Kristy Duncan

A sought-after advisor, investor, and speaker, Kristy has dedicated her career to empowering the professional and personal development of women in the payments and fintech industry. She founded Women in Payments in 2012, a global organization that connects, educates, and champions women in the payments industry. Prior to that, Kristy was a leading global payments consultant. She advised C-suite leaders at global financial institutions, payments networks, fintechs, regulators, and more. Prior to that, she held leadership positions at a tier one Canadian bank in the areas of corporate treasury, transaction banking, finance, and operations. Today, Kristy works closely with fintech founders to help them build pivotal relationships, secure funding, and take their businesses to the next level.

Tracy Hall

Tracy Hall’s life took an unimaginable turn in July 2017. The man she was in love with—Max Tavita—was in fact, Hamish McLaren, one of Australia’s most prolific con men. Tracy’s life savings ($317,000) was sto-len, along with her ability to trust. Determined to make meaning of her traumatic experience, Tracy has made it her mission to educate, advocate and protect others from scams and fraud. Her book ‘The Last Victim’ and her pivotal role in the hit podcast ‘Who the Hell is Hamish?’ is shining the light on intimate fraud and the $1 trillion global “scamdemic”. This keynote is a rare combination of brilliant storytelling, radical vulnerability, and practical tips and tools to protect against financial crime. Tracy explores the psychology of scams, trust, adversity, resilience, and financial agency in a session you won’t want to miss.

Julia Streets

Julia Streets is a champion of fintech and entrepreneurship, innovation, diversity and inclusion.   In 2007, she founded Streets Consulting, the business development, marketing and communications consultancy. She and her team advise a wide range of international firms in the field of fintech, capital markets, investment management and payments innovation, as well as specialist offerings including NFTs, digital assets, tokenisation, blockchain, artificial intelligence and more.  Prior to becoming a founder & CEO, Julia was global head of communications at NYSE Technologies, serving on the Executive Committee and European head of marketing and sales development at Instinet Europe.  She was head of eCommerce for a City PR agency throughout the dotcom boom and over the past 30+ years she has advised hundreds of startups, scaleups and global banks and financial institutions.   A certified transformational leadership coach, she works with senior executives to help them build and lead high performing teams, develop proud and solid growth-minded cultures and outperform as enlightened leaders. Julia is the host of ‘DiverCity Podcast’ talking about diversity, equity and inclusion in financial services.  Now in its 15th series, DiverCity Podcast has listeners in >50 countries and is ranked one of the world’s top DE&I podcasts.  She is also the host of CityAM’s ESG show "Impact AM Live", Shell’s Energy Podcast and host of ‘Metaverse: What matters?”, recorded in the metaverse, available on You Tube to educate the world about the opportunities and risks as we navigate this multi-trillion dollar industry. She is an advisor, mentor and investor and is called upon to chair many of the world’s leading conferences drawing not only on her industry experience, but also on her skills as a speaker, host and sell-out stand up comedian. Julia had received many awards and accolades including being listed as one of Brummell Magazine’s 30 Women on Boards, 39 Female Entrepreneurs, and 30 Women of Influence.  She is one of the Global Diversity List’s 20 global champions and is regularly called out as a trailblazer and changemaker.  Julia is a founding member of the Power Women Network, a fellow of the British American Project and proud to serve as a board trustee of Street Child, a global education charity that believes that all children should be safe, in school and learning.

Sucharita Sridhar

Sucharita has 15 years of experience in strategy, GTM and revenue management in the Fintech and Payments industries. She currently leads the Pricing Strategy function globally at FIS, where she is responsible for driving commercial growth, enhancing operational efficiency, and spearheading pricing and monetization transformation initiatives across an $8B business. She previously led the Pricing strategy function at Stripe where she helped drive profitability and growth for Stripe’s Payments business. Prior to this Sucharita was a Partner at BCG, where she served clients in the Fintech and Payments ecosystem. Sucharita holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BSc in Mathematics and Economics from the London School of Economics.

Ryan Rugg

Ryan is currently the Global Head of Digital Assets for Citibank's TTS business. The TTS team helps enable their global clients by simplifying the management of treasuries, payments and commerce on a day-to-day basis.   Recently, Ryan and the team announced Citi Token Services, which is a solution that enables clients to transfer liquidity and payments between Citi branches on a 24/7 basis.  The service uses blockchain and smart contract technologies to deliver digital asset solutions for institutional clients. Citi Token Services will integrate tokenized deposits and smart contracts into Citi’s global network, upgrading core cash management and trade finance capabilities.   Before Citi, Ryan was Head of IBM’s America's blockchain team, helping to enhance client’s solutions and capabilities for building Digital Ecosystems. She provided strategic guidance for; operational and governance considerations, technology roadmaps, and services infrastructure to help clients focused on TIPS (Tokenization, Identity, Provenance & Sustainability).    In this role, her team helped launch New York’s Excelsior Pass (Digital Wallet for Vaccinations & PCR tests), which was groundbreaking with millions of users.  This fundamental framework will help in the development and implementation of digital health credentials and beyond. The blueprint will help as a guide to assist other states, territories, and entities in the expansion of credential systems to advance economic development efforts nationwide.    Prior to that Ryan was the Global Head of Industry at R3 (Fintech Startup), where she sat at the forefront of blockchain innovation across multiple industries. She was responsible for the strategic direction of R3’s key verticals, helping industry leaders capture the full benefits of blockchain for their businesses.  Ryan also launched the Centre of Excellence for distributed ledger technology (DLT) in cooperation with ACORD (Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development).   Ryan believes in Delivering Through Diversity; diversity in management positions increases profitability.   Over the course of her career, Ryan has spearheaded several efforts to further diversity and retention across financial services. In her previous role at Morgan Stanley, Ryan co-led a diversity initiative to increase female analyst representation. Ryan continues her mission towards greater diversity in senior management, investing her time in mentoring to improve leadership skills and build proactive career development plans to empower them to executive level.  

Denise Leonhard

Denise Leonhard is the general manager of Zelle®. In this role, she oversees the Zelle® business end-to-end, providing strategic direction, managing product delivery and development, maintaining customer and bank relationships, managing risk and controls, and ensuring financial outcomes.      Denise is a seasoned leader in financial services and electronic payments with a career spanning two decades in financial technology. Denise’s impressive background includes serving as the general manager and chief commercial officer at Venmo, where she played a pivotal role in driving growth and launching a dozen new products. Prior to Venmo, she held several leadership positions at PayPal and American Express.     She holds a bachelor’s degree of arts from Princeton University and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Denise is a member of the board of directors at Symetra Financial and the Surfrider Foundation. 

Liza Januzi

Liza is responsible for the relationship management and TD's Cash & Treasury Management for U.S. money center banks, U.S. regional banks, America's foreign financial institution coverage, non-bank financial institutions and financial institution business for Latin America and the Caribbean. She also leads the financial institution client coverage team based in Toronto, covering the Americas. Liza joined TD Securities in 2011 supporting the Global Metals, Money Market and FX Options Sales & Trading businesses and later joined Global Transaction Banking in 2014 as an Account Manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regions. Previously, she was responsible for relationship management for U.S. money center banks, North American subsidiaries, and branches of financial institutions in Asia-Pacific and EMEA regions, while also leading a team of account managers supporting several global financial institution account portfolios. Liza holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors from the University of Western Ontario and is a Certified Treasury Professional.

Jane Talton

Jane Talton is a human resources leader with more than 20 years of experience in financial services, specializing in human capital strategy and talent development. She joined U.S. Bank in December 2023 and currently serves as a Lead Talent Consultant for Merchant Payment Services Global Operations (Elavon). In this role, she partners closely with business leaders to align performance and talent strategies with organizational priorities, champion effective leadership, and design programs that foster growth, engagement, and high-performing teams. Before joining U.S. Bank, Jane spent 21 years with Wells Fargo and 2 years at TIAA as a Senior Director, Human Resources Partner where she led strategic HR initiatives across multiple business areas and guided leaders through complex transformation and talent needs. Jane is based in Charlotte, NC where she grew up. She earned a B.A. degree in mass communication from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Outside of work, you’ll find her spending time with her husband, Beau, and their two daughters, Anna (17) and Emery (14). To give back to her community, she spends time volunteering at local schools and organizations such as Dress for Success, Crisis Assistance and The Humane Society of Cabarrus County.

