The Most Influential Women in Payments, 2025

January 9, 2025 6:00 AM

Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors.

The Most Influential Women in Payments 2025 cover image: Yaminah Satterian, Jennifer Cruz, Sara Walsh and Kathleen Pierce-Gilmore

How fast is the payments industry changing? More in the past five years than during the past five decades, according to Visa's Kathleen Pierce-Gilmore, adding that means sifting through the buzz to find the best way to apply all of the new technology.

"Instead of focusing on hype, we should prioritize meaningful innovations that genuinely enhance financial health for consumers," said Pierce-Gilmore, senior vice president and global head of issuing solutions for Visa. "The industry should concentrate on improving accessibility, security, and user experience in digital payments."

Pierce-Gilmore is one of the Most Influential Women in Payments, American Banker's annual list of the leaders who are shaping the industry's next chapter. There's both light and storms ahead, as geopolitical churn, security and economic threats coincide with revolutionary innovations in artificial intelligence, digital assets, real-time processing and mobile commerce. "Rather than investing heavily in new technologies without clear client demand, I believe that we should start by using these tools internally first, enabling us to enhance our own operational capabilities and data flow, which, in the long term, will allow us to deliver greater value to clients," said Dorothy Conroy Rule, a managing director at MUFG. The executives on this year's list have demonstrated the mix of creativity, resilience and mentorship required for leadership in this new age.

Women in Payments

The Most Influential Women in Payments, 2024

February 27, 2024 6:45 AM

A confluence of factors from high interest rates to volatile credit markets are driving up the cost of payments and making liquidity management even more challenging, said Yaminah Sattarian, senior vice president and group lead for KeyBank Institutional Payments. "Automating payments processes to speed processing, reduce failed payments and prevent fraud will remain a top focus for businesses looking to reduce costs in 2025," Sattarian said.

Many of this year's honorees will attend or speak at Payments Forum, held in San Francisco on March 4-6. Click here to register for Payments Forum.

Read more to see what this year's honorees have to say about the important questions reshaping the payments industry. Honorees are presented alphabetically. —John Adams, Mary Ellen Egan and Joey Pizzolato

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Kristy Carstensen

Head of Global Treasury Management and Prepaid
U.S. Bancorp
Time in current role: 6 months
Time in payments industry: 13 years

New job
In 2024, Carstensen was named the new leader of a unit at the bank that sells treasury management and payments to business, government and institutional clients. She also oversees the bank's prepaid card organization. Her team helps lead the bank's interconnected business banking, corporate and commercial banking ecosystem. Carstensen has held a number of executive jobs at U.S. Bank, including CFO of payment services, one of the bank's core revenue lines. "The payments industry is at a pivotal moment. The clients we serve are all in the midst of major transformation and are looking for payment technology and innovation to deliver efficient, simple, secure and seamless payment execution to and from customers, employees and vendors," she said.

Find your niche
Payments has become an attractive option for those who are seeking career opportunities in fast-paced, innovative and tech-driven places, Carstensen said. "For those who love to embrace change, opportunities in this industry are practically endless." The attractiveness of the payments industry combined with the evolution of broader digital technology has led to increased competition for these positions. This creates the need for junior employees to find their "secret sauce" — or what differentiates them — much earlier than Carstensen needed to when she was younger. "While it hasn't always been this way, it's really good to see the transformation," she said. "Today, the pace of innovation has never been quicker. The rate of adoption just keeps getting faster as the market shifts and people and businesses adapt alongside it to make payments that are instant, embedded and connected." —John Adams

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Seema Chibber

Executive Vice President, Product & Engineering, North America
Mastercard
Time in current role: 5 years
Time in the payments industry: 17 years

New look
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mastercard designed new consumer benefits that reflected changing lifestyles and consumer spending behaviors. Chibber led an effort that combined analysis of consumer behavior and the need to create more tailored incentive programs, as more shopping and payments moved to mobile apps and other digital channels. She relied on her experience in advertising and marketing, where Chibber said she developed skills in audience insights and brand building that can benefit the payments industry.

Bridging the gap
Less than 2% of women-owned businesses receive venture capital funding, according to The World Economic Forum. To address this gap, Chibber worked with Mastercard's Strive USA financial inclusion program to support women entrepreneurs in expanding their businesses. This included improving access to capital, educational programs and technology that enables new businesses to access the digital economy.

