Kurt Johnson

Kurtis (Kurt) W. Johnson is a Managing Director in FTI Consulting’s Financial Services practice within the Forensic & Litigation Consulting segment. Mr. Johnson specializes in payments strategy and digital transformation, with deep experience across global banking, FinTech and merchant services sectors. He advises clients on optimizing card acceptance, modernizing point-of-sale systems and enabling payment facilitator capabilities to enhance scalability and compliance across complex, multichannel environments.

Mr. Johnson has led enterprise payment transformation programs for major banks and Fortune 500 clients, delivering measurable improvements in service efficiency and regulatory readiness. His work spans payments, processor migration, tokenization, ISO 20022 adoption and fraud and risk management. He has supported clients through global platform integrations involving leading providers such as Stripe, Adyen, Chase and Fiserv, achieving more than $300 million in combined cost savings and performance gains.

Before focusing on financial transformation, Mr. Johnson served as a Naval Flight Officer in the United States Navy, where he built strong leadership and systems engineering foundations that continue to inform his approach to complex business operations. He holds an Executive M.B.A. from the Naval Postgraduate School and a B.S. in Systems Engineering from the United States Naval Academy.

Today, Mr. Johnson is recognized for bringing a product-led mindset to payments modernization initiatives. He combines deep technical proficiency with strategic insight to help clients navigate evolving regulatory frameworks and deliver customer-centric payment experiences. His commitment to operational excellence and innovation positions him as a trusted advisor in the global payments ecosystem.

Relevant Experience:

• Defined a payments transformation strategy for a global financial institution, supporting compliance and ISO 20022 readiness
• Created a card acceptance optimization program for a Fortune 500 retailer, reducing processing costs and improving transaction approval rates
• Developed a payment facilitator enablement framework for a major FinTech, enhancing merchant onboarding and scalability
• Led a POS modernization initiative addressing legacy system integration and customer experience challenges
• Supported embedded payments implementation for a large digital platform, achieving significant operational efficiencies