ETA heralds young payments stars in 2020 Forty Under 40

In advance of Transact 2020, the Electronic Transactions Association's annual tradeshow coming up April 27 to 30 in Las Vegas, the payments industry's leading trade organization inaugurated the third annual class of Forty Under 40 honorees. Begun in 2018, the Forty Under 40 initiative recognizes young leaders and game changers in the payments technology industry, the ETA stated.

The ETA, which represents 500 payment and technology companies globally, noted that its 2020 Forty Under 40 class is sponsored by Discover Global Network and includes people whose actions and leadership are driving the industry forward and moving the world toward smart, secure and frictionless commerce.

“The payments industry has experienced momentous changes over the past 30 years, and the ongoing evolution of the industry is represented by the diversity of the 2020 ETA Forty Under 40 class," said Jodie Kelley, CEO of the ETA. "Each of these honorees has made significant contributions to the industry through their entrepreneurship, leadership and innovation.”

Michael Nardy, distinguished leader

Michael Nardy, who founded Electronic Payments 20 years ago while a student at Boston College, is among the industry leaders in this year's class. Today the company employs over 150 full-time staff, partners with more than 900 sales agents across the country, and processes over $13 billion in annual transaction volume. Electronic Payments is now the 19th largest transaction processor in the United States without private equity or venture capital investments.

“I’m honored to be part of an industry that is led by such talented, innovative business professionals,” Nardy said. “Many significant relationships in my life, including lifelong friends, colleagues, and mentors, are with people I’ve met through the ETA and at TRANSACT. I’m passionate about this industry and committed to making positive contributions in the years to come.”

Nardy further noted that his company is "developing relevant, accessible, and affordable payment technologies that make a genuine difference—and bring greater value—to both our sales agents and merchants. Every day, I get to collaborate with a skilled team who works diligently toward our common goals. This recognition is shared with them.”

The ETA solicited nominations from across the payments industry, seeking talented payments executives under 40. The final group was selected by the previous honorees and the ETA Awards and Recognition committee based on the nominees’ impact on the payments industry and their professional character.

The complete list

The full list of the ETA's Forty Under 40 honorees follows:

• Adam McDonald, President, Humboldt Merchant Services
• Adam Sommer, VP, Industry Standards, Mastercard
• Adwait Joshi, CEO and Chief Sser, DataSeers
• Aleksandra Teichman, US Partner Acquisition & Management, American Express
• Andrew Bigart, Partner, Venable LLP
• Andrew Nuss, Director of Marketing, The Strawhecker Group
• Angela Zhang, Principal, GI Partners
• Benjamin Berg, CEO, eCard Systems
• Brenna Ellis, VP, Product & Marketing, Signature Card Services
• Chris Sweetland, VP, Global Head of Payments Industry Relations, Operations & Partnerships, Square
• Denada Ramnishta, SVP, Partner & Lender Strategy, Lendio
• Diane Driscoll, Underwriter Manager, US Alliance Group, Inc.
• Ed Mastrangelo, VP, Business Development & Complex Sales, Payrix
• Fenella Kim, President & CEO, Reliance Star Payment Services
• Gabe Moynagh, CEO, Sysnet Global Solutions
• George Baker, Sr., Founder & CEO, ParkHub
• Jake West, Director, Business Development, Vend
• Janelle Lee, Director, IT Project Management, TSYS
• Jesse Angell, Director, Senior Director Engineering, CardFlight
• John Waldmann, Founder and CEO, Homebase
• Joseph Arthur, Partner, RPY Innovations
• Joshua Elwood, Head of Architecture, NCR Payment Solutions, NCR Corporation
• Judy Mok, Of Counsel, Ballard Spahr LLP
• Kevin Feagan, Senior VP, Integrated Solutions & Strategy, FIS
• Kristy Richardson, Chief Operating Officer, USPAY Group LLC
• Lauren Olechna, Director, ISV, First American Payment Systems
• Marcus Dagenais, President, Canada, Payroc
• Marta Rzeszowska, Director, Product Portfolio- Online & Mobile, Payments & Retail Solutions, Moneris
• Matthew Moore, President, BankMax, Celero Commerce
• Michael Nardy, CEO, Electronic Payments
• Michael Pieciak, Commissioner, Vermont Department of Financial Regulation
• Nana Huo, CFO, Universal Processing LLC
• Nicole Meisner, Attorney & Partner, Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer & Weiss
• Patrick Turiano, Director of Marketing, Paysafe North America
• Prerna Goel, Head, Onboarding & Operations, ClearBank
• Rawan Shawar, Lead Senior Software Engineer, ACI Worldwide
• Sal Rehmetullah, President & Co-Founder, Fattmerchant
• Sean Donovan, Co-Founder, Finix
• Trent Addington, Senior Director – Digital Payments & Strategic Partnerships, Walmart Inc.
• Vlad Galyuz, VP, Product Development, USAePay

Whether you want to upgrade your POS offerings, find a payment gateway partner, bone up on fintech regs or PCI requirements, find an upcoming trade show, read about faster payments, or discover the latest innovations in merchant acquiring, The Green Sheet is the resource for you. Since 1983, we've helped empower and connect payments professionals, starting with the merchant level salespeople who bring tailored payment acceptance and digital commerce tools, along with a host of other business services to merchants across the globe. The Green Sheet Inc. is also a proud affiliate of Bankcard Life, a premier community that provides industry-leading training and resources for payment professionals.

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