ETA Announces Forty Under 40: Recognizing Leaders Across the Digital Payments Ecosystem

Honorees highlight the depth and diversity revolutionizing the future of digital payments.

March 21, 2018 — The Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) today revealed its inaugural Forty Under 40, highlighting game changers at the intersection of payments and technology. The roster includes individuals working across the evolving segments of the industry and highlights those whose actions and leadership are driving the payments industry forward.

ETA solicited nominations from the payments industry, seeking talented payments executives under 40. Over 100 nominations were submitted from ETA members, TRANSACT exhibitors and industry leaders. The final group was selected based on the nominees’ impact on the payments industry and their professional character.

“ETA’s first Forty Under 40 class are growing the industry at an unprecedented pace,” said Jason Oxman, CEO of ETA. “Each one possesses a unique skillset, allowing them to identify and shape key segments of the payments ecosystem. The caliber and impact of their work is exceptional and demonstrates their commitment to the industry.”

The impressive group includes founders, analysts, reporters, and C-level executives whose organizations represent everything from digital wallets to omnichannel to artificial intelligence and machine learning. The Forty Under 40 will be featured in Transaction Trends magazine and recognized during the Visa President’s Dinner & Star Awards Gala at TRANSACT, the premier event for payment industry professionals, April 17-19 in Las Vegas.

“As the trade association representing the payments industry, I am thrilled we will honor ETA’s Forty Under 40 at TRANSACT this year,” said Tim Tynan, ETA’s president and chairman of the board, and CEO of Bank of America Merchant Services. “This group of young industry leaders is advancing the future of digital commerce and powering the economy for merchants and consumers. I’m excited to see how they continue to use their talents and insights to push electronic payments forward.”

Honorees from ETA’s Forty Under 40 include:

  • Rich Aberman, Chief Strategy Officer and Cofounder at WePay, a Chase company
  • Usman Ahmed, Head of Global Public Policy at PayPal
  • Angie Ammon, Founder and Managing Partner of Fintech 513 and Cofounder of Beanstalk Payments Technologies
  • Marc Badalucco, Managing Director at IMPACT Payments Recruiting
  • Jacob Bennett, Chief Risk Officer at National Merchants Association
  • Kelby Berg, Vice President of U.S. Operations, Payment Processing at Paysafe
  • Brock Blake, CEO at Lendio
  • Lane Conner, Founder and CEO at Fuzse
  • Ben Curren, Founder and CEO at Green Bits
  • Christian Deger, CEO and Founder at Payworks
  • Matthew Donnelly, Senior Vice President, Global Compliance and Solutions at FreedomPay, Inc.
  • Liz Garner, Senior Manager, Public Policy at Amazon
  • Ben Goretsky, CEO at USAePay
  • Paul Hadfield, Founder & CEO at Revzi
  • Carolyn Homberger, Group President Global Sales at ACI Worldwide
  • Megan Howell, Director, Global Government Affairs at First Data
  • Saint Hung, CEO at Universal Processing, LLC
  • Jared Isaacman, CEO at Shift4 Payments
  • Teressa Kananen, Partner at Arnall Golden Gregory
  • Alexis King, Founding Partner and Chief Sales Officer at Salus and Rigel Payments
  • Jessica Koenig, Vice President, Product at Merchant e-Solutions
  • Sri Kothur, Line of Business Executive/GM Merchant Services at FIS
  • Aliki Liadis-Hall, Director of Underwriting at North American Bancard
  • Suneera Madhani, CEO/Founder at Fattmerchant
  • Jordan McKee, Principal Analyst at 451 Research
  • Wally Mlynarski, Chief Product Officer at Elavon
  • Georgina Nelson, CEO, Founder at TruRating
  • Rushi Patel, Cofounder and COO at Homebase
  • Sam Quigley, Risk and Security Lead at Square, Inc.
  • Michael Reitblat, CEO and Founder at Forter
  • Jared Sawyer, Deputy Assistant Secretary at The United States Treasury
  • Charlie Schloredt, Owner of Merchant Financial Services
  • Shawn Silver, President/Founder at PaymentCloud
  • Noah Spaulding, General Counsel at Circle
  • Christin Spradley, Head of External Affairs and Associate General Counsel at OnDeck
  • Georgia Stavrakis, Vice President of Merchant and External Compliance at Global Payments
  • Mike Strawhecker, Principal and Partner at The Strawhecker Group
  • Jenny Surane, Finance Reporter at Bloomberg News
  • Hiro Taylor, Founder and CEO at HeroPay
  • Derek Webster, Founder and CEO at CardFlight

For more details about the honorees, visit etatransact.com/40-under-40.

TRANSACT will bring together all parts of the payments ecosystem – from ISOs / VARs to ISVs and large financial institutions to technology companies, to meet, see what’s new, and learn what it takes to grow. Through extensive networking events, education and a robust exhibit hall filled with more than 200 companies, attendees will learn about groundbreaking technology, security trends and policies affecting the industry. To register, visit be etatransact.com.

For media inquiries, contact Laura Hubbard [email protected].

About ETA
The Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) is the global trade association representing more than 500 payments and technology companies. ETA members make commerce possible by processing more than $6 trillion in purchases in the U.S. and deploying payments innovation to merchants and consumers.