Sara Nofeliyan, Sr Manager Product Management Varo: Sara is on a mission to help people make progress with their financial lives with over 6 years of experience in fintech product management. She currently leads growth products at Varo, the first neo-bank to obtain federal bank charter approval from the FDIC and focuses on engaging and growing the core customer segments that Varo provides invaluable, no-fee banking services to. Prior to Varo, she was the first product hire at Acorns, a micro-investment platform that allows millions to automatically invest any amount into a portfolio of ETFs. There she worked on everything from customer experience to broker-dealer tools from the ground up. During her time there the platform scaled to include several product lines and over 2 million users across the US. She holds a degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Southern California and is actively learning about how behavioral economics can be applied to financial product design.
Banks
Ken Kruszka CEO Snapcheck #banktech2020
Ken Kruszka, CEO Snapcheck: He is a FinTech and Mobile Payments pioneer, who holds the distinction of being the first person to send $1 around the world by mobile. In addition to being an accomplished executive, leader, and entrepreneur, Ken also advises early-stage companies looking to establish product-market fit and accelerate growth on a global scale (mentoring for UnBank Ventures, INV Fintech, Founder Institute, and MARL Accelerator). Ken leads SnapCheck in revolutionizing business-to-business payments: eliminating $50 Billion in costs, removing $20 Billion in fraud. Previously, as co-founder and CEO of m-Via, Ken grew the company into an industry-recognized leader in mobile financial services and brought the company to cash-flow positive before leading m-Via through an acquisition by Boom Financial. Ken is a Founding Member of the Faster Payments Council as well as a member of the Fed Improvement Project: Business Payments Coalition. Ken has recently been named a Top Innovator to Watch by Bank Innovation, a Top FinTech Innovator by Aspioneer, and a Leading Corporate Digital Transformation Innovator by Databird.
Steve Kirsch CEO M10 #banktech2020
Steve Kirsch, CEO M10: supplier of technology to banks enabling them to issue digital M0 and M1 money. Digital money issued by your bank is the future of money. We supply software to banks enabling them to modernize payments by issuing digital money to their institutional, corporate, and retail customers. This digital money is fungible with digital money issued by other M10 network members. This enables 24×7 payments that clear and settle instantly. Uses digital signatures to authorize payments (push and pull). Enables your authorized apps and/or devices to digitally sign requests on your behalf, with limits under your control. Your master private key(s) are secured in the secure enclave of your devices (or HSM) so malware cannot initiate payments without your express consent. Approve payments with a click or biometric (larger payments). No usernames/passwords required. Make local and cross border payments instantly at low cost. Hold money in multiple currencies (especially important if your native currency isn’t a G10 currency). Has a number of features very attractive to central banks and regulators. Eliminates need for traditional nostro accounts and correspondent banking. Subject matter experts say our approach is the best solution for digital money available today.
Shreyas Kumar Chief Information Security Officer Deserve #banktech2020
Shreyas Kumar, Chief Information Security Officer Deserve: In the past he led payments security at Uber and prior to that the Security and Compliance strategy for Adobe Document Cloud. He is also an adjunct Professor of Computer Science at San Jose State University. Shreyas holds an MS degree in Computer Science from Texas A&M University, College Station where he currently serves on the External Advisory Board of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. Shreyas holds multiple certifications including CISSP, CISA, HCISPP, PCIP and ISO 2701 Lead Auditor.
