CO-OP Financial Services Blog: Insight Vault

Authors

CO-OP FINANCIAL SERVICES, CO-OP MANAGEMENT

• 

  Stan Hollen

  President/CEO

  Stan Hollen has dedicated his entire professional career to the credit union movement. For 33 years, beginning when he was elected to a credit union board of directors at age 19, Hollen has crafted a career -- on the state and national levels -- in which he’s focused on developing innovative products and services to help credit unions serve their members and compete in the financial services market.

  Born in Illinois, Hollen attended Eastern Illinois University, where he received his bachelor’s and master’s in business administration.

  After more than a decade as a vice president with the Construction Equipment Federal Credit Union (1973 – ’84) in Peoria, Ill., he moved west to become president and CEO of The Golden 1 Credit Union. During his tenure (1984 – 2002), the Sacramento, Calif., organization blossomed from $295 million in assets and nine branches to $4 billion in assets and 65 branches. By the time he left The Golden 1, the credit union ranked No. 1 in California and No. 5 nationally, and 13 execs from his management team had become credit union CEOs around the country.

  In September 2002, Hollen was named president and CEO of Liberty, a leading provider of a credit union-focused check printing, payment systems, marketing and technology solution provider. The Mounds View, Minn., company, which partners with more than 5,000 credit unions, was purchased by the Harland Company in early 2005. Following more than three decades in the credit union world, Hollen assumed the CEO/president role with CO-OP Network in June 2005.

• 

  Samantha Paxson

  Vice President, Marketing

  With more than a decade of integrated marketing experience, including 10 full years in conjunction with the credit union industry, Samantha Paxson was hired in November 2005 as Vice President, Marketing, for CO-OP Financial Services. Her responsibilities include strategic marketing for all products and lines of business. Paxson, who previously worked overseas for an international public relations firm as well as serving in the media relations office of Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Hernandez, gained her credit union experience during an eight-year stint with a Torrance, Calif., marketing agency. Paxson directed the firm’s CO-OP account, focusing on trade and consumer advertising, brand building, public relations and national media buying, as well as working on travel and tourism, automotive and consumer goods accounts. Paxson is a graduate of the University of Southern California with a degree in journalism and history.

• 

  Ryan Zilker

  B2B Marketing Manager

  Ryan joined CO-OP Financial Services as B2B Marketing Manager in December 2010. He previously worked for nine years as Vice President, Sales and Marketing, at American First Credit Union of La Habra, Calif. His more than 10 years of marketing executive experience includes driving all aspects of organizational marketing, business development and promotions to maximize sales revenues, clientele and bottom-line profitability. Ryan holds an MBA from California State University, Fullerton.

• 

  Mark Chatfield

  Chief Operating Officer, CO-OP Member Center

  Mark Chatfield, with more than 20 years of credit union industry experience, is the Chief Operating Officer of CO-OP Member Center, a subsidiary of CO-OP Financial Services, based in Fort Worth, Texas.

  Chatfield joined CO-OP Financial Services in November 2009 from CUNA Mutual Group of Madison, Wis. Chatfield served as Vice President, Sales, with CUNA Mutual Group from February 2006 until this appointment. Prior to CUNA Mutual Group, Chatfield spent four years as Senior Vice President, Chief Business Officer of Credit Union Resources, Inc. (Texas Credit Union League) of Dallas. In the two years before that, he was the owner of Professional Alternatives of Dallas, LLC, a professional services placement company.

• 

  Kim Swift

  Business Development Manager

  Kim Swift has more than 14 years experience at CO-OP Financial Services. In her current role as Business Development Manager for the Western Region, she is responsible for managing the Western Region National Relationship Management team. In addition, she provides client relations with several key accounts and identifies new business opportunities in the Western Region.

  Prior to this role, Swift held positions at CO-OP as Account Executive, Product & Technology, Eastern Region, where she was responsible for providing product and technical expertise to CO-OP’s strategic partners and National Relationship Management team. Swift also held positions at CO-OP as a client service specialist in Client Services and project manager within the Network Implementation group. In her project management role, she contributed to conversions of several large credit unions and credit union service organizations such as BECU, Southwest Corporate, CU Anytime, Coastal FCU and Covera Card Solutions.

