Ross Haider takes Baseline to new heights

Baseline Payments’ new chief sales officer has decades of payments experience, but it’s his first financial job out of university that he remembers most fondly: being a customer service management trainee at a TD Bank branch in Dartmouth, N.S.

“After a few warm introductions, I was taken to my first duty,” recalls Ross Haider. “Counting thousands of dollars in a ‘cash room’ and getting bundles of cash ready for pickup by armoured transportation.

“What a job — count cash and get paid to do it!” 

In the 27 years since, Haider has built a deep resume in digital commerce and FinTech, with senior roles at Chase Paymentech, Moneris and, most recently, Bank of America Merchant Services, where he was the senior vice president of sales and client management for the bank’s Canadian operation.

“The expertise, credibility and relationships Ross brings to Baseline are invaluable as we try to stay a step ahead of the pack and deliver even more value to our clients and partners,” says Baseline co-founder Paul Schulz. “We’ve had tremendous success hiring talented and caring people from all sorts of fields, from recruiting to journalism, but at this stage of our growth it was critical we brought in someone who has seen and done it all in payments. We are thrilled that Ross chose Baseline.”

Since joining Baseline earlier this year, the Zambia-born-and-raised Haider has been busy working with the senior management team on strategy, striking up new banking and tech partnerships and expanding Baseline’s sales team across Ontario and the Atlantic provinces.

He’s also brought a certain Zen to the company.

“Many teammates have pointed out that I don’t panic as much as others in this space,” says Haider, who’s based outside Toronto. “I am a firm believer that everything in life happens for a reason and that there is something good in everything.

“We can only control our actions, but the outcome is not always up to us.”