pmtbox appoints Coupons.com founder Steven Boal to board

pmtbox has appointed Steven Boal to its board of directors, adding a founder who led Coupons.com through a stock market listing.

Boal founded Quotient Technology, formerly Coupons.com, in 1998 and served as Chief Executive Officer and Board Chair for 24 years. He also founded and chaired digital gifting company CashStar, which Blackhawk Network later acquired.

The appointment follows pmtbox's addition of Tandem Ventures Founding Partner Alex Bean and founder Wayne Hamilton to its board after closing a USD $15 million seed round. Tandem Ventures led the financing, which the company described as the largest seed raise in Utah in the past decade.

Boal brings experience from businesses that handled digital transactions exposed to fraud, disputes and other forms of abuse. In its early years, Coupons.com developed the security and print controls manufacturers required before accepting digital coupons in place of paper versions.

The business later worked with brands and retailers including Procter & Gamble, General Mills, Unilever, Clorox, CVS and Dollar General. At CashStar, Boal built the team behind a platform used by retailers such as The Home Depot, CVS/pharmacy and Papa John's to sell and manage digital gift cards.

The two companies are already linked through Pete Kledaras, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of pmtbox, who worked with Boal at CashStar. Kledaras built CashStar's payments and fraud management technology.

CashStar also acted as the risk-bearing merchant of record for 350 global retailers, handling higher-risk digital transactions on their behalf. That experience is relevant to pmtbox, whose platform combines payments, risk intelligence and transaction data in a single layer for merchants.

In comments released with the appointment, Kledaras highlighted Boal's experience overseeing payment systems where financial risk is central.

"I was in Maine building CashStar's payments infrastructure while Steven chaired the company from Mountain View, so I've seen how he operates when real money is on the line," said Pete Kledaras, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of pmtbox. "Merchants have spent years treating fraud and chargebacks as a cost someone else sets for them, and as an annoying hurdle for consumers. Steven understands why that has to change, and he'll push us as we move further into the enterprise."

Boal said merchants often underestimate the full cost of payments when fraud losses and disputes are included. He also pointed to the effect payment and risk controls can have on conversion rates.

"Most merchants treat payments as a rate they negotiate once, and then they add up what they lose to fraud, chargebacks and disputes and find the real cost is far higher. They often don't even realize how conversions are impacted," said Boal. "Wayne and Pete have worked that problem from the operator's side for years, and it shows in how pmtbox is built. That's why I wanted to be involved."

Board expansion

Boal's addition suggests pmtbox is building a board with experience in both company formation and transaction infrastructure. Bean represents the lead investor from the seed round, while Hamilton is the company's founder.

For pmtbox, the appointment also brings in an executive with public market experience. Boal led Quotient through its listing on the New York Stock Exchange, a background uncommon among early-stage fintech boards.

Broader career

Outside those ventures, Boal is Chief Executive Officer and Board Chair of Matia Mobility, a Salt Lake City company that makes the Tek RMD M1 mobility platform for people with spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis and other conditions. The device is sold in 23 countries and is approved for purchase through the VA, Medicare and private insurance.

Earlier in his career, he was Vice President and Head of Global Emerging Markets at J.P. Morgan. He has also lectured at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and served on several nonprofit boards.

For pmtbox, the appointment adds another experienced founder to a board that has expanded alongside its seed funding, with Boal bringing direct experience from Coupons.com, CashStar and businesses built around managing transaction risk.