Kurt Helwig is the President & CEO of EFTA.  EFTA is the nation’s leading inter-industry trade association dedicated to the advancement of electronic payment systems and commerce.

Prior to his tenure as President, Mr. Helwig served as Senior Director of Government Relations for EFTA, responsible for analyzing the rapidly changing legislative and regulatory environment facing the electronic payments industry.  Before he began his work at EFTA, Mr. Helwig worked on and around Capitol Hill in various government relations and legislative analyst capacities.

Often called to testify before Congress, Mr. Helwig has frequently appeared before the House and Senate Financial Services Committees, and the House Agriculture Committee.  Mr. Helwig is a regular advisor to the Executive Agencies including the U.S. Department of Treasury, Federal Reserve Board, General Accountability Office, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Department of Agriculture on payment systems issues, including prepaid cards, fraud and risk in the payment system, ATM convenience fees, Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) programs, and privacy and customer information.  He also handles media and public relations for EFTA and is regularly called upon to offer his analysis on various developments in the electronic payments industry.  His interviews include Dateline NBC, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, FOX News, AARP, the New York Times, as well as industry press.

Mr. Helwig is a graduate of Belmont Abbey College where he received a B.A. in political science, and now serves on its Board of Directors.

Ron Congemi is senior vice president of strategic industry relations for First Data Corp.  Congemi is responsible for building and maintaining relationships with key clients, associations, industry stakeholders and organizations. 

Earlier, Congemi served as CEO of First Data Debit Services with responsibility for all debit processing and STAR^® network services for First Data Corporation.  Previously, Congemi was senior vice president of Concord EFS, Inc. and president of Concord’s Network Services segment, with management responsibility for the STAR network and financial institution processing.

Prior to joining Concord, Ron was president and CEO of Star Systems, Inc., the largest ATM and PIN-secured debit network he founded in 1984.  Previously, he worked for Visa International in a variety of positions, including manager of card products, general manager of Visa Australia, and manager of member development in Visa’s Asia-Pacific region.   Prior to Visa International, Ron was an officer with Texas Commerce Bank serving in the information systems and bank card management areas.

Congemi graduated from Lamar University with a degree in management.  He has served as Chairman of the Electronic Funds Transfer Association, A member of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve’s Payments Advisory Council, Chairman of STAR System, Inc. and Chairman of Primary Payment Systems.  He is the Recipient of NACHA’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Raymond T. Crosier is president and chief operating officer of Online Resources Corporation.  He has day-to-day operating responsibility for Online Resources (NASDAQ: ORCC), a leading provider of web-based financial services to more than 3800 financial institutions, card issuers, creditors and billers and their eight million end-users.  Reporting to the chief executive officer, he manages the Company’s three major operating divisions and its banking technology unit, which are based in Virginia, New Jersey and California.

Mr. Crosier also serves as vice chairman of the Board of Directors for the Electronic Funds Transfer Association, an inter-industry trade association dedicated to the advancement of electronic payments. Mr. Crosier has more than 25 years of management experience in payment systems, transaction processing and financial services technology.  Prior to Online Resources, he spent 18 years at TeleCheck International, Inc., rising through the ranks to become vice president of sales and customer service for the company, now a division of First Data.

Mr. Crosier joined Online Resources in 1996 as senior vice president of sales and also served as executive vice president of client services. He has served as president & COO since 1999. Mr. Crosier is a graduate of the University of Virginia.

Sandra Hartfield is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Electronic Banking Division for Palm Desert National Bank (PDNB Electronic Banking Solutions). In 1994, as the Bank’s Chief Financial/Chief Administrative Officer, Ms. Hartfield placed her first off-premise ATM. Quick to recognize the business potential, she began working with Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs) to place terminals, and soon PDNB became one of the first banks to offer vault cash to ISOs for placement in their ATMs. Under Ms. Hartfield’s leadership, Palm Desert has evolved into an industry leader, now offering a full line of electronic banking products, including ATM Vault Cash, ATM Cash Management, Multifunction ATM/Kiosk Management, Network Sponsorship, ACH Services, and Prepaid Stored Value card programs. PDNB currently manages over 17,000 ATMs and Advanced Function terminals and supplies more than $850,000,000 in vault cash. The Electronic Banking Division is the largest in the bank, with offices in Palm Desert and Louisiana.

Ms. Hartfield first came to PDNB in September 1989, bringing with her over eighteen years of banking knowledge and experience. She had been the CFO for various banking organizations, including American Merchant Bank in Orange County, CA and served as a CFO consultant for several other Southern California banks.

Ms. Hartfield is a member of the board of directors of Palm Desert National Bank, is the Chairman of the ATMIA and serves as Treasurer of the EFTA Executive Board.