Lazaros Kalemis

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Lazaros Kalemis
Lazaros Kalemis.jpg
Lazaros Kalemis in April 2012
Born (1972-11-15) November 15, 1972 (age 52)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Alma mater La Salle University
Occupation(s)Founder and CEO, Simpay (United States)
Years active2000–

Lazaros Kalemis (born November 15, 1972) is a Greek-American businessman. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Simpay (United States), [1] a payment processing and merchant business solutions company headquartered in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, formerly known as Alpha Card Services.

Contents

Kalemis received the Philadelphia 40 under 40 award in May 2012 and was a finalist for the SmartCEO Circle of Excellence award in the Distinguished Leadership category in July 2012. [2] [3] In 2012, he was named a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.[ citation needed ]

A two-time cancer survivor, Kalemis was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 1998 and with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia in 2005. [4]

Early years

Kalemis was born in 1972 in the Frankford section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Greek immigrants who arrived in the United States in 1970. [4] He worked for his family's pizzeria, Original Boston Style Pizza, in Philadelphia.[ citation needed ]

While pursuing a marketing degree from La Salle University, Kalemis started Kaleo Publications at age 19. Kaleo Publications was a global business directory publisher, and Kalemis eventually employed 135 employees in offices in Pennsylvania, Arizona, and California. He sold Kaleo Publications to a partner in 1998 after being diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma at age 24. [5]

Kalemis graduated from La Salle University with a degree in Marketing in 1997.

In 1999, he opened a second pizzeria location with his parents, called New Boston Style Pizza, in the Rhawnhurst section of Philadelphia.[ citation needed ]

The idea for Alpha Card Services reportedly came from a layover Kalemis had at Rome's Fiumicino airport in 2000. [5] [6] He read a Philadelphia Inquirer article about the growth of credit card use and shared it with his friend, Dimitrios Tsikoudis. In October 2000, they co-founded Alpha Card Services.

Alpha Card Services

Under Kalemis's leadership, Alpha Card Services became the 60th largest merchant acquirer in the United States [7] and the 143rd largest acquirer in the world, [8] as ranked by the Nilson Report. Alpha Card Services provides merchant services and other services, such as Payroll, Point-of-Sale Systems, Gift and Reward Cards, ATM Services and Merchant cash advance, to over 15,000 U.S. locations and processes over $2 billion in credit card volume annually.

In addition to Alpha Card Services, Kalemis controlled Pinnacle Merchant Advance, Alpha POS Services [9] and Alpha Payroll Services, divisions of Alpha Card Services. Pinnacle Merchant Advance focuses on merchant cash advances, Alpha POS Services provides point-of-sale (POS) systems, and Alpha Payroll Services provides Payroll Services. [10]


On October 17, 2013, Kalemis won the SmartCEO Circle of Excellence award under the Professional Services category. [11]

Philanthropy

Kalemis founded Alpha Card Cares. [12] The organization aims to support various causes.

Kalemis and Alpha Card Cares have been involved with several charities and volunteer events, including the Kids & Hope Foundation, [13] Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure, [14] Big Brothers Big Sisters of Bucks County, [15] The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light The Night Walk, [16] and the Walk to Defeat ALS, Greater Philadelphia Chapter. [17]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Home". Simpay.
  2. ↑ "Lazaros Kalemis - Philadelphia Business Journal". Bizjournals.com. 2012-05-11. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  3. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-10-29. Retrieved 2012-08-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. 1 2 "Executive Leaders Radio Podcast" – via www.youtube.com.
  5. 1 2 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-01-27. Retrieved 2012-08-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ↑ "Lazaros Kalemis: Alpha Card Services". M.O. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  7. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-06-26. Retrieved 2012-08-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-02-28. Retrieved 2012-08-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ↑ "正规的ag亚游只为非凡_ag亚游国际官网_亚游集团". alphaposservices.com.
  10. ↑ "Alpha Card Services Review | Merchant Alternatives". merchantalternatives.com/. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  11. ↑ Philly, Cosmos (2013-10-24). "Alpha Card Services CEO, Lazaros Kalemis, named a 2013 SmartCEO Circle of Excellence winner ⋆ Cosmos Philly". Cosmos Philly. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  12. ↑ "Alpha Card Cares". Alpha Card Services. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  13. ↑ "Kids-N-Hope Foundation". Kidsnhope.org. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  14. ↑ "Susan G. Komen for the Cure". Ww5.komen.org. Archived from the original on 2020-11-18. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  15. ↑ "Welcome to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Bucks County - Big Brothers Big Sisters of Bucks County". Bbbsbc.org. Archived from the original on 2012-07-02. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  16. ↑ "Light The Night Walk: Taking Steps to Cure Cancer". Lightthenight.org. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  17. ↑ "Event Central 2011 - Home". Kintera.org. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
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