"The payments industry plays a critical role in powering economies by bringing people into the financial fold," she said. "It connects a diverse and global ecosystem to serve consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments in a safe, seamless and secure way, enabling a frictionless flow of commercial transactions." —John Adams

Jennifer Cruz

Senior Vice President of U.S. Credit Issuance and U.S. & Canadian Acceptance
Discover
Time in current role: 1 year
Time in financial services industry: 20+ years

Churn
Discover is facing rapid change, including a potential acquisition by Capital One and leadership changes, including Cruz's move to her current role, a new position to combine the company's domestic work under one vertical.

"Organizational changes are often seen in such a dynamic industry and always require careful planning to stay focused on our customers and most importantly, our team. It's important to remember that everyone is learning new roles, working with new teams and new managers," Cruz said. Her focus has included boosting acceptance in the U.S. for global network affiliates JCB and Union Pay.

Cashing in
There's a lot of misinformation about cash, particularly around its irrelevance as a payment type, Cruz said. "There are regular conversations around cash no longer being relevant at some point in our future. I really never see this as a reality," she said. "There is a very large unbanked population that uses cash for daily expenses, and there are a lot of conversations that imply the handling of cash is free in comparison to debit or credit."

The unbanked population is a big reason that cash will never go away, according to Cruz. "They don't use banking products, so they need a way to pay. We need to find ways to give them the education and confidence necessary to trust the banking system. Once they learn to trust the system, it could open up access to additional secure ways of paying." —John Adams

Ankita D'Mello

Principal Product Manager, North America
Wise
Time in current role: 1 year
Time in payments industry: 9 years

Communication is key
D'Mello is responsible for nearly every aspect of product strategy for Wise's multicurrency account and transfer products in North America, a feat that involves working with customer feedback, product analytics and the engineering team to accelerate adoption of the company's services. In order to do that, D'Mello has to contend with the rapid pace of change in fintech and financial services as she looks to keep Wise's products relevant.

"With the rise of AI, machine learning, and evolving customer expectations and demands, there is an even greater pressure for companies to innovate quickly to stay ahead of competition and ensure customer loyalty and trust," she said. In 2024, D'Mello's team prioritized shoring up security features while also communicating and educating customers and colleagues about new fraud challenges. "One of my greatest challenges has been coordinating a steady and consistent stream of communication across the organization to ensure all stakeholders have a consistent understanding of the market challenges and how to solve them."

Prove yourself
D'Mello's career has taught her that no matter how far you climb, you'll always have to prove yourself, whether that be starting a new role with your current company or joining a new organization. "I realized quite quickly that I needed to start from ground zero and make a fresh impact on my new team to prove my value," she said. "The only way to earn the respect and trust of a new team is by showing up and getting the job done well and properly."

She's tried to impart that wisdom on junior team members. "Be humble, and earn the respect of others by doing the job. Never think that once you've done something well that you will always be recognized the same way," she said. "Be prepared to demonstrate your skills and capabilities over and over again. Not in the way of proving yourself to people who don't require your approval, but in the sense that you always need to show up with the same enthusiasm and dedication to the job no matter where you are or your seniority level." —Joey Pizzolato

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Jeff Newton Studio

Ann Drew

Chief Risk and Compliance Officer
Wex
Time in current role: 4 years
Time in payments industry: 10 years

Advancing AI tools
As chief risk and compliance officer, Drew is responsible for managing all of Wex's enterprise risk management, including global oversight of the company's regulated financial service entities, corporate compliance, credit risk management, insurance and third-party risk management. Within a year of assuming the newly created role in 2021, spiking diesel prices, increased bot attacks and macroeconomic pressures pushed up fraud and accelerated credit losses, forcing Drew to rethink the fleet card provider's credit and fraud capabilities.

Over the next 18 months, Drew's team worked with the product and technology teams to revamp its credit and fraud controls with new artificial intelligence and machine learning models. Those changes bore fruit: The company saw a 41% reduction in fraud instances within the first three months of implementing AI-powered fraud prevention systems for its commercial fleet networks in 2023, and its annual credit and fraud loss rate dropped from 26 basis points in 2022 to a forecasted 12 to 13 bps for fiscal 2024.