Katie Whalen

Katie Whalen leads Fiserv’s sales and partnerships for small and medium sized businesses for Merchant Solutions. In this capacity, Katie oversees field and inside sales teams in support of Fiserv’s direct and referral partnership channels with 1k+ financial institutions and strategic partners, including Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citi, ADP, Walmart / Sam’s Clubs and Restaurant Depot. She has focused on two primary areas: first, transforming the 800+ sales team through productivity-driven measures and sales diversification with the launch of new digital acquisition capabilities. The second focus has been on identifying market-to-product needs, and as a result, is leading the launch of Fiserv’s first healthcare solution for micro-cap providers in 1Q26 and sponsored the acquisition of CardFree, a third-party integration platform to support mid-market businesses. Previously, she led the North American issuer processing business for six years, supporting large issuers’ 1.2B+ accounts across credit, commercial, private label, and healthcare cards and installment loans. She focused on modernizing capabilities and winning new mandates, including Desjardins, Verizon loans, Bread Financial, and Target. Katie was recognized as one of the Most Influential Women in Payments, a prestigious group of 25 industry leaders selected by American Banker. Prior to joining First Data, Katie held roles across consumer payments in digital solutions and growth partnerships. She was Head of Strategy for Citi’s Global Digital Payments team, previously managed Amex’s digital partnerships for unique Cardholder experiences, oversaw business operations for Amex’s prepaid and gift card businesses and was a digital product manager at Thomson Reuters. Katie started her career with the City of New York as an Urban Fellow in the Bloomberg Administration, and in the Office of Management & Budget for the NYPD. She holds a degree in Government from Cornell University, and MBA from NYU. In her spare time, she enjoys outdoor cycling, skiing and great food with close friends and family.

Raina Gandhi

Founder and CEO of Rising Tide Consulting, Raina Gandhi activates women to overcome limiting beliefs, navigate workplace barriers, and thrive in decision-making roles. Through coaching, workshops, and keynotes, she helps women advance into leadership positions and amplify their voices in business, because when women rise, organizations benefit from increased productivity and collaboration. Drawing from 25+ years across investment banking, consulting, nonprofits, and higher education, Raina brings authentic perspective to career transitions and leadership challenges. After trading a promising career in financial services for an 11-year hiatus to raise her daughters, she successfully relaunched and faced barriers that shaped her coaching approach. As a sought-after speaker and facilitator, Raina delivers keynotes to global audiences on self-advocacy, negotiations, burnout, allyship, and gender equity. Her presentations combine research-based insights with practical strategies, delivered through an engaging, interactive style infused with humor. With her Wharton MBA and certifications in change management, organizational development, executive coaching, and CliftonStrengths facilitation, Raina creates inspiring environments where audiences leave with actionable tools and feel empowered to take bold action toward their leadership potential.

Amy Smith

AMY SMITH brings years of education, sales and marketing experience in the financial services industry to her leadership position in payments education.  She manages two membership organizations: The Clearing House Payments Authority and ECCHO. She oversees these teams of payments experts and provides strategic focus with the goal of maximizing value to a collective membership of more than 3,500 financial institutions and 3,000 corporate subscribers. In addition, she is responsible for payments education developed and delivered by The Clearing House across all products, to include ACH, check image exchange, wire transfer and RTP. Smith is an Accredited ACH Professional (AAP) and Certified Association Executive (CAE). Smith received a BA in marketing, corporate communications, and graphic design from Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Michigan.  

Melissa Johnson

Melissa Johnson is Vice President of Commercial, Americas at EBANX. With her extensive experience in the payments industry and deep understanding of global merchants, Johnson creates significant impact helping international brands to navigate the complex and ever-evolving digital landscape of emerging markets. Before her current role at EBANX, Johnson served as Director of Global & Strategic Accounts for three years at PayPal. Prior to that, she was Director of Ecommerce Global Enterprise Sales at Worldpay, and Enterprise Sales at Digital River. Johnson focuses on gender diversity and inclusion, making them a priority on her personal and professional agenda, and advocates for the positive impact they generate in all field

Cassandra Rias

Cassandra Rias brings over 25 years of experience in the banking industry, all with Truist (formerly SunTrust Bank), where she has held a variety of roles that shaped her expertise in fraud prevention and cybersecurity. Starting her career as a teller while in college, Cassandra progressed through positions within the branch, bank operations, and fraud operations and investigations before moving into cybersecurity leadership. In her current role as Head of Cyber Crimes Intel and SVP, Cassandra leads efforts to identify and mitigate cyber threats targeting the financial industry. She developed Truist’s Cyber Crime Intel Services team and played a key role in assisting with development of the Cyber Fusion Center, fostering collaboration across internal teams and external partners. Her work includes monitoring threat actor activities across social media, open-source, and underground platforms, and providing actionable intelligence to proactively protect clients and the institution.  Her career journey includes serving as Fraud Operations Manager, where she managed teams of investigators and implemented process improvements to enhance fraud detection and client experience.  Cassandra also spent two years with the District Attorney’s Office, where she specialized in locating individuals who did not want to be found—a skill that resonates with her current cyber investigations. Cassandra holds the Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) designation, an ABA Certificate in Operational Risk Management, and is a graduate of the ITSMF Emerge Academy (2024). She is an active member of the International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators (IAFCI).

Jaime Zetterstrom

Jaime Zetterstrom is a dedicated executive leader with 25 years of experience within the Telecom industry. As Somos’ VP, Product & Innovation, Jaime continues to leverage her engineering, fraud fighting and telecom background to elevate Somos’ offerings in the Trusted Telecom Ecosystem. Jaime is an active member and acting Executive Board member of the CFCA (Communications Fraud Control Association). Jaime is the acting liaison to FS-ISAC (Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center) and The Knoble. Prior to Somos, Jaime was responsible for assessing and mitigating all fraudulent and suspect usage for all Intrado, a global provider of communication and network infrastructure services. Jaime also played a role in Intrado’s call center management, pre and post sales, product development, agile development activities and M&A activities. In her 20+ years of professional experience, she has demonstrated extensive technical skills and the ability to relay information to others in a way that is easy to digest and process.

Xin Ren

Xin Ren is a distinguished technology executive and the Head of NAMER Customer Success at Feedzai. She bridges the gap between AI product innovation and C-suite business objectives to drive market-leading fraud prevention results. Recognized as a global leader, she has a proven track record of navigating diverse regulatory and fraud landscapes across North America and Asia Pacific, positioning organizations as primary partners for client innovation.

Karen Helmberger

Karen Helmberger is FS-ISAC’s Director of FinTech and Payments, focused on building a collaborative payments community and leading fraud prevention efforts through actionable intelligence sharing. She partnered with members to help develop FS-ISAC’s Cyber Fraud Prevention and Phishing Prevention Frameworks in 2024 and founded the Digital Assets Council in April 2024 to provide members with a collaboration platform to address the unique threats and analysis methods associated with cryptocurrency. Prior to FS-ISAC, Karen spent over 20 years in banking operations, primarily focused on payments, information technology, and business resilience. She also worked with financial institutions in the cards arena at a payment processor. Karen holds certificates in graduate banking, bank technology management, and advanced IT forum from the Graduate School of Banking in Wisconsin, as well as a bachelor’s degree in finance and banking from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Kristy Duncan

A sought-after advisor, investor, and speaker, Kristy has dedicated her career to empowering the professional and personal development of women in the payments and fintech industry. She founded Women in Payments in 2012, a global organization that connects, educates, and champions women in the payments industry. Prior to that, Kristy was a leading global payments consultant. She advised C-suite leaders at global financial institutions, payments networks, fintechs, regulators, and more. Prior to that, she held leadership positions at a tier one Canadian bank in the areas of corporate treasury, transaction banking, finance, and operations. Today, Kristy works closely with fintech founders to help them build pivotal relationships, secure funding, and take their businesses to the next level.

Helen Colosimo

Helen Colosimo serves as Senior Vice President of Card Product Management at Merrick Bank (CardWorks). She currently leads the bank’s largest digital affiliate channel and oversees the prospect experience across new account originations. She joined the organization following their acquisition of the Ally Card portfolio in April 2025. Previously, Helen was an early team member of the fintech startup, Fair Square Financial. There, she helped create and launch the Ollo credit card portfolio, which was subsequently acquired by Ally Financial. During her tenure at Fair Square and Ally, Helen held leadership roles spanning Brand and Account Management, Customer Experience, Partnerships, and Acquisitions. Prior to her time in fintech, Helen built extensive expertise in Cobrand Partnership Management, Global Internal Consulting, Strategic Analytics, and Financial Forecasting & Analysis during her tenure at Barclays Bank and JP Morgan Chase. Helen holds a double major in Finance and Marketing from Lehigh University and earned an Executive MBA from The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.

Kristen Castell

Kristen Castell is a purpose-driven fintech and financial services leader with 20+ years of experience building platforms, products, companies, and communities—from JPMorgan and BlackRock to high-growth startups and impact-focused accelerators. As Managing Director of CAFE (Center for Accelerating Financial Equity), Kristen has built and leads one of the only fintech accelerator programs dedicated to improving financial outcomes for low- to moderate-income (LMI) individuals by connecting mission-driven founders with financial institutions, investors, banks, regulators, academia, and industry leaders. Kristen has been named one of NYC’s Inspiring Fintech Females (2023) and a RealList Connector (2024), and she’s spoken on the main stage at Finovate NYC, Boston Fintech Week, deBanked Miami and other top industry events. Whether she’s speaking on stage, mentoring founders, or launching new initiatives, Kristen leads with energy, heart, and a deep belief in starting with why and building a more human-centered financial system.

