Celebrating the vital work of merchant risk & compliance and trust & safety professionals
December 1, 2022
Speaker Bios
Julie Fergerson
CEO
Merchant Risk Council
Julie Fergerson, CEO of the Merchant Risk Council, has over 25+ years of experience developing, delivering, and promoting internet-based technologies. She has a proven track record of bringing key stakeholders together to solve difficult problems and positioning existing technology to meet the needs of an audience without changing the fundamental value of that technology. Prior to her appointment as CEO of the MRC, Julie was Senior Vice President of Industry Solutions at Ethoca. Before Ethoca, Fergerson worked as VP of Emerging Technology at Debix and earlier co-founded ClearCommerce Corporation in 1995. She also helped grow the non-profit organization Identity Theft Resource Center, serving as Board Member and Chairman.
Jennifer Kelly
Senior Director Trust & Safety
Etsy
Jennifer is a high-performing, purpose-driven operations leader with wide-ranging experience across regulatory and brand risk mitigation and compliance operations, including content moderation, notice/action, financial crimes (AML and sanctions), consumer product safety, and anti-counterfeiting.
Nate Morrell
Sr. Risk Adviser
Silicon Valley Bank
Nate Morrell has been working in the merchant acquiring space for more than 20 years at Visa, Vital, TSYS, PayPal and currently at Silicon Valley Bank where he manages risk for the merchant services portfolio.
Deana Rich
Co-founder
Infinicept
Deana is an accomplished thought leader within the payments acquiring industry, highly respected for her payments risk management and legal and regulatory compliance expertise. Deana founded Rich Consulting in 2004 to help clients understand risk tolerances, recognize vulnerabilities, initiate effective procedures to manage exposures, and implement the right risk policies, processes and systems. In 2014, she extended her consulting experience and industry knowledge into co-founding Infinicept, which enables companies to get payments going their way. Deana is a founding member and former president of Merchant Acquirers’ Committee (MAC) and current Chair of the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) Payment Facilitator Committee. Deana is also a member of Chief, a network focused on connecting and supporting women executive leaders.
Lance Rich
Sr. Director, Underwriting and Partner Due Diligence
Payrix
Lance is a seasoned veteran in the payments space including acquiring, issuing, and ACH. He has grown and adapted to the ever-changing landscape and has adjusted to the latest trends and challenges. This includes working with non-traditional verticals including cryptocurrency, fantasy sports, and gaming. A proven leader, Lance is hardworking and dedicated and prepared to take on a new challenge and adventure.
Scott Roth
CEO
LegitScript
Scott sets LegitScript’s strategic vision, oversees day-to-day operations, and ensures the ongoing business performance of the company. Prior to joining LegitScript, he was a CEO of Jama Software, a leading product development and risk management platform for companies building complex and highly regulated products. Over the course of his 20+ year career, Scott has held several leadership positions with high-growth SaaS, internet, and data companies such as Salesforce.com, ExactTarget, and Return Path. He is a committed volunteer in the Portland community and serves on the board of POIC + RAHS, an accredited alternative high school, youth mentoring, and job training organization.
CJ Schneller
SVP of Risk & Compliance
MerchantE
CJ Schneller is an Atlanta-based risk advisory professional with experience providing risk management services to multiple industries. He currently serves as SVP, Risk and Compliance at MerchantE, an end-to-end digital commerce platform, where he leads card brand compliance, Merchant PCI, and third party risk management. Prior to joining MerchantE, CJ served as the Head of Internal Audit at Bank of America Merchant Services, a leading electronic payments company offering payment acceptance solutions to clients of all sizes, and he held risk and audit positions at Teradata, Inc., a global technology company providing data warehousing solutions, and KPMG, LLP, a global accounting firm providing audit, tax, and advisory services.
Julie Schwartz
Senior Leader of Network Compliance
FIS Global
Julie manages various network compliance programs at FIS including merchant compliance monitoring, high risk merchant registration, third party service providers, and data integrity, while supporting FIS’s merchant solutions compliance efforts. Over the years, she has been introduced to new and innovative payment solutions (merchant pay-outs, cryptocurrencies, payment facilitation, etc.) and has been able to expand the business’s footprint with new technology while still protecting the payment ecosystem. She previously managed network violations, oversight of excessive chargeback and fraud, merchant and partner PCI compliance and account data compromises, AML/BSA program for sanctions screening as well as bank sponsorship relations. She has built a strong and sustainable risk and compliance program and works collaboratively with FIS’s leadership team to address various compliance and risk requirements including payment brand regulations.
Menda Sims
Payments Executive
Menda is a tactical planner with a proven track record for developing and executing winning strategies and inspiring teams to embrace change to achieve the company’s mission. She thrives on tackling difficult situations and making high-risk decisions with a keen eye on the bottom line. She excels at boosting EBITDA, free cash flow, and RONA during start-up, growth, and turnaround phases, positioning companies for long-term growth and harvesting of enterprise value. Menda has a proven ability to generate business and offer technical expertise in more than seven countries worldwide, including the United States, Europe, and South America.
Eleanor Tucker
Advisory Board Chair
Marketplace Risk
Eleanor is a former journalist and advertising creative who now speaks, writes and advises on gig and sharing economy models – working internationally in this space helping start-ups and scale-ups to launch, grow and thrive. She is on the board of the UK Sharing Economy Council and Chair of the Advisory Board at Marketplace Risk.
Eric Woods
Vice President of Loss Prevention
Elavon, Inc.
Eric is an accomplished executive offering more than 20 years of leadership experience in global payment processing and risk management. As Vice President of Loss Prevention at Elavon, he has an exceptional understanding of how to balance risk and revenue while adhering to all local, state, and federal regulations. In addition, he is a hands-on manager who leads by example while fostering a positive culture of teamwork, shared goals, and an unmatched dedication to customer satisfaction.
Billi Jo Wright
Chief Risk & Compliance Officer
Payrix
Billi Jo is a payments executive with more than 23 years experience in the payments industry. Her strategic expertise transforms plans into workable solutions and benchmarks performance against key targets/goals. She has business development expertise in partnership development and management, and has the strategic vision to help build world-class partnership programs in the payments industry.
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