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Wespay Advisors was founded with a single purpose; to provide quality payments expertise while maintaining value. Since our inception in 2016, Financial Institutions, FinTechs, Third-Party providers, and technology providers have all benefited from our guidance in all areas of payments.
We pride ourselves on over 300 years of combined financial services experience and the talent of our people. Our seasoned consultants are accredited professionals holding multiple industry credentials, including:
Whether you need guidance in Retail Banking, Risk Management, Payment Operations, Treasury Management, or Regulatory Compliance, it’s this level of knowledge that allows us to provide the direction needed to put you on target.
Regardless of the payments direction you need, Wespay Advisors can lead you down the path of success. It all starts with a single phone call:
John Curtis, AAP, APRP, NCP
SVP, Consulting Business Leader
415-373-1190
Wespay Advisors follows The Institute of Internal Auditors’ standards. Our consultants are strictly prohibited from performing audits within one year following conclusion of a consulting project for each client. We will assign an auditor who was not engaged in delivering the consulting services for a mutual client.
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As the President of Wespay Advisors, Chris Selmi is responsible for defining and executing initiatives to position the organization as a trusted knowledge source for payments-related regulatory impacts. With over 25 years in the financial services industry, Chris’ extensive background in electronic payments affords a unique perspective in helping clients develop processes and programs designed to facilitate compliance with payments law, regulations, and industry standards.
Prior to joining Wespay Advisors, Chris spent 16 years in the electronic payments organization at Bank of America where he served in a variety of capacities within the operations team, including production manager, project support, client and application testing, and compliance and regulatory control manager. Chris has worked with Wespay Advisors’ clients on a variety of projects, including launching a new debit card product, developing faster payments solutions, ACH efficiency studies, and offering ACH origination services.
Chris served on the Wespay Board as Bank of America’s representative from 2008 to 2012 and chaired its Rules Advisory Council and Risk Management Advisory Council and is a past member of Nacha’s Rules and Operations Committee. He holds the designation of Accredited ACH Professional (AAP) and ACH Payments Risk Professional (APRP). Chris earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
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Dina Cannavo brings over 20 years of professional management experience to her role as Wespay Advisors’ Business Manager. Prior to joining our team, Dina spent several years as the Compliance Officer for a restaurant franchisor, eleven years in multi-family property management, and six years in retail management.
Dina’s day-to-day includes reviewing service agreements, executing contracts, billing, and resource allocation. She is the focal point and is considered instrumental in working with our clients to facilitate the seamless rollout of Wespay Advisors’ Risk Management and Consulting Services.
Brian Stearns is a Senior Payments Consultant with Wespay Advisors, in addition to his role as Vice President, Supervisor of Risk Management Services. Brian spent almost 10 years working for credit unions processing and managing electronic payments systems, including over 6 years at Farmers Insurance Group Federal Credit Union where he managed the ACH, Share Draft and Wire Transfer payment channels. He has an extensive background in risk management and leveraging risk mitigation to pursue strategic goals. Brian has consulted with clients on a variety of projects, including developing an E-Banking Risk Review, Remote Deposit Capture risk management, implementing ACH origination and Operations Process Improvements.
Brian served on Wespay’s Rules Advisory Council where he acted as a voice for credit unions regarding rule changes in the ACH Network. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Argosy University and is an Accredited ACH Professional (AAP), National Check Professional (NCP) and Certified Internal Auditor (CIA).
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As a Senior Payments Consultant, John Curtis offers over 30 years of experience in payments and financial services. John has deep expertise in management of retail branch operations, core system conversions and integration, and treasury and product management for payments applications in both financial institutions and payment service providers. Throughout his career, he has gleaned experience from implementing new products, determining business case/strategy, evaluating risk, crafting policies and procedures, implementation and rollout, and sales training. John has consulted with Wespay Advisors’ clients on numerous projects, including implementing third-party programs, launching ACH origination, ACH due diligence, risk mitigation and ACH process improvement.
He has contributed to multiple projects with Nacha and continues to sit on industry task forces, helping to shape the future of payments. John is a frequent speaker at industry events, such as the Nacha Payments Conference and local Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) groups. He is a graduate of The Payments Institute and has previous involvement in the American Bankers Association Task Force on Payments Law and past board chair of Payments Resource One.
John holds the Accredited ACH Professional (AAP), Accredited Payments Risk Professional (APRP) and National Check Professional (NCP) designations.
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As a Risk & Compliance Auditor for Wespay Advisors, Kristin Butcher conducts ACH Audits and Risk Reviews for our clients. Prior to joining our company, she spent 15 years as an Assistant ACH Manager for a credit union where she managed the ACH processing team, including compliance, audits, daily transaction processing, and oversight for projects to launch new processes and products. As a payments enthusiast, Kristin earned her Accredited ACH Professional (AAP) designation in 2016.
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Connie LaChance is a Payments Consultant & Auditor with over 19 years of experience in the financial industry. In her experience as the Payments Systems Manager at Ent Credit Union, Connie has an extensive background in vendor evaluation, system conversions and overall system management for the institution’s ACH platform. During her tenure at the credit union, she helped launch corporate ACH origination, as well as managed the bill payment solution for members.