Saujin Yi

Saujin Yi is the Founder and CEO of LiquidTrust, a fintech building safer global payment solutions for small businesses. A former investment banker and tech executive, she brings over 20 years of experience in finance, strategy, and product innovation. At LiquidTrust, she launched Protected Pay, a modern micro-escrow solution that helps banks and marketplaces safeguard high-risk B2B and cross-border payments. Saujin also co-founded FlexTeam, serves as a Venture Partner at Resolute Ventures, and lectures on entrepreneurship at UCLA Anderson. She is a trusted voice on embedded payments and a champion for scalable infrastructure that empowers SMBs in global commerce.

Sarah Billings

Sarah is Group Senior Vice President and Head of Payments and International for PNC Financial Services. Mrs. Billings has responsibility for Product Management, Operations, and Transformation of these enterprise functions. In her role, she leads a multi-disciplinary team committed to delivering innovative, market-leading solutions and transforming PNC’s core platforms.

Bunita Sawhney

Bunita Sawhney is the chief consumer product officer at Mastercard and a member of the company’s management committee. She oversees all consumer and issuer product offerings, including the company’s credit, debit and prepaid products as well as ESG product innovations. In this key leadership role, she is responsible for enabling more secure and innovative ways for consumers to make everyday purchases.  Prior to this role, Bunita was Mastercard’s executive vice president of U.S. Financial Institutions, where she worked alongside customers to deliver products and services that meet people’s everyday needs, with security and peace of mind at the core. She was responsible for deepening and expanding Mastercard’s relationships with the largest financial institutions, including Bank of America, Capital One, Wells Fargo Bank and U.S. Bank as well as the community institutions and credit unions nationwide. She also focused on growing the consumer, small business and commercial business through strong partnerships, innovation and thought leadership.  Bunita previously led the Global Debit & ATM Products business at Mastercard, where she was responsible for global product line strategy, portfolio optimization, product development and the roadmap for the Debit Mastercard, Maestro and ATM offering.   In 2016, Bunita joined Mastercard, bringing an array of experience from her various management positions at HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, Citibank and Wells Fargo Bank. She most recently spent nearly 12 years at HSBC where she was the head of Customer Value Management, a broad function that included the strategy and execution across Consumer Propositions, Products, Marketing, CRM and Analytics. Bunita is the global executive sponsor of Mastercard’s Women's Leadership network. She is also a board member of 50/50 Women on Boards. Bunita previously served as a member of the Women in Payments Advisory Board, as well as a mentor for the 30% Club. Bunita holds a master’s degree in strategic communications from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the Walter A. Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. 

Helen Han

Helen is a Managing Director and Partner at Boston Consulting Group, bringing over a decade of experience in advising financial services clients, including global and regional banks and payment firms, with a focus on digital and technology strategies. She leads BCG’s Data@Scale topic globally and GenAI for tech.

Maribel Herrera

Maribel Herrera is VP of Business Development at Paysafe, where she drives strategic partnerships and commercial initiatives to support global growth. With 15+ years of experience across fintech and payments, she has held leadership roles at FIS, Worldpay, and Elavon, leading transformative collaborations across banking, payments, and technology ecosystems. Maribel is known for building innovative partnerships that unlock new revenue opportunities and deliver scalable customer solutions worldwide.

Amy Downey

Amy is Head of Client Solutions Commercialization and Business Management for the Global Payments & Liquidity (GPL) business at Wells Fargo, which provides a comprehensive suite of working capital solutions to clients globally. On the commercialization side, she leads the teams responsible for bringing products and solutions to market and driving strong client adoption and profitable growth through data and insights-led content, marketing, and sales enablement strategies as well as through the GPL Service and Implementation team delivering differentiated client experience. Within business management, Amy oversees the day-to-day operations of the GPL business including investment and budget planning as well as front-line risk management. Prior to this role, Amy led Well Fargo’s Corporate Strategic Planning & Management team responsible for working with the Wells Fargo Operating Committee to develop and deliver an integrated, competitive, and cohesive enterprise-wide plan in alignment with Board and regulatory expectations. Amy joined Wells Fargo in 2021 from Bank of America, where she held senior COO, sales performance, and strategy positions across Commercial Banking and Global Treasury, and managed AML for the Global Banking and Markets businesses. Prior to her role at Bank of America, she spent 13 years at J.P. Morgan in Global Banking and Markets organizational transformation, risk, and audit roles. Amy is a graduate of New York University, where she earned a Master’s in Applied Economics. She also holds a Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) Association for Financial Professionals credential and served on the board of The Clearing House Payments Company, L.L.C. in 2025. Amy is an active and passionate sponsor of advancing women, and lives in New York City with her husband and two sons.

Eileen Dignen

Eileen Dignen is the Head of Payments for the Commercial Bank. Eileen leads a team of Payments professionals serving global clients across all core and specialized industries. The teams include Treasury Sales, Merchant and Ecommerce Sales as well as Client Solution Specialists and market management. Prior to this role Eileen was Global Head of Payment Sales for Corporate Client Banking in Commercial Banking leading a global team of Payments professionals serving clients across the US, Asia, and Europe with integrated, end-to-end treasury solutions. Eileen has more than 30 years of corporate treasury experience, with a robust track record of developing and executing highly successful client solution strategies, through various leadership roles at PNC, Bank of the West/BNP Paribas, The Clearing House, SWIFT and Citibank. Eileen served as both the chief operating officer and head of product strategy for PNC’s treasury management group, as well as led merchant services and strategic sales for the corporate bank group. Prior to PNC, Eileen was head of the Bank of the West’s treasury solution division, where she led the development and transformation execution of their cash management suite of services, including the bank's initiative for a single global platform. During her time at The Clearing House, Eileen was responsible for the company’s cross-border payment system (CHIPS) and the check image exchange network (SVPCO). At SWIFT, Eileen led innovation and payments initiatives for their Americas region, where she focused on financial institutions as well as small businesses to multinational corporates. Additionally, Eileen has also held senior positions in global treasury management and credit roles at Citi and First Union/CoreStates Financial (now owned by Wells Fargo). Eileen is based in NY with her husband Mike, She and Mike have two sons: Chris living in Boston, and Brian living in the Philadelphia area.

Andrea Gilman

Gilman brings more than 20 years of marketing, product development and transformation expertise, with extensive experience building and leading high performing teams. Gilman is Chief Marketing Officer at Early Warning Services, the network operator of Zelle and soon-to-lauch Paze. She joined Banyan as CMO in 2022 to drive all facets of marketing and culture.

Jackie McKinley

Jackie McKinley is a distinguished technology sales executive who currently serves as the Head of Enterprise Sales - Americas at Pega. In this role, she spearheads strategic initiatives driving digital transformation across major enterprises throughout the Americas region – U.S. Canada and Latin America, demonstrating her expertise in enterprise software sales leadership and innovation. With over 25 years of global sales and executive management experience, Jackie's career highlights include significant leadership positions at major technology companies. Prior to joining Pega, she served as the US Area Enterprise Vice President at NetApp, where she managed a $1 billion business and developed the GTM strategy for cloud SaaS transformation. Before that, as Vice President of Commercial Sales at Dell Technologies, she led a $1.5 billion business in the US southeast region, successfully attracting Fortune 100 clients like Honeywell and Delta Airlines. At Pega, Jackie leads a dynamic team of sales executives and specialists, fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation. She plays a crucial role in driving the adoption of transformative technologies, particularly Pega GenAI Blueprint, enabling organizations to accelerate their digital transformation journeys through intelligent automation solutions. Her leadership has earned notable recognition, including being named a 2019 Living Legend Honoree by House Hope of Atlanta and being featured among the "Most Influential Women in Corporate America in 2019" by Savoy magazine. Originally from Atlanta, Jackie is the youngest of ten children and is the proud mother of two adult daughters, Angelica and Christina. She maintains an active lifestyle, enjoying activities such as kickboxing, pickleball, and line-dancing. Her interests extend to NFL football, volunteering, and traveling. A particularly memorable moment in her life was when she participated in a group lip-sync performance of "America the Beautiful" at an Atlanta Falcons NFL football game.

