The chief executive of payments processing company Smartpay, Bradley Girdis, has resigned and will step down on September 1. The board has appointed the chief operating officer Marty Pomeroy as his replacement.

Pomeroy has been with the business for seven years. Girdis will stay on for a three-month transition.

Smartpay has been through a difficult period, after agreeing to sell its New Zealand business last November only to see the deal fall through in June.

The company also suffered a loss in the year to March, its second year in the red after reporting modest increases in earnings in the previous few years.

Smartpay chair Greg Barclay said in a statement that Pomeroy has worked closely with Girdis over the years and “possesses the requisite skills to execute on the next stage of Smartpay’s journey”.

That “next stage” involves selling the New Zealand business, which the company says is mature, and developing the Australian businesses, where it sees more growth.

The company’s Australian strategy is “to provide an end-to-end EFTPOS solution in Australia through the addition of our own acquiring capability.”