• 

  Kim Hester

  Executive Vice President, Network Services

  Kimberly Hester, a Cal Poly Pomona graduate, began her executive career at LAPCU in 1988, where she ultimately became CEO. In 1995, she moved to Texas-based Community Credit Union (CCU) and in 2001 received her Masters of Business Administration from the University of Texas. During almost a decade in “The Lone Star State,” Hester helped grow CCU from five to 32 locations and increased assets to $1.3 billion.

  Kimberly, her husband and children reside in California where she manages the CO-OP Financial Services eFunds relationship, including all network conversions and implementations.

• 

  Kathy Herziger-Snider

  Vice President, Product Development

  Kathy Herziger is Vice President of Product Development for CO-OP Financial Services. Working in Corporate Development, Kathy joined CO-OP in July of 2001, and has 27 years of experience in the financial services market. Kathy has held positions in product management, business line management, client services, project management, training, user documentation, account management and sales support. She started her career on the teller line, and has had complete responsibility for a large fleet of ATMs. Prior to joining CO-OP Financial Services, Kathy held management positions at eFunds, US Processing, Inc., Deluxe Data and First Interstate Management Services. She has experience with ACI and Connex payments software, deposit, loan and CRM applications. Herziger has a Masters Degree in Business and a Bachelors degree in Business Communication. She is currently completing the requirements for her Doctoral Degree.

• 

  Kari Wilfong

  Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President

  In July 2006 Kari joined CO-OP Financial Service’s executive team as the Chief Financial Officer. As CFO Kari’s main focus is on financial security, as well as the strategic, organic and future financial growth and development of CO-OP Financial Services. She is also responsible for the advancement and management of CO-OP’s accounting, finance and information technology teams.

  Kari possesses over 15 years of experience, including a stint as CO-OP’s Vice President Controller. In this role Kari streamlined businesses by creating efficiencies in statement reporting, budget planning and forecasting. She has also held various leadership roles at Western National Group and USIWest in Irvine, Calif., and began her career at Frankeberger & Company in 1991 as a Support Staff Accountant. Kari is a certified public accountant and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration, with an academic achievement award, from Loyola Marymount University.

• 

  Jim Hanisch

  Executive Vice President Network Operations & Corporate Development

  With more than 35 years experience in financial services, technology, operations, product management, business and strategic planning, and sales and customer service, Jim Hanisch leads CO-OP’s technology, development and strategic planning division.

  Hanisch, an Iowa native, arrived at CO-OP in 2000 after serving as Vice President, Application Service Provider Services, for Omaha, Nebraska-based ACI Worldwide. His focus ranged from traditional ATM/POS to e-commerce, wireless commerce, smart card and Internet-based services. He additionally served as Vice President, Product Management and Strategic Planning for USPI, a start-up processing venture funded in part by ACI. Early in his career Hanisch spent two years at ACI, where he was responsible for Base24 product management.

  Before USPI, Hanisch spent 11 years at A.O. Smith/Deluxe Data Systems/eFunds (now FIS), holding positions in technology development, product management and general management. During his tenure at Deluxe, he worked closely with CO-OP, ultimately leading the business unit responsible for its CO-OP relationship.

  Hanisch began his career as a management trainee at Norwest Bank (now Wells Fargo) in Des Moines. He held various positions in operations and EFT systems, with expertise in cash management products, on-line teller systems and EFT. He was involved in the formation of several of the early mid-western EFT networks in the 1970s and was the first president of the Diebold TABS Advisory Group.

  Hanisch has served or serves on the boards of the Electronic Funds Transfer Association, RewardsNow, Early Warning Services, ResolverGroup and CU ATM Services.

• 

  Jill DeNiro

  Vice President, Human Resources

  Jill DeNiro, who possesses more than 15 years of experience in the Human Resources field, was promoted to her current role as Vice President, Human Resources in April 2006. Since joining CO-OP Financial Services in 2003, she has received the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certificate and the Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) certificate.

  Prior to joining CO-OP, DeNiro held several Human Resources roles including Recruitment Manager for over 2,500 employees at Exempla Lutheran Medical Center in Colorado. She also served as Human Resources Manager for Team Rehab in Iowa.

• 

  Jennifer Kerry

  Vice President, Credit Issuer Processing

  Jennifer Kerry joined CO-OP Financial Services in February 2009 to help the company grow its credit processing sales, and she has more than 30 years of experience in the bankcard industry. Prior to her current duties, Jennifer worked in a variety of positions at Fidelity National Information Systems for about 19 years.