Lauren Gonnella

Lauren Gonnella is a dynamic, people‑first payments executive with more than 20 years of experience leading merchant enterprise relationships, financial institution partnerships, and strategic growth across the North American payments landscape. An extrovert by nature, she’s known for her ability to energize teams, build authentic connections, and create environments where people do their best work. As VP of North America Enterprise at Worldpay/Global Payments, Lauren leads enterprise‑level strategy and relationship management for some of the region’s largest fin merchants. Her career began at Fifth Third Processing and grew through leadership roles at Vantiv, Worldpay, and FIS, where she built a reputation for elevating talent, strengthening partnerships, and driving meaningful business outcomes. A passionate advocate for women in leadership, Lauren founded the Next Leader Program and serves as Co‑Chair of the NA WOW Women’s Network and Global Steer Co Lead, championing development, visibility, and community for women across the organization. She’s especially passionate about mentoring emerging leaders and helping women find confidence and clarity in their career paths. Lauren graduated from the University of Kentucky with a degree in Communications and Business—skills she puts to use daily as a connector, coach, and collaborator. She lives in Nashville, where she can usually be found cheering on her 8‑year‑old son’s sports, playing tennis, enjoying mahjong nights, or spending time with her husband, family, and two very spoiled dogs.

Bobi Shields-Farrelly

Bobi Shields-Farrelly is the Senior Vice President & Operations Director leading PNC's Payments Operations group. She leads a 24x7x365 team that supports electronic payments processing and post-payment investigations at the enterprise level. Bobi has held senior positions in payments operations, product management, and product development at multiple financial institutions over a 30-year career exclusively focused on electronic payments. She is an active mentor and champion for women in all stages of their career, driven by a strong desire to pay forward the opportunity to establish a rewarding and fulfilling payments career.

Preeti Gopal

Preeti Gopal serves as Senior Vice President, Data Science in Merrick Bank’s Card Credit & Modeling Division. Within this division, she leads new account originations credit and product strategy, where she is accountable for leading a team of data scientists to leverage a range of modern technologies including AI and Machine Learning. These initiatives result in strategies that deliver the right card to the right customer at the right time, all while balancing the customer’s needs with organizational objectives. Preeti was part of the Ally Credit Card team acquired by CardWorks. Prior to that, she was a key member of Fair Square Financial, an innovative Fintech that also enjoyed a close working relationship with CardWorks. Her extensive expertise in designing acquisitions and portfolio strategies for Ollo and Ally Credit Card is now helping advance Cardworks’ bold growth agenda. Preeti’s earlier experience includes leadership roles at Capital One & Citi, focused on Data Science & Credit Risk. Preeti holds a Bachelor of Technology degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. She has also been sponsored by past employers for prestigious leadership programs including most recently, Stanford University’s Leading Through Personal Excellence program. Outside of work, Preeti volunteers as a Board Member and Choral Singer for Market Street Music, a Delaware based non-profit that creates inspiring musical experiences accessible to all audiences while supporting artists of all ages and abilities.

Gonca Latif-Schmitt

She is a member of the Treasury and Trade Solutions Executive Committee as the Global Head of Commercial Cards. In this role, Gonca leads a global organization that spans product management, market management, sales and account management for clients across the corporate.

Elizabeth St-Onge

Elizabeth has over 20 years in the industry with leadership roles in corporate banking, transaction banking, and capital markets. She has deep expertise in treasury, payments, FX, trade finance, lending and liquidity management. Elizabeth has held numerous senior roles in the industry leading strategy, transformation and product management.

Amanda Licona-Crocker

Amanda Licona-Crocker joined SWIVEL, a wholly owned subsidiary of SWBC, in August 2023 and serves as its President. In this role, she streamlines, manages business-critical projects, and drives the business forward. She is also highly focused on SWIVEL’s efforts to deliver greater value to its clients while holding true to the values that make SWIVEL a trusted partner and client. Before joining SWIVEL, Amanda served as the Global Head of Payment Operations at Meta, where she built a team from the ground up. During her tenure with Meta, the company grew to over 35 different global payment products across the family of apps, with over 42 million monthly active payment users, and processing 700million annual transactions. Amanda holds deep experience in global regulations, money licensing, and money movement technologies across many markets and user segments. Amanda graduated from the University of Phoenix with a bachelor’s degree in business management, with an emphasis on program management. She holds many certifications, including Project Management Professional (PMP) and ISO9001 Quality Management System (QMS). She is driven by her robust values-based leadership and has proven her ability to develop and grow a culture focused on empowerment. She is committed to building an organization focused on customer trust. Amanda has spent many hours leading various employee resource groups, speaking on panels, and volunteering in the community

Angelica Dzedulionis

Angelica began her journey in the payments sector at American Express, where she worked within the Centurion portfolio- one of the company's most exclusive and high touch customer segments. She later joined Lufthansa as a Product Manager for its co-brand credit card portfolio, overseeing strategic development and performance across five international markets, including China and Mexico. Her work included optimizing product value propositions, coordinating with issuing banks and schemes, and driving initiatives to enhance customer engagement and revenue growth across diverse regulatory and competitive environments. Today, Angelica works at Eurex, Europe's leading derivatives exchange, where she contributes to sales operations and lead management across equity and index derivatives. She plays a key role in optimizing lead processes, improving sales funnel insights and strengthening client engagement through data-driven approaches. She is an active member of several business initiatives focused on integrating AI across the organization. Her work includes evaluating AI use cases, collaborating with marketing, client services and cross-department stakeholders, and contributing to a broader understanding and integration of AI across the exchange's global ecosystem.

Diane Igoche

Diane Igoche is Director of Agentic AI Governance at Salesforce. She's worked across payments, healthcare, and SaaS, so she's seen how AI affects different industries. She has a PhD in Learning, Design, and Technology and a Chief Data Officer certification from Carnegie Mellon University. She spent a decade as a professor and served as Associate Dean at Robert Morris University before moving into enterprise tech. Now she spends her time figuring out what it takes to stay relevant and ready in an ever-disruptive AI era.

Rebecca Walden

Rebecca Walden is a payments marketing executive currently serving in a go-to-market leadership role at Corvia. She brings more than a decade of experience working with fintechs, ISOs, ISVs, and financial institutions, with a focus on strategy, storytelling, and audience engagement. Prior to Corvia, Rebecca led enterprise-wide merchant services marketing at First American (Deluxe). She remains actively involved in the payments industry through conference programming and strategic advisory work. Rebecca is known for her thoughtful, conversational style on stage and her ability to guide discussions in a way that is both structured and accessible. She has served as a moderator and event host for numerous industry forums, including leadership summits and executive-level events within the payments ecosystem. A breast cancer survivor, Rebecca is also a passionate advocate for early detection and patient support, volunteering her time at the local, regional, and national levels. She lives in the Dallas–Fort Worth area with her family.

Caroline McIlroy

Caroline McIlroy is the U.S. Emerging Payments Lead at PwC, specializing in digital assets and next-generation payment infrastructure. With five years of hands-on experience across stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and blockchain-enabled solutions, she has advised global banks, payment companies, and enterprise merchants on how to modernize payments, optimize settlement, and unlock new revenue opportunities. Caroline has led projects spanning tokenized trade instruments, metaverse-native payment experiences, bank risk assessments for crypto-native clients, and large-scale stablecoin adoption studies. She also directed research for a major card network on how blockchain can reduce global AML/KYC burdens. An MBA graduate of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, Caroline brings a uniquely cross-functional perspective blending strategy, product design, and real-world implementation across the evolving digital asset landscape.

Preeti Chaturvedi

Preeti oversees revenue growth, innovation, operational excellence, risk management, and talent development. An innovation champion and client advocate, she has launched award-winning, commercially successful products to help institutional clients succeed in hyper-connected digital economy.

Rebecca Carvatt

Becky is a partner in the EY Financial Services Consulting practice, focused on the transformational changes impacting the financial services industry – from data and automation to digital assets. She has over 19 years of experience working with many of the world’s leading financial and technology brands to drive finance transformations, launch new products and businesses, and scale global operations. Becky has spent her career at the intersection of finance, operations, technology and data. Becky also has significant international consulting experience. Based in Hong Kong from 2014 to 2020, she supported global clients with their growth strategies in the region and was deeply engaged in the innovation economy, from digital banks to crypto-native businesses. Becky earned her BBA/BS in Finance and Government from The College of William & Mary and her MaCC from Notre Dame.

Anuradha Somani

Anu Somani is the Head of Global Payables and Embedded Payments at U.S. Bank. In her role, Anu is responsible for developing the next generation of embedded and instant payment solutions for clients, driving solutions for clients that combine existing and evolving payment systems. Under Anu’s leadership, U.S. Bank launched its Payment Innovation Studio in 2019. In the studio, Anu’s team works collaboratively with corporate clients to develop real-world solutions to the unique payment and treasury management challenges businesses are facing.Over the course of her career – which has included finance and payment roles in Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, the U.S. and UK – Anu has been named one of American Banker’s Most Influential Women in Payments Next and also an Emerging Leader in Banking and Finance by Crain’s New York. Anu works out of U.S. Bank’s New York City office and has an MBA from London Business School. 

Kirti Choudhary

Kirti is a Managing Director & Partner in the New York office of BCG and a core member of the Financial Institutions & Technology & Digital Advantage Practices. Kirti focuses on the topics of Customer Journeys and World Class Digital Channels in Payments. She has worked with banks in the US, Australia, Canada, Middle East, & India on the topics of customer journeys, digitization & operations.