Avoid the hype
AI may have been instrumental in helping reshape Wex's credit and fraud controls, but Drew cautions against getting too wrapped up in the generative AI hype. "While [gen AI is] a powerful tool, I believe the payments industry sometimes overlooks the foundational elements needed to harness AI effectively," she said. "Gen AI, for all its potential, needs a well-structured data foundation to work within a governance framework suitable for financial institutions and fintechs."

Instead, financial service providers should simultaneously prioritize data governance and architecture. "Without a solid data-compliant foundation, AI initiatives, especially those involving Gen AI, may struggle to effectively deliver on their promise," Drew said. "Especially in a highly regulated industry like ours, we need to ensure our data is well-managed and organized before we can truly leverage AI's full capabilities. —Joey Pizzolato

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Kim Fitzsimmons

Chief Executive Officer
Talus
Time in current role:5 years
Time in payments industry: 36 years

Building through acquisition
Talus in the past year acquired Jobox.ai, a fintech company that sells products to the home service industry, and Clarus Merchant Services, a business payment technology firm. These deals boosted Talus's yearly payments volume to more than $9 billion. "While the back-office integration of an acquired company is fairly routine, it is more challenging when you have multiple conversions going on at the same time, and strategically, it led us to completely transform the company as a result," Fitzsimmons said, That transformation included a name change from Talus Pay to Talus, and an expanded business model from a merchant acquiring business to a broader product developer. The company says it is now well positioned to drive growth within the home and facility services businesses, and has scaled Jobox's technology to serve other verticals including auto repair, beauty, hospitality, non-profit, and service retail, among others.

Risky business
The payments industry has lost its ability to truly "know" its customers, according to Fitzsimmons. "[The industry is not] doing proper due diligence (KYC, etc.) before allowing merchants, micro-merchants, or sub-merchants to be approved to accept credit cards for payment. This is risky and worrisome for me." Part of this relates to the expansion of the payments facilitator, or Payfac, model, which digitally routes transactions based on the most time and cost-effective processing option, Fitzsimmons said. "Some of the largest financial institutions today actually own a Payfac distribution model themselves. Additionally, some of the largest companies in our space deploy the Payfac business model," she said. "We need to refocus the industry back towards performing real-time underwriting and due diligence on the businesses they serve. We must do it quickly and easily, replicating the seamless onboarding experience businesses have become accustomed to." —John Adams

Stacy Greiner

Chief Executive Officer
DailyPay
Time in current role: 6 months
Time in payments industry: 2 years

Sustaining Growth
Greiner hit the ground running when she became CEO of earned wage access provider DailyPay in June. She's focused on maintaining the private-equity-backed company's momentum ahead of its expected initial public offering. This year, DailyPay bolstered its financial wellness platform as workers weathered the economic challenges of high inflation.

For example, DailyPay created a free financial wellness tool, called Credit Health, that allows users to see information about their credit status in the DailyPay app. The company also launched a Visa prepaid card, which allows its customers to browse an in-app marketplace with merchant-funded discounts and receive cash back. Greiner was also instrumental in doubling the company's existing secured credit facility capacity with Citi to $100 million and expanding into the United Kingdom.

Thinking outside the lines
As an aerospace engineer who now serves as the head of one the largest EWA providers, Greiner understands the importance of "thinking outside the lines." While studying at Iowa State University, Greiner interned for a professor of computer science who helped broaden her career perspective. "He showed me how the skills I had gained gave me opportunities outside of just the aerospace industry. Ultimately, this opened doors to software development in Silicon Valley — something I never thought possible," she said.

That guidance has helped inform Greiner's leadership style. "Organizationally, I encourage both upskilling and cross-skilling. Understanding the duties of cross-functional roles makes you not only a better partner but also introduces you to new potential areas for yourself — improving your current upward career trajectory and opening broader opportunities across the organization," she said. —Joey Pizzolato

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Bridget Hall

Leader of Real-Time Payments, Americas
ACI Worldwide
Time in current role: 6 months
Time in payments industry: 23 years

Scaling faster payments
In her role at ACI Worldwide, Hall is responsible for creating solutions to drive secure and scalable real-time payment solutions in multiple countries across North and South America that all have individualized rules and regulations. To accomplish that task, Hall has worked collaboratively with ACI's product development team to refine its technology offerings. "What creates successful real-time payments in one country will not always work elsewhere, so serving our customers is a constant challenge," she said.

