The top priority for Popular's customers is "trust," said Beatriz "Betina" Castellví.
In her role as executive vice president and chief security officer, Castellví ensures that the San Juan, Puerto Rico, company builds and maintains this trust by preventing
Popular operates Banco Popular de Puerto Rico and the New York-chartered Popular Bank. Besides the territory and state, the $72.8 billion-asset Popular also has branches in New Jersey, Florida, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.
Popular promoted Castellví to chief security officer in 2018; she had been general auditor. She reports to CEO Ignacio Alvarez and leads a team of more than 350 employees, overseeing cybersecurity, enterprise fraud and data privacy. According to her, these are not always popular subjects.
At a time when digital technology moves at lightning speed, "we are often viewed as bumps in the road," Castellví said. "It takes courage to be the bump, to speak up and make cyber, fraud and privacy risks parts of our growth conversation."
To ensure these matters are part of the conversation, Castellví
At Popular, Castellví leads efforts to ensure that cyber, fraud and data privacy are embedded in the bank's processes rather than treated as mere compliance checkmarks. She currently leads efforts dubbed "security by default" that seek to make it easier for customers to have good cyber hygiene, such as through automatic enrollments and verifications that streamline controls and help reduce fraud.
The effort follows the success Castellví demonstrated in 2023, when Popular helped the Internal Revenue Service authenticate Puerto Ricans seeking to claim the federal $3,600 child tax credit. The credit first became available to island residents in 2022, a permanent change created by the American Rescue Plan of 2021.
After the IRS and Puerto Rico Department of Treasury struggled to authenticate claimants in the first year, Popular stepped in to offer its validation and authentication infrastructure, which it had in place from Paycheck Protection Program and similar initiatives. In 2023, Popular distributed child tax credit funds to nearly 600,000 taxpayers and identified $9.7 million in fraudulent claims that were returned to federal agencies.
"Being able to collaborate across many teams on a project that made such a meaningful difference for so many families in Puerto Rico was truly special," Castellví said. "Child Tax Credit especially benefits those most vulnerable — people who are not always equipped to navigate the complexities of federal websites and forms, but who know and trust our brand."