Roiana Reid

As Lead Economist, U.S., at the Mastercard Economics Institute, Roiana’s responsibilities include the development and delivery of differentiated economic, financial, policy and market insights for customers and colleagues at Mastercard. Roiana joined Mastercard in 2022. Prior to joining Mastercard, Roiana was at KKR, where she performed macroeconomic analyses for the Real Estate and Private Equity Consumer Investment teams. Roiana also worked at Berenberg Capital Markets and Nomura Securities where she analyzed the U.S. economy. Roiana graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and economics from Vassar College, and a master’s degree in information and data science from the University of California, Berkeley, and is a member of the National and New York Associations for Business Economics.

Tara Fabiano

Tara Fabiano leads global risk management for corporate and commercial payments within the Global Payments Solutions (GPS) group. She drives risk strategy and execution across a diverse portfolio of transactional payment products—including Wire, ACH, Real-Time Payments, Transactional FX, and Digital Disbursements—ensuring secure and innovative solutions for clients worldwide. Her work spans product growth, fraud risk governance, regulatory compliance, and technology advancements, aligning risk mitigation with business objectives and industry evolution. With nearly two decades at Bank of America and prior experience at two other leading financial institutions, Tara has held diverse leadership roles across Global Markets, Corporate Banking, and Treasury Services. Her career highlights include leading client service for bond and derivatives valuations, launching a new trading desk as program manager, managing business controls in Global Corporate Banking, and overseeing Know Your Customer (KYC) processes for corporate and treasury clients. Tara holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance from Siena College and an MBA from Columbia University. She previously held FINRA licenses and was a Bond Market Association Rising Star finalist. Tara lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband and family.

Melissa Schmidt

Melissa Schmidt is a Senior Principal and Payments Market Solutions Leader at Slalom. Slalom is a Seattle-based, global consulting firm, and their Payments division partners with clients across industries to modernize, scale, and differentiate their payment ecosystems. Melissa's work spans enterprise payments strategy, product strategy and development, payments platform assessments, growth strategy, and modernization of legacy payment infrastructures. Prior to joining Slalom, Melissa spent more than 25 years leading revenue generating teams within Elavon and U.S. Bank, focused in areas of partnership development, mergers & acquisition, product commercialization and embedded finance. Melissa brings a deep understanding of the payments ecosystem and a passion for building strong, successful partnerships. She is based in Atlanta with her husband, an Emory University Professor, and three active children, balancing the calendar between basketball, football, lacrosse and swim practices!

Catherine Mayne

Catherine Mayne is a seasoned executive specializing in strategic partnerships, business development, and go-to-market strategies. With decades of experience at leading companies such as Visa, Mastercard, and Square, she has a proven track record of driving revenue growth, market expansion, and new product development. She fosters a leadership style that develops individuals personally and professionally, crediting successful endeavors to cross-functional acumen, product knowledge, and authentic relationships. Catherine is the Head of Accounts at VGS, where she brings her expertise in fintech, payment security, and compliance to help organizations scale and protect their payment operations.

Breah Patterson

Breah Patterson is a Senior Product Manager at StockX, where she leads the execution of their global seller financial services strategy. She is passionate about building intelligent, scalable systems that empower sellers to make better financial decisions while maintaining operational flexibility. Outside of work, Breah enjoys trying new Pilates classes and volunteering in her community.

Neema Aggarwal

Neema Aggarwal is a Partner in BCG’s New York office and a senior leader in the firm’s Payments practice. She works with clients across the payments ecosystem, including card issuers, networks, processors, fintechs, and merchants, on topics ranging from co-brand and issuer card strategy to digital marketing, data and AI strategy, and revenue expansion. Neema brings expertise in GenAI for payments, including the application of agentic AI and agentic commerce to drive growth and improve customer experiences. Her work spans loyalty and co-brand card growth, virtual card issuing, and long-term strategic planning for payments companies pursuing new partnerships, products, and adjacent revenue streams. In her free time, Neema likes to hike, ski, and scuba dive on travels around the world.

Martha Hill Harvey

Martha is Senior Vice President of Strategy & Network Operations at Synchrony Financial, headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. There, she is focused on developing the bank's strategy for the Home & Auto Platform, as well as overseeing operations with credit card networks: American Express, Discover, Mastercard and Visa. She joined Synchrony in 2021. Prior to Synchrony, Martha worked at Bain & Company, a management consultancy. Martha earned an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, and is a graduate of Dartmouth College, where she received a bachelor of arts, with honors, in English and Classical Studies. Martha lives in Stonington, Connecticut with her husband and her black lab, Lucy.

Brittany McCaffrey

Brittany McCaffrey leads a team of treasury professionals specializing in healthcare, higher education, and nonprofit organizations throughout the Central Region. In her current position, she offers strategic guidance, escalation support, and leadership engagement to address challenges and eliminate obstacles for our clients. Previously, Brittany was the Program Director for J.P. Morgan’s Middle Market and Specialized Industries Analyst/Associate program, a role focused on nurturing junior talent and laying the foundation for today's discussion on managing across multiple generations. She has over 20 years of experience in in commercial banking, treasury services, sales, and leadership. She lives in Florida with her husband, 7-year old son, and three dogs.

Robin Watson

Robin Watson joined Vitalant in 2021, bringing with her more than two decades of broad finance and accounting expertise spanning both nonprofit and forprofit organizations. In her role as Vice President, Corporate Controller, she oversees the enterprise core accounting functions, including payables, receivables, general ledger, tax, and external financial reporting. Robin is known for her strong operational mindset and commitment to excellence, which has led to the implementation of enhanced internal controls to reduce fraud risk, redesigning key processes to improve efficiency and turnaround time, and strengthening leadership capabilities across her team. Robin is currently guiding the organization through a major ERP transformation, leading a crossfunctional effort that includes a customized solution for customer pricing and invoicing. Her passion for standardization, process improvement, and scalable systems is matched by her dedication to developing and empowering her team members, fostering a culture of accountability, growth, and collaboration. An accountancy graduate of the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, Robin remains deeply engaged in her community. She serves as Treasurer on the Phoenix Police Foundation board and is actively pursuing her Associate Certified Coach credential, further reflecting her commitment to leadership development and service.

Jennifer Lucas

Industry veteran. Payments trailblazer. Visionary strategist. Driven innovator who holds several patents. Passionate about the future of payments and a globally connected ecosystem, Jennifer has more than 25 years of experience in payments and financial services technology, driving digital adoption and growth. An innovator who previously led the payments strategy at a large US bank, she applies that mindset to help organizations achieve resiliency and set a course forward.

Mali Bartlett

Mali Bartlett is the Global Head of Liquidity & Account Solutions for J.P. Morgan Payments, a business that provides a range of award-winning cash management and optimization solutions, including deposit management, escrow services and virtual account management. The team works with multi-national corporations and financial institutions to help them access new markets, simplify bank account structures and make best use of their working capital to fund their global operations.

Silvana Hernandez

Silvana Hernandez is the Executive Vice President, Core Payments in Latin America and the Caribbean for Mastercard. In this role, Silvana leads strategy and execution in the region for the brand’s digital, acceptance and core products including credit, debit and prepaid working closely with ecosystem partners. Silvana joined Mastercard in 2010 and has held various global and regional positions in consulting, product strategy, product management and partner engagement. Prior to Mastercard, she spent close to 10 years in management consulting roles, where she specialized in financial services and telecommunication verticals. Silvana holds a Bachelor of Arts from TEC de Monterrey in Mexico City, and a Master of Business Administration from Carnegie Mellon University.

Sarah Billings

Sarah is Group Senior Vice President and Head of Payments and International for PNC Financial Services. Mrs. Billings has responsibility for Product Management, Operations, and Transformation of these enterprise functions. In her role, she leads a multi-disciplinary team committed to delivering innovative, market-leading solutions and transforming PNC’s core platforms.