Aside from working with Banco de la República in Colombia to build a centralized, real-time payments ecosystem, Hall spent much of 2024 helping clients solve challenges with the two U.S.-based real-time payment schemes, such as helping banks and credit unions connect to the systems and promote adoption. "We overcame these challenges through agile development of solutions… with fraud protection and the ability to scale through deployment in a cloud environment," she said. As for adoption: "a driving force… is the enablement of use cases utilizing the new real-time payment schemes."

Strength of collaboration
If one thing is certain, change is constant, Hall said. "Early in my career, I thought that success meant mastering every detail in my role, knowing everything my peers and leaders knew, and being able to complete all the tasks requested of me. However, over time and through experience, I've come to realize that no one has all the answers, and with the speed of innovation, sometimes the answer doesn't yet exist."

Hall believes that what really drives progress and success in a role or on a team is the strength of collaboration. "Diverse perspectives and expertise coming together to solve challenges is exponentially stronger than what one person can ever know or contribute," she said. "The ability to recognize your own strengths and weaknesses as well as those of your colleagues allows you to lean on others and work together, fostering resilience but also sparking creativity and paving the way for lasting progress." —Joey Pizzolato

Taira Hall

Executive Vice President, Head of Enterprise Payments
Citizens Financial Group
Time in current role: 2 years
Time in payments industry: 23 years

Unifying a payments system
Hall has been with Citizens for less than two years, but she's already been hard at work stitching together multiple payment-oriented functions at the bank's various business segments, including consumer, business, private and commercial banking. She leads a team responsible for overseeing the bank's core payment rails, developing new omnichannel payment solutions, introducing new distribution channels, and guiding targeted investments in new payments technology, including data and artificial intelligence — all with growth in mind.

That's no easy task, Hall said. "As a new hire, the biggest challenge I faced was digging into the different payment capabilities that Citizens offers across various business lines and developing a comprehensive solution-based strategy that would position the bank for success in a rapidly evolving payments landscape," she said. "As part of that, we have standardized our core capabilities to ensure omnichannel consistency for our customers, while also developing breakout plays that will enable Citizens to enter new revenue streams at a faster pace.

Remain nimble
Payments are the front door for most financial institutions and the primary — and sometimes only — way that many clients interact with their bank on a daily basis, Hall said. It's an industry where success comes down to having "laser-like focus" in delivering an "outstanding experience" for clients. But it's also an area where the fast-paced change of technology necessitates agility.

"Rapid advancements in payment technology and trends toward embedded banking solutions are redefining the industry," she said. "Banking is a data-rich industry. Technologies like artificial intelligence and generative artificial intelligence have the potential to help us serve customers faster and more effectively, while also equipping professionals with new 'superpowers' to tackle challenges with speed and build new skills and capabilities. The possibilities are boundless, but future payments professionals will need to remain nimble to keep up with a rapidly evolving industry." —Joey Pizzolato

Linda Markcoons

Senior Vice President and Head of Client Delivery
The Clearing House
Time in current role: 5 years
Time in payments industry: 33 years

ISO bellwether
At The Clearing House, payments can flow 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and Markcoons' team is responsible for ensuring those payment systems are stable and operational. Her work encompasses operations, implementation, client services, business risk management and control function, and has been described by colleagues as "the heartbeat" of TCH.

Over the last year, TCH migrated its CHIPS wire payments network – which clears and settles approximately $1.8 trillion each day in high-value payments — to the ISO 20022 format, marking the culmination of a multi-year journey. "In anticipation of the ISO 20022 migration, we gleaned valuable lessons from other jurisdictions and aggressively applied them," Markcoons said. "First, The Clearing House effectively collaborated with vendors who provided essential code and infrastructure. Secondly, we tested early and often. Lastly, it was important to incorporate end-to-end testing and implement an assurance program for its 41 participants. Each of the 41 participants had to formally attest — from both a business and technology sign-off — to the implementation for the migration, which provided assurance and validation to the broader financial community."

