Lazaros Kalemis

Lazaros Kalemis
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 active	2000–present

Lazaros Kalemis (born November 15, 1972) is a Greek-American businessman. He is the founder and CEO of Simpay (formerly Alpha Card Services), based in Pennsylvania. ^[1]

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. ^[4]

Early life

Kalemis was born in 1972 in the Frankford section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Greek immigrants who arrived in the United States in 1970. ^[5]

While pursuing a marketing degree from La Salle University, Kalemis started Kaleo Publications at the age of 19. He sold Kaleo Publications to a partner in 1998 after being diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma at age 24. He graduated from La Salle University with a degree in marketing in 1997. ^[6]

Alpha Card Services

The idea for Alpha Card Services reportedly came from Kalemis's layover at Rome's Fiumicino airport in 2000. ^{[6] [5]} 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. ^{[7] [8]}

On October 17, 2013, Kalemis won the SmartCEO Circle of Excellence award under the Professional Services category. ^[9]

References

1. "Home". Simpay.
2. "Lazaros Kalemis" . Philadelphia Business Journal . 2012-05-11. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
3. "SmartCEO recognizes Lazaros Kalemis, CEO of Alpha Card Services as a Philadelphia Circle of Excellence Finalist" (PDF) (Press release). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-10-29. Retrieved 2012-08-13.
4. "Auxilior Capital Partners CEO Grosso Nominated for EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Award in Greater Philadelphia". MonitorDaily. 22 April 2024.
5. Kalemis, Lazaros. "Lazaros Kalemis: Alpha Card Services". M.O. (Interview). Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
6. Manasso, John. "When in Rome... Airport brainstorm launches multi-billion-dollar full-liability ISO" (PDF). Transaction Trends. Electronic Transactions Association: 18–20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-01-27. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
7. "Simpay". Les Echos Comfi (in French). 10 June 2024.
8. "The Nilson Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-06-26. Retrieved 2012-08-13.
9. "Alpha Card Services CEO, Lazaros Kalemis, named a 2013 SmartCEO Circle of Excellence winner". Cosmos Philly. 2013-10-24. Archived from the original on 2024-04-02. Retrieved 2024-04-02.