Julia Streets

Julia Streets is a champion of fintech and entrepreneurship, innovation, diversity and inclusion.   In 2007, she founded Streets Consulting, the business development, marketing and communications consultancy. She and her team advise a wide range of international firms in the field of fintech, capital markets, investment management and payments innovation, as well as specialist offerings including NFTs, digital assets, tokenisation, blockchain, artificial intelligence and more.  Prior to becoming a founder & CEO, Julia was global head of communications at NYSE Technologies, serving on the Executive Committee and European head of marketing and sales development at Instinet Europe.  She was head of eCommerce for a City PR agency throughout the dotcom boom and over the past 30+ years she has advised hundreds of startups, scaleups and global banks and financial institutions.   A certified transformational leadership coach, she works with senior executives to help them build and lead high performing teams, develop proud and solid growth-minded cultures and outperform as enlightened leaders. Julia is the host of ‘DiverCity Podcast’ talking about diversity, equity and inclusion in financial services.  Now in its 15th series, DiverCity Podcast has listeners in >50 countries and is ranked one of the world’s top DE&I podcasts.  She is also the host of CityAM’s ESG show "Impact AM Live", Shell’s Energy Podcast and host of ‘Metaverse: What matters?”, recorded in the metaverse, available on You Tube to educate the world about the opportunities and risks as we navigate this multi-trillion dollar industry. She is an advisor, mentor and investor and is called upon to chair many of the world’s leading conferences drawing not only on her industry experience, but also on her skills as a speaker, host and sell-out stand up comedian. Julia had received many awards and accolades including being listed as one of Brummell Magazine’s 30 Women on Boards, 39 Female Entrepreneurs, and 30 Women of Influence.  She is one of the Global Diversity List’s 20 global champions and is regularly called out as a trailblazer and changemaker.  Julia is a founding member of the Power Women Network, a fellow of the British American Project and proud to serve as a board trustee of Street Child, a global education charity that believes that all children should be safe, in school and learning.

Jennifer Lucas

Industry veteran. Payments trailblazer. Visionary strategist. Driven innovator who holds several patents. Passionate about the future of payments and a globally connected ecosystem, Jennifer has more than 25 years of experience in payments and financial services technology, driving digital adoption and growth. An innovator who previously led the payments strategy at a large US bank, she applies that mindset to help organizations achieve resiliency and set a course forward.

Ryan Barlow

Ryan Barlow is a Payments industry professional focused on delivering innovative solutions for payment products and technology, first joining Bank of America in 2018. In her role as a Business Strategy & Initiatives Manager in the Bank's Global Payments Solutions organization, she is responsible for the Innovation and Strategy group's Consumer portfolio from concept conception to delivery execution. Ryan focuses on aligning organizational priorities with innovative solutions that enhance operational efficiency and deliver measurable impact, championing practical AI applications for client-facing use cases and backend payments technology systems. With a proven track record in strategy development, cross-functional leadership, and change management, Ryan is passionate about fostering collaboration and empowering teams to achieve ambitious goals. She brings a forward-thinking approach to payments innovation, leveraging data-driven insights to shape strategies that meet evolving customer and market needs. Ryan is committed to advancing diversity and inclusion within the payments ecosystem and champions initiatives that create equitable opportunities for women in the industry. Ryan holds a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and currently resides in Chicago, IL.

Jill Barbano

Jill Barbano is a Senior Manager in Deloitte’s Customer Strategy & Design practice, delivering enterprise and customer strategy for banking, payments, and fintech organizations. Keeping the customer at the forefront, she has worked with numerous global and US payments companies to launch new products + experiences into market, taking an end-to-end approach inclusive of strategy, marketing, design, product, legal / risk, technology, and customer service. She is a graduate of McGill University and holds her MBA from Cornell University.

Jennifer Philo

Jennifer is a prominent thought leader with deep insight into customer loyalty, digital transformation, global strategy, and commercial expansion. She is an expert at advising BHN clients on growth and innovation within the commerce and incentive channels. Jennifer is well-versed in cutting-edge strategies that leverage gift cards to build engagement and best practices for building successful B2B and retail programs while implementing gift card solutions as strategic business development tools. Additionally, Jennifer oversees all first- and third-party card partnerships at BHN, Digital Distribution Partnerships, Content Partnerships, and Global Strategic Partnerships, providing leadership and oversight to its continuously growing customer base, which includes top financial institutions, household name retailers, and the largest digital distribution platforms. Jennifer also has executive oversight of BHN’s Advertising & Promotions, enabling BHN to scale and deepen promotional offerings across its brand partners. She is a member of the Steering Committee for one of the largest global digital retail platforms, driving the technology roadmap for gift cards and stored value. This remit is responsible for multiple multi-billion-dollar partnerships. Jennifer boasts more than 20 years of experience in the payments industry. Prior to her 12 years at BHN, she held senior positions at Coinstar, Ameritel, and Giftango Corporation. Her team’s remit at BHN is global oversight of the digital platform, OCS, and driving digital innovation, security, and best practices with BHN’s retail partners and colleagues covering both incentive and commerce. Jennifer has been married to her husband, Len, for 30 years and has two children, Steven (28) and Kathleen (26). She and Len reside in Gig Harbor, WA.

Brian Tate

Brian Tate is President and CEO the Innovative Payments Association. The IPA is the premiere payments trade association focused exclusively on companies involved in providing innovative payment products to consumers, businesses, and federal and state governments. As the association’s lead advocate, spokesperson, and legal officer, Brian is a steadfast advocate for the increased use of electronic payments as an efficient and effective means of consumer banking before the CFPB, prudential banking regulators (OCC, FDIC, the Federal Reserve) state policymakers, and Congress. Brian is also a co-chair of the IRS’s Security Summit’s Financial Services Working Group, and has represented the IPA before FinCEN’s BSAAG, and was a member of the FTC’s Stop Senior Scams Task Force. Over the last 15 years Brian has been directly involved in some of the most notable financial services related issues, including the Dodd-Frank Act, the Durbin Amendment, the Small Business Jobs Act, and Fiduciary Duty, Mobile Wallets, and Earned Wage Access. Lastly, Brian has participated in numerous media interviews, industry panels, and has had the privilege of testifying before the United States Congress in 2021. Lastly, Brian has authored a wide variety of financial services op-eds regarding the state of the payments industry.

Sherri Haymond

Sherri Haymond is the global head of Digital Commercialization at Mastercard and a member of the company’s Management Committee. In her role, Sherri leads a unique team working with digital players large and small to create innovative, differentiated products and solutions that shape the future of commerce.As our world becomes borderless and even more digitally connected, Sherri and her team keep a pulse on the market to ensure Mastercard delivers relevant, impactful and industry-leading capabilities. Through a consultative approach, they enable partners around the globe to build best-in-class solutions tapping Mastercard technology and deliver them at scale. Inspired by Mastercard’s longstanding focus on inclusive growth, Sherri is passionate about working hand in hand with mission-aligned companies to solve real-world problems for people and businesses around the world.Since joining Mastercard in 2010, first as legal counsel and subsequently focusing on digital products in Mastercard’s Digital Payments & Labs business and then Global Partnerships, Sherri has been at the forefront of several initiatives driving transformation of the payments ecosystem. She has played a significant role in the development and commercialization of solutions such as mobile payments, tokenization, open banking, installments and more.Earlier in her career, Sherri was with Banc of America Securities in its structured finance group and practiced capital markets law at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. Sherri holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Literature from Duke University. She serves on the board of MoCADA, the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, in Brooklyn, N.Y., and is the proud founder of What’s Your Twenty, Inc., a small business in New York City.

Cindra Maharaj

Cindra Maharaj is the U.S. Lead for Banking at Baringa, specializing in digital assets, payments, treasury, emerging technologies and risk transformation. She advises banks, financial institutions, and payment providers on transformation and change, infrastructure modernization, and operating model design in an evolving financial landscape. With more than two decades of experience in financial services, Cindra brings specific expertise across balance sheet management, liquidity, financial risk, and governance. She works closely with executive teams to address the strategic and operational implications of payments innovation and digital asset adoption. Before joining Baringa in 2018, Cindra held senior roles at Morgan Stanley and EY, focusing on treasury, financial risk, and enterprise controls. She is committed to advancing leadership opportunities for women in financial services and contributes regularly to industry dialogue on the future of banking and payments.

Cristiane Gomes

Cristiane Gomes is a Client Executive for BNY Global Payments & Trade in the Financial Institutions Group North American region. Before this role, Cristiane led Sales & Relationship Management for Global Payments & Trade in Bermuda and The Caribbean Region, and earlier for the South America region. With over 30 years of experience in the Global Financial Market, Cristiane's career has spanned both Brazil and the United States, working with Brazilian and International banks. Cristiane began her career at BankBoston, where for 13 years she managed the sale of various banking products, including corporate loans, trade finance, local and international cash management, and derivatives to Corporates and NBFIs. Before joining BNY in 2011, Cristiane served as a Senior Vice President for Structured Trade Transactions at WestLB and was previously a Senior Banker at Banco ItauBBA and Bank of America. Cristiane holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from FAAP – Fundação Armando Álvares Penteado, and an MBA from the University of Toronto. Cristiane is also CTP certified. Native in Portuguese, Cristiane is fluent in English and Spanish, with proficiency in French.