Consistency is key
Markcoons has learned over the years that leadership involves being consistent, passionate and dedicated to developing talent, with an emphasis on fostering a culture of accountability, ownership and growth. "My team knows the incredible importance of constructive feedback and I always strive to provide it to junior colleagues in a timely fashion to help them improve in the moment," she said. "There is nothing wrong with not knowing the correct answer or making a mistake… but to me, it is critical as a leader to own your mistakes and take accountability."

Markcoons wants women specifically in the payments industry to understand "that they can really have it all," meaning a family and a fulfilling job. "As someone who loves payments and people, I take immense pride in investing in the women and younger generations around me and helping them grow in their careers," she said. "While we do have to make choices, I hope to be an example of how you can put your family first while balancing an impactful career." —Joey Pizzolato

Glenda McNeal

Chief Partner Officer
American Express
Time in current role: 1 year
Time in industry: 35 years

New role
Last year, McNeal, a 35-year veteran at American Express, was appointed to the newly created role of chief partner officer. McNeal now leads partnership strategy for the company across travel, technology, retail, media, sports and entertainment.

"Glenda has an exceptionally strong track record of spearheading critical partner agreements and navigating the complexity of large, global relationships to benefit both the company and our partners and she will continue to do so in this expanded role," Stephen Squeri, chairman and CEO of American Express, said at the time of McNeal's appointment.

Influencer
McNeal, a previous Most Influential Women in Payments honoree, sits on the executive committee at Amex. Outside of the company, she's on the board of directors at Nordstrom and Lincoln Center. She's also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is on the board of councilors for the USC Marshall School of Business. —Mary Ellen Egan

Kate Moran

Vice President of Global Payments, Banking & International Expansion
Flywire
Time in current role: 10 months
Time in payments industry: 12 years

Global pressures mount
Increased regulatory scrutiny was the name of the game in 2024 following several high-profile collapses of crypto exchanges and commercial banks in 2023. Add that to ongoing anti-money laundering measures and heightened sanction screening in response to global sanctions against Russia, and fintechs, such as Flywire — which processes payments in multiple currencies across 240 counties — had their hands full.

"Across different markets and financial institutions, we have observed consistent themes in the heightened scrutiny our largest clients and payers face globally," Moran said, including new requirements from the Reserve Bank of India, oversight mandates from U.S. federal regulators regarding banks collaborating with fintechs, and new global banking screening protocols. At Flywire, Moran's team leverages the company's vast reach to identify common patterns in the "diverse array" of new requirements.

Overcoming imposter syndrome
Moran advises junior colleagues to "focus relentlessly" on the things that make them "uniquely you" rather than arbitrarily measuring yourself against peers. "When I was new in my career, I suffered terribly from imposter syndrome. I undersold the value I brought to the table and doubted my skills at every turn," she said. "It wasn't really until I became a people manager that I started to really internalize the value of the intangible skills that often get overlooked for hard skills and subject matter expertise."

Moran isn't recommending that team members walk away entirely from improving on basic skills needed to advance, but she is advocating "that you remove yourself from the obsession we have in corporate culture to overcome areas of weakness at all costs. Instead, focus on gaining competence in critical areas for growth and surrounding yourself with colleagues who possess talent in skills you lack." —Joey Pizzolato

Kathleen Pierce-Gilmore

Senior Vice President, Global Head of Issuing Solutions
Visa
Time in current role: 2 years
Time in payments industry: 20+ years

Getting digi with it
There has been more change in the payments industry in the past five years than in the previous half century, according to Pierce-Gilmore. "With the sudden shift in consumer behavior towards digital payments, issuers have had to continue to strategize to meet and exceed cardholder expectations and adopt new payment innovations," she said. Part of Visa's strategy is the Digital Enablement suite, a set of development tools that help issuers integrate Visa's technology. In April, Pierce-Gilmore helped lead the launch of a subscription manager in the suite, enabling users to quickly change information linked to recurring payments. "We also continue to explore other ways to digitize solutions in our product portfolio, such as emergency card replacement, to provide quicker and more convenient services for Visa cardholders around the world," she said.