Connie works with Wespay Advisors’ clients on projects related to launching an ACH origination program, process improvement and policy management for existing solutions, and vendor evaluation and selection. Connie holds the Accredited ACH Professional (AAP), Accredited Payments Risk Professional (APRP), and National Check Professional (NCP) credentials. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Regis University.
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As a Payments Consultant with Wespay Advisors, Jim Petkovits has more than 25 years of experience in the payments industry focusing on ACH and Check rules and regulations. Jim has an extensive background in providing education and training to financial institutions, service providers and payments innovators.
During his tenure in payments, he has become a subject matter expert on Federal Regulation E and Cannabis Banking, a growing area of focus for some financial institutions. Jim has worked with Wespay Advisors’ clients on Third-Party Sender identification and management, as well as providing ACH audits and risk review services. He holds the Accredited ACH Professional (AAP), Accredited Payments Risk Professional (APRP), and National Check Professional (NCP) designations.
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As a consultant with Wespay Advisors, Paula Rowe is responsible for helping financial institutions, technology providers, third party senders, and corporate clients in support of project definition and goal clarification. She will synthesize information from your team and provide a review along with the practical information needed by your team to accomplish their objectives.
Prior to joining Wespay Advisors, Paula spent 23 years in the Treasury Management product organization of PNC Bank and prior to that, 17 years in the Global Cash Management department at Mellon Financial. Paula has worked on a variety of projects that include assessing payment processing platforms, implementing web portal ACH origination capabilities, applying ACH rule changes, and executing on financial institution acquisition/merger activities.
Paula has served in the past on various Nacha councils and the Innovation Alliance. She has held the designation of Accredited ACH Professional (AAP) and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Wheaton College.
With more than 35 years of experience in the financial services industry, Angie Smith is an industry recognized expert in check and electronic payments regulation. She has an extensive background in the development and implementation of policies and procedures related to check/image processing, exception processing and remote deposit capture product offerings. During her tenure at the Federal Reserve, she helped to develop the enterprise-wide FRB Adjustment System and worked on the Check 21 Act. She offers an in-depth, detailed understanding of check laws and rules, and how financial institutions can effectively manage operations in support of regulatory compliance. In her role as a Senior Payments Consultant with Wespay Advisors, Angie works with clients on projects related to check operations, remote deposit capture, bill payment and fraud mitigation.
Angie is a graduate of The Maryland Banking School and The Payments Institute. She holds various certificates in training and management courses, and earned a Bachelor of Science from Columbia Union College. She is an active participant on various industry work groups and is an Accredited ACH Professional (AAP) and a National Check Professional (NCP).
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As a Payments Consultant & Auditor with Wespay Advisors, Nathan Carman brings over 20 years of experience in the banking industry, including over 14 years in various positions in retail branch banking and almost 6 years at Technology Credit Union managing ACH, Share Draft, Wire, ATM and Card Services. He has focused his career on process improvement and creating operational efficiency through automation and system integration. Nathan works with our clients on conducting Audits and Risk Reviews, as well as consulting projects around ACH process improvements, mitigating fraud risk, launching ACH origination, and workflow management.
Nathan earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from University California Irvine and a Masters in Business Administration from University of Phoenix. He is a National Check Professional (NCP), Accredited ACH Professional (AAP), and Accredited Payments Risk Professional (APRP).
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As a Payments Consultant with Wespay Advisors, Thomas conducts ACH Audits and Risk Reviews for our clients. Before joining Wespay, Thomas spent over five years working for credit unions focusing on compliance, dispute resolution, training, process improvement, and daily processing for ACH, checks, wire, and Zelle payments.
Thomas earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. He is an Accredited ACH Professional (AAP), Accredited Payments Risk Professional (APRP), and National Check Professional (NCP).
Bill Schoch brings more than thirty years of electronic payments experience to his role as a Senior Payments Consultant for Wespay Advisors. With his background working for leading payments organizations, including Visa International, Citibank, N.A., and Nacha, he offers both the network and financial institution perspectives for client engagements. Bill has extensive experience in the development and implementation of products and services related to ACH, wire transfer, purchasing card, debit card, P2P payments, and money transfer networks. As the President and CEO of Wespay – Wespay Advisors’ parent company – he is responsible for strategic initiatives to grow the association and provide maximum value to members.
During his tenure at Visa International, Bill served in product leadership positions and was responsible for managing Visa’s global remittance service and initiatives to expand financial services to the unbanked in emerging markets. He was the global product manager for Visa’s debit products and was the founder of the Visa International Global Debit Forum. Prior to Visa, Bill spent eight years in the Global Cash Management division of Citibank, where he was responsible for strategic sales, product management and client on-boarding of domestic and cross-border payment solutions. Bill consults with Wespay Advisors’ clients on projects related to faster payments and emerging technologies, payments strategy, card solutions and consumer payments.
Bill currently serves on the Boards of Wespay, Nacha, and Wespay Advisors. He also serves on the Operations Committee of the U.S. Faster Payments Council and is the immediate Past Chair of the Center for Payments. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
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Patty Presta works with Wespay Advisors’ clients to conduct ACH Audits, helping our clients meet annual compliance requirements. As a long-term payments professional, Patty is an Accredited ACH Professional (AAP) and a National Check Professional (NCP). She currently sits on Nacha’s AAP Blue Ribbon Panel and regularly teaches courses on a variety of payments-related topics.
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