Jessica Lupovici

Global Payments & Liquidity provides cash management, working capital solutions and digital channel capabilities for customers of Commercial Banking, Corporate & Investment Banking, Consumer, Small & Business Banking and Wealth and Investment Management customers. With offices across the United States and in Canada, Global Payments & Liquidity Sales delivers local coverage and specialized industry expertise to companies in a wide variety of industries and subsectors. Jessica will be responsible for aligning GPL sales with the needs and strategy of businesses across the three Lines of Business. Prior to this role, Jessica was the Head of the East Region for Middle Market Banking within the Wells Fargo Commercial Banking organization. Prior to joining Wells Fargo in 2022, Jessica led global treasury services sales for mid-corporate customers across both general industries and specialized coverage, as well as financial institutions at J.P Morgan Chase. She served as a key member of the Commercial Bank leadership team with responsibility for partnering across the organization to deliver sales strategies, new products, and digital solutions to meet client needs and provide a differentiated and efficient experience. Prior to that, she worked in the Investment Bank running first, North America corporate foreign exchange sales, and then treasury sales for technology, media, and telecom. Jessica has also held a series of relationship-focused roles with Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and Citibank in her 30 year banking career. Jessica earned a B.A. from Lehigh University where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa. Jessica lives in New York City with her husband and two sons and is active supporting her community.

Nicole Meyer

Nicole Meyer, Founder & Managing Partner - Nicole has over thirty years’ experience in Banking, having spent most of her career at Citibank, her last role as Managing Director, North American Financial Institutions Cash Management Sales. At Citibank, Nicole’s roles ranged from Business Development and Sales Leadership to Implementation Head for e-Banking Solutions to North American Cash & Trade Six Sigma Process Reengineering Head. Prior to Citibank, Nicole worked for The First National Bank of Chicago and Shawmut Bank Boston, in client-facing roles. She started her career in sales at Xerox. Nicole’s search experience includes hiring senior-level executives for roles ranging from the Global Head of Transaction Banking to the Global Head of Payments, to Heads of Regions and Countries, Heads of Product, Sales, and Service, and Heads of Operational Risk. Her expertise is in the areas of B2B Payments and Liquidity, Digital Banking, Trade/Working Capital/Supply Chain Finance, and Corporate and Commercial Banking. Nicole began her head-hunting career in 2007 at The Rose Partnership in London as Head of the Corporate and Transaction Banking Practice. Nicole is a frequent speaker at banking conferences and client forums. She speaks most frequently about Skills Assessment, Networking/Branding, Interviewing, Writing Impactful and Metrics-based CV’s/Resumes, Career Transitions, The Gift of Feedback, and How to Work with Executive Recruiters. She has been invited to lead workshops at Deutsche Bank, Bank of America, Zions Bank, JP Morgan, BAFT, EuroFinance, Wharton Business School, Women in Payments (WIP), The Association for Financial Professionals (AFP), and FMA, Financial Management Association. Nicole has an undergraduate cum laude degree in Economics and French from St. Lawrence University and an MBA with Honours from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She holds dual citizenship with the UK and US.

Suzanne Blanchfield

As Executive Director at JPMorgan Chase & Co., Suzanne brings over eighteen years of specialized experience in payments and business development, with deep expertise in solution selling, technology and the end-to-end payments ecosystem. Suzanne’s background encompasses a broad spectrum of payment technologies, including real-time payments, cross-border transactions, merchant acquiring, and treasury services. With deep industry experience, Suzanne is a member of the Women’s Empowerment & Leadership Network, Wnet -Women's Network in Electronic Transactions, Electronic Transactions Association, Women in Crypto and People in Emerging Payments. Suzanne volunteers with matters close to her heart such as the SPCA, National Park Service and previously with the Suicide Hotline. Suzanne resides in Charlotte, North Carolina with her husband.

Vanessa Lin

Vanessa Lin is global head of Product for Goldman Sachs Transaction Banking in Platform Solutions. She is responsible for the overall product strategy, designing go-to-market strategies and leading a team of product experts to develop best-in-class solutions for the firm's clients. Prior to joining the firm, Vanessa was global head of Digital and Client Enablement at Bank of New York (BNY) where she led the Product Commercialization, Digital Channels, Product Implementation and Client Service functions to ensure the delivery of best-in-class experiences for clients throughout the entire treasury services life cycle. Earlier at BNY, she led the North America FI Sales team. Before BNY, Vanessa worked for JP Morgan where she was global head of Product for Multi-currency Clearing and was responsible for several product lines that service thousands of institutional clients around the world. Prior to that, she spent more than five years at HSBC managing Payments, Receivables and Commercial Cards for the North America region. Vanessa started her career at Citi where she spent 13 years in roles such as sales & account management, strategy & planning and product management. Vanessa earned an MBA from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland.

Kimberly Ford

Kimberly Ford is Senior Vice President, Head of Government Relations, at Fiserv. She oversees implementation of the company’s policy strategy and overall political advocacy engagement, representing Fiserv’s political interests in the European Union, United Kingdom and United States. Kim joined Fiserv from the U.S. Faster Payments Council, where she was the first Executive Director of the organization. Prior to her FPC work, she spent 15 years at First Data, starting her career there as Manager of Public Policy and rising to become head of the global policy team. She was Regional Director for U.S. Senator Bill Nelson of Florida prior to First Data, and she worked in lobbying and communications roles for several Florida-based business trade associations before that. Over the course of her career in the payments industry, she has authored several policy measures that were enacted into law, created a federal PAC, and she has worked to cultivate a greater awareness about the critical role that payment technology providers play in global commerce. Kim frequently covers payments issues as a featured speaker at industry and client conferences, and she has twice served as a subject matter expert witness to testify in front of the U.S. Congress. Kim currently sits on the strategic advisory board for the FinTech startup Identifee, and she was the founder of and is on the board for a payments processor-focused advocacy group called the Payments Coalition.

Jamie Walker

Jamie Walker has been with Elavon since 2001 and served as chief executive officer since 2017. Over his tenure, he has been responsible for the global acquiring business, operating with more than 4,500 employees in the United States, Canada and throughout Europe. In October 2025, he was appointed to lead the Digital Assets and Money Movement organization within Digital, Data and AI at U.S. Bank. In his new role, he will oversee the creation of a new dedicated digital assets product unit to lead and govern all aspects of digital assets and blockchain product development. He will lead Elavon in the interim until a new successor is named. Since joining Elavon, Walker’s leadership roles have spanned many areas, including leading accounting operations, managing acquisitions and international expansion as chief financial officer, and assessing risk and opportunities for strategic growth in the role of chief administrative officer for U.S. Bank’s Payment Services division. Prior to Elavon, Walker was a senior accountant at Ernst & Young. Walker holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and marketing from Emory University. He is active in the Atlanta community and serves on the finance committee for the City of Refuge, as President of the Electronic Transactions Association, and is on the board of directors of Junior Achievement of Georgia and the American Transaction Processors Coalition (ATPC).

Susan D’Angelo

With over 30 years of experience in technology and financial services, Susan has played a pivotal role in developing and delivering innovative fintech solutions. Her expertise lies in helping financial services companies strengthen their security postures, mitigate risk, navigate complex regulatory landscapes, and ensure the resilience of payment systems—all while driving extraordinary customer experiences.

Meg Garand

Meg is Managing Director and Global Product Head of Product Risk Execution in Global Payments Solutions at Bank of America. In this role, Meg leads a global team with accountability for risk management activities across GPS global products and the CashPro platform. A critical aspect of this role is ensuring alignment with the risk framework at Bank of America including a focus on compliance with laws, rules and regulations, globally. Prior to this role, Meg was the Head of CashPro Payments and API with accountability for ~300mm in payment volume representing ~$32T in payment value annually. Payment origination spans the online, connectivity, mobile and API channels accessed by clients across small business/business banking, commercial and large corporate multi-national client base. Meg joined the firm in July 1994 through a management training program. As part of that program, she worked in project management and in Wire Transfer Operations. From there, Meg moved into the GPS Product Management organization and, since then, has had leading roles in GPS. Meg is a graduate of Wake Forest University with a BA in Speech Communication. Meg is based in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she volunteers for Novant Health as an Advisory Council Member and enjoys spending time with her son, daughter, and extended family.

Julia Streets

Julia Streets is a champion of fintech and entrepreneurship, innovation, diversity and inclusion.   In 2007, she founded Streets Consulting, the business development, marketing and communications consultancy. She and her team advise a wide range of international firms in the field of fintech, capital markets, investment management and payments innovation, as well as specialist offerings including NFTs, digital assets, tokenisation, blockchain, artificial intelligence and more.  Prior to becoming a founder & CEO, Julia was global head of communications at NYSE Technologies, serving on the Executive Committee and European head of marketing and sales development at Instinet Europe.  She was head of eCommerce for a City PR agency throughout the dotcom boom and over the past 30+ years she has advised hundreds of startups, scaleups and global banks and financial institutions.   A certified transformational leadership coach, she works with senior executives to help them build and lead high performing teams, develop proud and solid growth-minded cultures and outperform as enlightened leaders. Julia is the host of ‘DiverCity Podcast’ talking about diversity, equity and inclusion in financial services.  Now in its 15th series, DiverCity Podcast has listeners in >50 countries and is ranked one of the world’s top DE&I podcasts.  She is also the host of CityAM’s ESG show "Impact AM Live", Shell’s Energy Podcast and host of ‘Metaverse: What matters?”, recorded in the metaverse, available on You Tube to educate the world about the opportunities and risks as we navigate this multi-trillion dollar industry. She is an advisor, mentor and investor and is called upon to chair many of the world’s leading conferences drawing not only on her industry experience, but also on her skills as a speaker, host and sell-out stand up comedian. Julia had received many awards and accolades including being listed as one of Brummell Magazine’s 30 Women on Boards, 39 Female Entrepreneurs, and 30 Women of Influence.  She is one of the Global Diversity List’s 20 global champions and is regularly called out as a trailblazer and changemaker.  Julia is a founding member of the Power Women Network, a fellow of the British American Project and proud to serve as a board trustee of Street Child, a global education charity that believes that all children should be safe, in school and learning.