Leaving the zone
Pierce-Gilmore said it's important to step out of your comfort zone, a lesson she passes on to junior colleagues. It's a major part of her leadership style, and she says that as more women enter leadership positions, there will be a larger audience for insight from mentors. "It's exciting to be challenged and not know the answers. Finding solutions is part of the fun," she said, adding the more risks you take, the more you grow. "Constantly seek to do unfamiliar things; that's where true growth happens. It's not just about job titles but leading ideas and projects that make a difference," she said. —John Adams

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Elizabeth Rossiello

Chief Executive Officer and Founder
AZA Finance
Time in current role: 12 years
Time in payments industry: 20 years

Diversifying revenue streams
AZA Finance, which specializes in emerging-market fintechs, has noted that tougher macroeconomic conditions have caused younger companies to struggle. "We took a different approach — one focused on profitability, sustainability, and adaptability — which helped us navigate this shift," Rossiello said. Rather than relying heavily on external investment, AZA concentrated on building diversified revenue streams across foreign exchange, payments, and treasury services, positioning the company as a vital partner in cross-border transactions and African markets.

"This long-term vision allowed us to build resilience in an increasingly volatile market. Our operational maturity has been key to overcoming this period of reduced investment. With over a decade of experience, we've refined our ability to manage liquidity across multiple geographies, ensuring that our services remain stable and competitive even in times of financial uncertainty," Rossiello said.

While AI undoubtedly has potential, it can sometimes be overrated when applied in areas where human interaction is still critical, according to Rossiello. "For instance, in the payments sector, trust and customer relationships are paramount, and AI alone cannot replicate the personal engagement that builds this trust," she said. "Fintech companies should focus on delivering high-quality, personalized customer service first before turning to automation."

Rather than relying solely on AI, fintech companies would do well to invest in training their staff, building better customer support infrastructures and ensuring seamless user experiences, Rossiello said. "The real competitive advantage lies in a deep understanding of customer needs and in providing real-time, human-led solutions. AI has its place, but when it comes to trust, loyalty, and customer satisfaction, meaningful human engagement remains irreplaceable." —John Adams

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Dorothy Conroy Rule

Managing Director
MUFG
Time in current role: 9 years
Time in payments industry: 30 years

Kyoudou
Over the past two years, MUFG expanded its supply chain finance products to Asia as the bank's clients faced challenges in managing currency fluctuations, different regulatory requirements and complicated supplier networks. Rule and her team researched corporate purchasing models for local, regional, and global client bases to ensure compliance with myriad standards, laws and regulations. Using "kyoudou," (a Japanese word meaning collaboration for success), MUFG's staff collaborated with solution engineers and regional experts to build onto existing operations in Asia. Using technology and strategies previously developed in the U.S, the team reconfigured mobile and internet technology to upgrade and standardize the global client experience.

"[The SFC] industry is less than 30 years old; early tools and resources were limited, often manual, and relied heavily on face-to-face interactions. I remember faxing notes or mailing client letters and waiting for a response — those were the realities of my early career," Rule said, adding advancements in technology, platforms, and solutions streamline communications and processes, making information more accessible. "That said, the rapid pace of technological change may lead junior employees to become overly reliant on technology and fail to develop necessary critical thinking and interpersonal skills."

Owning it
The best lesson Rule has and shared with junior colleagues is the importance of fully owning your title, especially at the vice president level. "Once promoted to VP, expectations shift, and you are no longer asking for permission; you are making decisive choices and taking a more directive role. Many team members will look to you for guidance and leadership, which becomes crucial to your role," she said. "It is essential to shift from being a doer to being a strategic leader…to move from a reactionary mindset to a strategic one."

For example, in roles like customer service, someone may spend their day reacting to client issues as they arise. "However, as a vice president of customer service, your responsibility is more to lay out the path for the team, guiding them toward a well-defined strategy and vision rather than simply responding to immediate challenges all the time." —John Adams

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Yaminah Sattarian

Senior Vice President and Group Lead
KeyBank Institutional Payments
Time in current role: 6 years
Time in payments industry: 24 years

Too flexible to fail
The bank failures of 2023 totaled nearly $550 billion in combined assets, the largest ever for a single year. Regional banks were particularly hard hit, though Key managed to expand its deposits by $3 billion. To manage the risk, Sattarian's team conducted a third-party client satisfaction survey with treasury management clients to evaluate and track performance. The team also conducted background research on nearly 100 vendors to see where the bank could add value. Sattarian's group engaged with leaders across the bank to ensure the executives that work with vendors were involved.