• 

  Eric Porter

  Executive Vice President, Business Development and Marketing

  Eric Porter has over two decades of successful sales, marketing and management experience in the financial services sector. He currently holds the position of Executive Vice President, Business Development and Marketing, and is serving his 11th year with the organization.

  Eric continues to spearhead CO-OP Financial Services highly successful growth and retention strategies and has established and developed high performance National Sales and Client Retention Teams. His experience is well matched with the company’s corporate strategy to grow and serve credit unions on a national scale.

  Prior to joining CO-OP Financial Services, Porter held the position of General Manager for U.S. Processing, Inc., where he directed sales for the EFT industry. He has managed large-scale projects, support services and has consulted with many leading financial institutions. His previous experience includes senior positions at eFunds Corp, Vice President, Domestic Sales for Digital Systems, Director, National Accounts for Diebold, Inc. and Divisional Manager of GTE’s Educational Network.

  A native of the Chicago area, Eric and his wife currently reside in Seattle, Washington.

• 

  David Stevens

  National Relationship Manager

  David Stevens began his career in Electronic Funds Transfer in 1989 as a supervisor of marketing and ATM operation support products for The Exchange ATM network in Bellevue, Wash. During the 20 years that followed, he has contributed to organizations including Visa, First Data, Pendum, 5/3 Bank Processing Solutions and PSCU Financial Services as a relationship and new product representative. His product support experience ranges from card issuer processing to the new prepaid and contactless card technologies. He is knowledgeable in acquirer processing, credit card issuance, ATM hardware and servicing, gateway network services, and plastic card production. In 2007, he dedicated his time to serving the credit union industry exclusively. Stevens is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Northwest Card Association, an education and networking organization supporting the operations and marketing departments of regional financial institutions. He joined CO-OP Financial Services as a National Relationship Manager in May 2009 and operates from Seattle, Wash.

• 

  Craig Beach

  Senior Vice President, Marketing/Business Development, CO-OP Shared Branching

  Craig Beach is Senior Vice President, Marketing/Business Development for CO-OP Shared Branching, where he is responsible for the total marketing, advertising and sales for the corporation, which represents the cooperative product of shared branching. Prior to his current position, he was Vice President/COO of Georgia Central Credit Union for nine years, helping build the corporate credit union to a more than $1 billion organization for Georgia credit unions. Beach has been involved in many aspects of credit union business in his 21 year tenure, including branch management, compliance, investments, cash management and now shared branching/Electronic Funds Transfer. Additionally, Beach served several years as a credit union auditor for the Alabama Credit Union League’s central district. Beach began his career in credit unions in Colorado after graduating with a B.S. in Business Administration/Marketing from the University of Northern Colorado.

• 

  Caroline Lane

  Senior Vice President, Business Development and Marketing

  Caroline Lane is senior vice president, business development and marketing, for CO-OP Financial Services. Caroline joined CO-OP in July of 2006 and she has since assumed direct leadership of a Relationship Management team that is 22 members strong, as well as oversight of the Business Development Support and Marketing departments. She also handles strategic planning and legislative affairs for CO-OP. Caroline has two decades of marketing and strategic planning experience, and spent more than five years on the executive team of American First Credit Union in La Habra, Calif.

• 

  Bill Prichard

  Manager, Public Relations and Corporate Communications

  Bill Prichard is Public Relations Manager for CO-OP Financial Services. A career public relations and corporate communications professional, Prichard has focused on financial services, healthcare, education and high technology during his 30 year career. Working for both agencies and enterprises, Prichard performs total public relations program management, and integrating this into total marketing efforts. Prichard is a former president of the Orange County Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and a winner of its Distinguished Service-Individual Award, the highest award bestowed by the chapter.

• 

  Bill Freer

  Manager, Risk

  Bill Freer’s tenure with CO-OP Financial Services in July 1997. As Manager, Risk, Bill manages the Card Member Security call center for fraud monitoring of debit cards and is experienced in dispute processing and risk management. Bill’s 20-plus years of experience also includes processing chargebacks, providing excellent customer service and accounting functions for the issuing and acquiring side of the credit/debit card system for various financial institutions. Bill has also participated in the development of claim tracking applications, data reporting, training documentation, policy procedural manuals and worked closely with FICO to create a state of the art Falcon (neural network) Case Management facility.