Banco Popular de Puerto Rico

Sarah Hamel is First Vice President, Head of the Card Services Division at MB Financial Bank.  She is responsible for three business lines – Debit Card, Credit Card and Prepaid Card.  The Card Services Division was new as of January 2012.  The division was created to develop a Prepaid Card product suite, and grow the business nationally, as well as strategically align MB’s card payment products.  Sarah was asked to take on the role of Card Division Services Manager based on her knowledge of the cards and payments business, gained through her previous role managing the debit card products and ATM network. Since its launch, MB Card Services has implemented a General Purpose Reloadable (GPR) in-branch, became sponsor of a GPR card program, and in the process of rolling out Gift, Incentive/Rebate & Payroll cards.Prior to the transition to Card Division Services Manager, Sarah was the Retail Product Group Manager responsible for all retail deposit products, retail internet banking and bill payment (ibankmb.com), retail e-statement, debit cards and ATM network.  While in this role, Sarah headed up various projects such as, launch of the business debit card (2007), implementation and roll out of ibankmb.com (2008), launch of My Bank…My Rewards program (2009), selection and roll out of intelligent deposit ATMs (2010 – 2012), redesign of consumer checking products (2011), design and launch of MB Everyday Prepaid (2011 – 2012). In addition, Sarah worked directly with the marketing department and branches for product promotion and campaign development.  Sarah was also a key stakeholder in the six FDIC-assisted bank acquisitions that occurred between 2008 – 2010, responsible for the pricing and conversion of deposit products, conversion of ATM & debit cards, as well as the ATM network. In 2011, Sarah was selected by MB to be a keynote speaker in a MasterCard-sponsored event, BThere, alongside Guiliana (of the E network) and Bill Rancic (former Apprentice winner). Sarah joined MB as part of the Oak Brook Bank (OBB) merger in 2006, where she started in 2001 as part of the Management Training Program. While at OBB Sarah led many retail projects, namely ATM network management, developed checking products, research and developed the Health Savings Account program, and grew the debit card portfolio.   Prior to joining OBB, Sarah began her banking career at Fleet Bank (now Bank of America) within the retail division.  

Phil Valvardi is currently the CFO and Global Head of Business Development at GlobeOne, a new technology company that has developed a mobile-based financial platform designed to provide access to banking products for underserved consumers and self-banked millennials.� Valvardi most recently served as the General Manager of the Prepaid Solutions business at Fiserv. He has over 25 years of experience in financial services and payments. He was CEO of Maverick Network Solutions, a company acquired by Fiserv in March 2011. He previously served as President of the MAC Network, one of the largest debit networks and processors in the U.S. He also previously held executive positions in the electronic payments and financial divisions of CoreStates Financial Corp., now part of Wells Fargo Bank. He holds a BA in Marketing Management from Saint Joseph�s University and an MBA from Drexel University.�

Doug St. Peters is the Vice President of Portfolio Management for Sallie Mae. Doug has over eleven years� experience managing defaulted loan portfolios and collection agency outsourcing. Doug�s managed-workgroup administers a $19.5 billion loan inventory, contracting with over 35 collection vendors producing over $2.2 billion in recoveries annually. Doug also oversees customer contact centers that handle defaulted student borrower inquiries. Doug is a member of the National Council of Higher Education Resources (NCHER), serving on NCHER�s private loan and FFELP Debt Management committees. He has been a speaker at several national conferences regarding student loan and debt collections. Doug holds an MBA from Butler University and a B.S. in Finance from Indiana University.

As the Chief Marketing Officer, Tom Pierce is responsible for leading company-wide marketing, advertising and communications efforts; building Cardtronics' brands; supporting Cardtronics' sales organizations and developing and implementing market strategies to increase Cardtronics' per ATM and fleet wide transaction volume.Prior to joining Cardtronics, Pierce served as vice president, marketing strategy for FIS, a $5 billion publicly-traded company providing payment and financial technology solutions for financial institutions and retailers.He holds a Bachelor's degree in journalism from Marquette University and has been an active member of his community with involvement in numerous charitable and community organizations.

Bailey Reutzel is a freelance reporter and author of MoneyTripping. She was previously a staff writer at PaymentsSource.