Healing
Sattarian works with HEAL Palestine, a non-profit organization that provides aid, healthcare, and educational resources. She has helped about 20 Palestinian youth, with one being treated at The Cleveland Clinic. In April, she spearheaded a fundraiser in Cleveland that had more than 800 attendees and generated nearly $600,000. The funds were used for medical treatment and aid for Gaza children.

Sattarian's work in the community blends with her professional experience, which has fostered an ability to adjust quickly to address challenges and opportunities. "The nature of today's payments industry means adapting to rapid change and tapping into your creativity," Sattarian said. "Change is always difficult, even if it's for the better, because we don't like uncertainty. Too much uncertainty can cause anxiety, but it can also be redefined to work in your favor." —John Adams

Janitra Taylor

Head of Product
MoCaFi
Time in current role: 2 years
Time in payments industry: 13 years

Shifting gears
During the past year, Taylor was assigned to a project that initially focused on product and design, which was expanded to include data analytics. "On one hand, we were aiming to deliver multiple innovative products to meet ambitious client and consumer expectations," Taylor said. "On the other hand, we needed to enhance our internal capabilities to manage the roadmap's complexity, which required a renewed focus on personnel and processes. With an already demanding schedule of planned product launches, the urgency of having a team capable of rapid, high-quality delivery could not be overstated."

Taylor analyzed team strength to spot areas where skills were lacking. She then worked with HR to attract the right talent. "Through this transformation, we achieved significant product milestones and positioned ourselves with a scalable, high-performing team equipped to meet evolving challenges head on," she said.

Managing bandwidth
"One of the best lessons I've learned—and one I regularly share with junior colleagues—is the importance of managing how you communicate about workload, especially avoiding the habit of constantly mentioning how busy you are," Taylor said. "Early in my career, I observed that repeatedly signaling busyness can inadvertently give the impression of being overwhelmed or lacking prioritization skills."

Taylor advises junior colleagues to be transparent about workload only when it directly impacts timelines or deliverables, keeping routine tasks in the background. "This allows colleagues and managers to see them as proactive and capable of handling larger responsibilities, which builds trust and increases involvement in high-impact initiatives," she said. —John Adams

Bill Sitzmann

Tammy Trilli

Senior Vice President, Commercial Payments
First National Bank of Omaha
Time in current role: 3 years
Time in payments industry: 30 years

Powered with purpose
At First National Bank of Omaha, Trilli has leaned on more than 30 years of experience in the payments industry to build out the bank's full suite of commercial payment products, including cash management, payments automation, treasury services, commercial card issuance, and global banking and merchant services. Over the last three years in her role, she's focused on recruitment and development of top talent and has been responsible for the division's overall strategy, transforming it into a core business line at the bank.

This past year, Trilli has had to fight off large national players entering into the bank's key demographic markets that FNBO has held for the past 166 years. "To overcome this competitive challenge, we took a step back and evaluated our customer journey from start to finish. This led to a new organizational structure that ensures our business customers receive personalized, responsive care — something that larger institutions often struggle to deliver," she said.

New challenges ahead
Payments have transformed in the last 30 years, becoming far more complex and technical than the days when credit, debit and purchasing cards dominated the space, Trilli said. "There were no virtual cards, and the integration between payment systems and accounts payable technology was minimal at best."

These changes are forcing junior employees to be fluent in not only banking systems, but also cutting-edge technologies. "Payments have evolved into a highly technical field where understanding APIs, data security and software integrations is critical. This shift demands that newer employees come into the industry with a solid foundation in technology and a tenacious drive to acquire knowledge in order to succeed." And while Trilli encourages junior employees to be adaptable and tech-savvy, she also stresses the importance of relationship-building in career development. —Joey Pizzolato

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Sara Walsh

Managing Director, Head of Vendor, Third Party and Network Management
Bank of America
Time in current role: 13 years
Time in payments industry: 31 years

High-touch engagement
For the last 13 years, Walsh has been responsible for all of Bank of America's large, cross-functional payment partnerships. Her team acts as the single point of contact for those enterprise partnerships and is responsible for nearly every aspect of the business, including managing the economics, compliance, controls, contracts, client engagement, regulatory advocacy and other enterprise payment initiatives.