Kristy Duncan

A sought-after advisor, investor, and speaker, Kristy has dedicated her career to empowering the professional and personal development of women in the payments and fintech industry. She founded Women in Payments in 2012, a global organization that connects, educates, and champions women in the payments industry. Prior to that, Kristy was a leading global payments consultant. She advised C-suite leaders at global financial institutions, payments networks, fintechs, regulators, and more. Prior to that, she held leadership positions at a tier one Canadian bank in the areas of corporate treasury, transaction banking, finance, and operations. Today, Kristy works closely with fintech founders to help them build pivotal relationships, secure funding, and take their businesses to the next level.

Crystal Wright

Crystal Wright serves as Senior Vice President of Communications for CardWorks, where she leads the company’s enterprise-wide Corporate Communications and Events function. In this role, she is accountable for shaping and executing CardWorks’ integrated communications strategy—internally and externally—to strengthen the company’s reputation, elevate brand awareness for CardWorks and its subsidiaries, and support the organization’s long-term growth ambitions. Prior to joining CardWorks, Crystal served as Vice President of Public Relations at Paysafe, a global payments platform. She modernized the company’s communications function, introduced first-in-brand content and media initiatives, and significantly increased top-tier coverage while advancing the firm’s brand narrative across key stakeholders. Her earlier experience includes senior leadership roles at Cardtronics, where she led public affairs, external communications, and policy advocacy, helping position the company ahead of its acquisition by NCR. Before moving in-house, Crystal spent nearly two decades advising high-profile clients across industries on communications strategy, crisis management, and thought leadership. Crystal holds a Bachelor of Arts from Georgetown University and a Master of Fine Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University. She is based in Washington, D.C.

Nancy Schempp

Nancy Schempp brings more than 20 years of experience in financial services to her role as Head of Issuing at Block. Throughout her career, she has worked across the full payments and financial services ecosystem—from traditional banking institutions to innovative fintech companies—giving her a unique, comprehensive perspective on the industry's evolution and future. At Block, Nancy leads the Issuing division, where she oversees the development and execution of transformative payment solutions designed to build technology for economic empowerment. Her work spans card programs, digital wallets, and embedded financial services—all built with the goal of creating seamless, innovative payment experiences for merchants and consumers alike. Nancy's thought leadership and contributions to the payments industry have been recognized by her peers. She is a proud recipient of the Women in Payments: Next award, which honors her commitment to advancing women's leadership and driving innovation in the payments space.

Kristy Duncan

A sought-after advisor, investor, and speaker, Kristy has dedicated her career to empowering the professional and personal development of women in the payments and fintech industry. She founded Women in Payments in 2012, a global organization that connects, educates, and champions women in the payments industry. Prior to that, Kristy was a leading global payments consultant. She advised C-suite leaders at global financial institutions, payments networks, fintechs, regulators, and more. Prior to that, she held leadership positions at a tier one Canadian bank in the areas of corporate treasury, transaction banking, finance, and operations. Today, Kristy works closely with fintech founders to help them build pivotal relationships, secure funding, and take their businesses to the next level.

Tanvi Patel

Tanvi is a Principal in PwC's Financial Services Banking Advisory Services practice in New York. She has over 15+ years of co nsulting and industry experience in financial services, ranging in payment strategies, vendor selection, and transforming payment program from end to end. Tanvi has worked on number of payments, commercial and retail banking engagements steering payment strategy, current state assessment, risk and controls assessments, product analysis, vendor selection and implementation support, target operating model design, and future state recommendations. Tanvi has a BS in Information Technology from Mumbai University (Mumbai, India), and Masters in Management Information Systems from Stevens Institute of Technology with finance major.

Laine Donlan

Laine Donlan joined Truist in the spring of 2020 and currently leads Technology Delivery for Enterprise Payments. He has over 25 years of hands on technology delivery experience in financial services —with a particular focus on enterprise payments across retail, wholesale, and investment sectors. Throughout Laine’s career, he has led strategy, architecture, engineering management, and process transformation, always focused on driving innovation and practical results. Laine holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Finance from James Madison University. Outside of work, Laine is committed to giving back through local charities and service organizations. When not volunteering, Laine enjoys fishing, golfing, gardening, and hiking in and around Charlotte, NC, where he lives with his wife, 2 daughters and 2 dogs.

Thomas Halpin

Tom Halpin is a senior leader in the financial services industry with over 30 years of experience in transaction banking. Currently, Tom serves as the Regional Head of North America for Global Payments Solutions at HSBC. In this role, he is responsible for driving strategy and execution to deliver outcomes that help clients achieve their business ambitions. Tom serves on the TCH PayCo Board and is a member of the Federal Reserve Payments System Risk Committee, contributing to the advancement and security of the U.S. payments infrastructure. Tom holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Computer Science from Fordham University and an MBA from Columbia University.

Sheffali Welch

Sheffali Welch is a Forbes 50 over 50 recipient and the Chief Operating Officer of The Clearing House where she is responsible for HR, Finance, Marketing and Communications and Corporate Real Estate as well as supporting critical strategic and operational initiatives.

Jason Martin

Jason Martin is a principal in the EY Financial Services Business Transformation Consulting practice. He has more than 25 years of experience in consumer banking, transformation and merger integration, payments, operations simplification and automation, as well as product and digital transformation. Before joining EY, Jason spent over 12 years in industry roles focused on product and channel leadership. He served as the Checking and Debit Product Executive at a global bank, where he drove record growth and retention through simplification and innovative offers. Prior to that, he was the head of the ATM Channel, responsible for branch technology and processes, deploying significant improvements to sales and service operations at another multinational bank. Before his industry experience, Jason spent a decade in consulting, concentrating on financial services merger integration and large-scale systems implementations. He resides in Charlotte with his wife, their teenage son and daughter, and their miniature schnauzer.

Emma Loftus

Emma Loftus is executive vice president and head of Treasury Management for PNC Bank. With a longstanding record of delivering value and customized business solutions to clients across all market segments, Emma is focused on building a culture of innovation and establishing strategic priorities to position PNC as an industry-leading provider. Before joining PNC in 2019, Emma served as Managing Director and Head of Global Payments for JP Morgan. She has held key product management and operations management positions in the payables, receivables and foreign exchange businesses at JP Morgan, Citi and Deutsche Bank. Emma is a recognized leader in treasury management and an active industry participant. She is a former director of SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) and a former member of the Clearing House Payco Board and Federal Reserve Payments Risk Committee. Emma is Co-Sponsor of the PNC Proud Employee Business Resource Group (EBRG). In her appointed role with PNC Proud, she intends to support her Group through listening, advocacy, and empowerment. Emma holds a BA from Duke University and an MBA from the Stern School of Business at New York University.

Tammy Levine

Tammy is Head of Marketing for the Global Payments & Liquidity business at Wells Fargo, which delivers working capital solutions to clients globally. She is responsible for supporting sales growth and building long-term profitable client relationships by driving hyper targeted and relevant strategies across content and marketing, industry sponsorships and conferences, and proprietary events to engage clients and the industry. Most recently, as Chief Brand Officer at Wells Fargo, Tammy modernized the enterprise brand and sponsorships strategy and launched a corporate marketing platform to elevate the brand, products, and client experience. Before joining Wells Fargo in 2021, Tammy held multiple leadershiproles in Citi’s U.S. Consumer Bank including Head of Brand, Advertising & Experiential where she launched integrated marketing campaigns for new product launches and presenting sponsorships. She also served as Head of U.S. Customer Marketing, leading client-centric lending, spending, and loyalty strategies and advancing the bank’s U.S. digital transformation to achieve industry-leading growth. Prior to Citi, Tammy was at M&T Bank, where she served as Senior Vice President and Marketing Director for the New York City region. Tammy earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University and a Master of Business Administration degree from New York University Stern School of Business. Tammy has served on the Ad Council’s board and its analytics committee. She has also been a 30% Club Mentor and has participated as a panel speaker and moderator for She Runs It, a non-profit organization that serves members who work in the marketing, media, and tech industries. Tammy lives in Westchester, New York, with her husband and two daughters.