age of digital disruption is a current and present challengefor the credit union industry.”

Prior to his role at Mastercard, where he managed the independent bank and creditunion segments, Ainsworth was a senior vice president of globalaccounts for the card network and managed business development fora large global member, including debit, RFID, prepaid, acquiringand commercial segments. He also worked for over 30 years inproduct and sales management for SunTrust Banks, Visa Internationaland other major financial organizations, according to theannouncement.

His new role puts him in the middle of the growing blockchain movement.

In May, CULedger showcased a new proof-of-concept demonstration thathinged on distributed ledgers, which are databases that are sharedacross a network and keep lists of interactions among networkparticipants (credit unions in particular). The records aresynchronized and updated automatically.

Commonly associated with bitcoin, where the technology is used to trackthe exchange of virtual currency, distributed ledgers are findingtheir way into other business uses — including call centers.

CULedger's technology sends an authorization “challenge” tomembers when they dial participating call centers. The request goesto the member's device and requests authentication information,such as a fingerprint though a smartphone, for example, to validatethe caller's identity. The whole thing takes less than a fewseconds, according to CULedger.

“I love [CUNA President and CEO] Jim Nussle's quote about creditunions from 2016 — 'Do we want to be the disruptor or do we want tobe disrupted?'” Ainsworth said. “Blockchain has already beensubstantiated as a critical element of digital transformation. Inworking through a national consortium of credit unions and trustedindustry partners, CULedger is uniquely positioned to help creditunions serve the digital needs of its members. I'm veryhonored to lead CULedger in this effort.”

In August, CULedger — which began in 2016 as a proof-of-conceptproject led by CUNA, the Mountain West Credit Union Association,the Best Innovation Group, credit union system partners and creditunions — announced the formation of CULedger, LLC, aCUSO.

Other parts of the credit union industry are making moves towardblockchain technology as well. In October, NAFCU became the first U.S.financial trade association to join Hyperledger. Hyperledger is anopen-source blockchain collaboration effort hosted by the LinuxFoundation.

“CULedger is not just about having a seat at the table as itrelates to this technology. Credit unions will be able toimplement the technology and utilize the current and futureapplications that run on it. It would take other organizations alot of time, money and resources to create what CULedger hasalready created,” he added.