This year, Walsh's organization continued to invest in its Merchant Engagement Team, an initiative she launched in 2022 to provide merchants with insights into authorization and processing performance using Bank of America's vast card issuing data to identify trends that are impacting the ability to approve card authorization requests. The team has served more than 125 clients, and this year, notably helped one large merchant that was experiencing high decline rates for one of its subscription products. "By sharing this intelligence, the retailer was able to update their processes, which doubled their approval rates," she said.

Payment experts needed
Walsh believes that rising individuals in the payments industry should embrace learning how things work from end-to-end. "I like to call us 'doers:' People who are willing to look at transaction examples, data elements and be able to read manuals, interpret them and communicate the impact," she said. Those doers can then drive change that enhances payment security, holds the payment ecosystem members accountable and creates a more efficient experience. "We also need doers who are willing to advocate across the industry to ensure policymakers understand how payments work."

That mentality has paid off in her own career, Walsh said. "My decision to volunteer or accept work that was considered difficult or complicated, and that nobody else understood or wanted, has been the most impactful factor in accelerating my career. With this approach, I gained strategically important subject matter expertise that no one else had." —Joey Pizzolato

Sarah Williams

Co-Founder
IronPay
Time in current role: 5 years
Time in payments industry: 25 years

Managing scale
As one of IronPay's co-founders, Williams leverages more than two decades of experience in corporate payments to help companies of all sizes in the business-to-business buyer/supplier ecosystem to transition from paper-based payments to digital solutions. Last year, the four-year old fintech's biggest challenge was managing scale, she said. Revenues jumped 300% year-over-year, and the company added new partners, full-time employees, and customers.

To manage that scale, IronPay used outsourced resources until the company reached certain milestones, and then brought on full-time equivalents, Williams said. "In today's remote work environment, this is a reality that was not available to us when we founded the company. We are also able to staff work-from-home mothers that manage our call center functions via our software."

Pay it forward
Williams' love for mentoring women stems from her mother, who was the first female vice president in the 1980s at the bank she worked at in Memphis, Tennessee. "I grew up watching her mentor other women throughout her career," she said. "There are not many women in fintech. There are unique challenges that a woman faces working in both finance and technology. I hope I have followed in her footsteps."

She stresses to rising colleagues the importance of gaining and retaining knowledge. "I grew up before the internet, so we had to retain what we learned. It made us all better conversationalists. Now, information is at your fingertips, but that is not the same as acquired knowledge." Williams encourages others to learn about the world, beyond their field of work. "Knowledge leads to understanding and ultimately drives solutions and innovation. Ask why we are doing what we are doing. What is the purpose of the work? How will it solve a problem?" —Joey Pizzolato

Yinglian Xie

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder
DataVisor
Time in current role: 11 years
Time in industry: 18 years

Shifting customers' perspectives
Yinglian is one of two female co-founders at DataVisor, a fraud and risk management platform that uses AI to respond to cyberattacks in real time. During the past year, Yinglian and her team had to come up with a targeted marketing strategy to educate companies about the platform's capabilities. "While we built a powerful AI-driven fraud and risk solution, many potential customers viewed us through the lens of point solutions, overlooking the benefits of our unified platform and centralized management capabilities," she said.

As part of that strategy, DataVisor shifted its messaging to emphasize its consolidated capabilities rather than individual use cases and worked with industry analysts to better align its products with customer expectations. The initiative resulted in an increased market awareness of the company's complete product offerings.

Steady wins the race
Yinglian cautions young professionals about thinking that success should happen quickly and easily. "One of the most valuable lessons I've learned through my own journey is the importance of patience and commitment in achieving long-term success. When I started my career, whether it was pursuing my Ph.D. or gaining years of industry experience before stepping into entrepreneurship, I quickly realized that there are no shortcuts. It took six years for my Ph.D. and another seven years of professional growth in Microsoft to truly find my footing to start DataVisor," she said. —Mary Ellen Egan