NEW YORK (PRWEB) FEBRUARY 28, 2024
American Banker, Arizent's essential resource for senior executives in financial services, has announced honorees for The Most Influential Women in Payments, the annual initiative that recognizes and celebrates trailblazing women leaders in the payments sector. This year's honorees are embracing agility and curiosity by finding unique pathways for advancement, leveraging generative AI and navigating transformational mergers.
"The payments industry is intricate and dynamic. Successful leaders need more than a keen understanding of the current landscape — they need an eye for innovation and the ability to be agile in both thinking and execution," says Daniel Wolfe, Content Director for Payments and Credit Unions at American Banker. "These women embody the resilience, savvy and shrewdness it takes to lead, and their accomplishments are nothing short of remarkable."
In terms of agility and curiosity, several honorees, like Kathryn Albright, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Payments and Deposits at Umpqua, and Carol Juel, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology and Operating Officer at Synchrony, describe the need to look beyond their linear career path for advancement. In some cases, this means embracing lateral career moves to build out a fuller skill set, or building a network well beyond fellow employees. Other honorees, like Anna Greenwald, Chief Operating Officer at MoneyGram International, and Kristy Carstensen, Executive Vice President, Payments CFO at U.S. Bank, had to navigate change by tackling the tough leadership challenge of keeping employees focused and motivated during a transformational merger.
Additional honorees include:
- Cathy Beardsley, President & CEO, Segpay
- Lia Cao, Global Head of Embedded Banking & Solutions, J.P. Morgan Payments
- Kim Fitzsimmons, Chief Executive Officer, Talus Pay
- Allysun Fleming, Executive Vice President, Head of Payments, Comerica Bank
- Kelly Haren, Senior Director, Payment Acceptance, Walmart
- Carolyn Homberger, President, Americas, Featurespace
- Shannon Johnston, CIO and Senior Executive Vice President, Global Payments
- Judith McGuire, Senior Vice President, Global Products, Discover
- Jenny Miller, Head of Business Operations, Wise
- Bea Ordonez, Chief Financial Officer, Payoneer
- Rachel Pike, Chief Operating Officer, Modern Treasury
- Nichole Price, SVP, Risk, Process and Performance, Banking as a Service Division, Pathward
- Yaminah Sattarian, Senior Vice President and Group Lead, Institutional Payments, KeyBank
- Celeste Schwitters, Senior Vice President, Head of Community Accounts, Visa
- Shamina Singh, EVP of sustainability, founder of Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, Mastercard
- Saema Somalya, Executive Vice President of Legal and Risk, Remitly
- Alexis Sowa, Global General Manager, Square Point of Sale, Square
- Gina Taylor Cotter, Executive Vice President & General Manager, Small Business Products, Global Commercial Services, American Express
- Katie Whalen, Senior Vice President, Head of North America Issuer Processing, Fiserv
- Elena Whisler, Chief Client Officer, The Clearing House
- Michelle Young, SVP, General Manager of Merchant Solutions for Financial Institutions, Worldpay
The recognition program continues the mission of supporting, empowering, celebrating and advancing women in the payments community, while also being part of American Banker's continued coverage of the progress in diversity, equity and inclusion throughout financial services. Since 2013, The Most Influential Women in Payments has recognized the professional achievements and influence of top-performing female executives.
The honorees will be the focal point of a Women in Payments pre-conference leadership exchange on the first morning of PAYMENTS FORUM, which takes place March 27-28 in Hollywood, Florida. The dedicated sessions are open to all conference attendees and will feature panels covering a variety of topics, including paths to leadership, the importance of mentorship, leading during uncertain times and more.
Read the full story to learn more about these exceptional women:
https://www.americanbanker.com/payments/list/the-most-influential-women-in-payments-2024
About American Banker
American Banker empowers banking professionals with unique analysis and insight into the ideas transforming their business and industry. Across its journalism, events, research and benchmarking, it helps drive the way forward through the complexity of business innovation, retail and commercial disruption, technology, regulation and reform. With a banking community 850M strong, American Banker's content connects leaders online, in person and in print every day.
About Arizent
Arizent is a business information company that advances professional communities by providing insights and analysis and convening industry leaders. The company uses deep industry expertise and a data-driven platform to deliver its services, which include subscriptions, marketing services, live events and access to Leaders, an executive forum. Arizent also connects business communities through leading financial services brands like American Banker, The Bond Buyer, Financial Planning and National Mortgage News, as well as professional services brands like Accounting Today, Employee Benefit News and Digital Insurance.