Jean-Paul Betbeze

Chief Economist, Credit Agricole

Biography

Chief Economist and Head of Economic Research, Member of the Crédit Agricole SA Executive Committee

- Professor, University of Paris, Panthéon-Assas,

- Member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Analysis Council,

- Chairman, Late Payment Intelligence Unit("Observatoire des délais de paiement"),

- Secretary to the Board, Foundation for World Agriculture and Rural Affairs (FARM),

- Member of Strategic Council for Sustainable Agriculture and Agri-food

- Member of the Cercle des Economistes, of ICBE (International Conference of Bank Economists), of the Scientific Committee of the Robert Schuman Foundation, the Académie du Béarn, and of COPEIAA (“Council for European and International Prospective Analysis of Agriculture and Food”).

EDUCATIONAL

- Graduate of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (1972),

- Post-graduate diploma in the Science of Organizations (1974),

- Doctorat d'Etat in Economics (1979),

- Supplementary Dissertation in Economics (1980),

- Agrégation des Facultés de Sciences Economiques (1984).

FORMER ACTIVITIES

- Special Advisor to the Chairman and to the Chief Executive Officer of Crédit Agricole SA (2003-2005), Head of the Crédit Lyonnais Economic and Financial Research Division (1989-2003),

- Former Chairman, Economic and Financial Affairs Commission, UNICE (Union des Confédérations de l'Industrie et des Employeurs d'Europe), SEP (Société d’Economie Politique), and AFEDE (Association Française des Economistes d'Entreprise),

- Former Secretary General, SEP (Société d’Economie Politique), and AFSE (Association Française de Science Economique)

- Professor, University of Franche-Comté (1984-1987), Senior Lecturer, Universities of Caen (1980-1983) and Amiens (1983-1984), Lecturer at the University of Paris IX Dauphine (1974-1980).

Peter Fawcett

UK & European Head, Retail & Commercial Banking, TATA Consultancy Services

Biography

Peter Fawcett leads the Retail & Commercial Banking consulting practice for UK & Europe at TATA Consultancy Services (TCS) with over 20 years consulting and transformation experience across the Financial Sector. His clients include a number of leading banks, infrastructure providers and new entrants to the banking space both in the UK and across Europe. He focuses on applying the lessons learnt from other sectors to help financial services organisations respond to the rapid changes occurring in the marketplace. He has worked extensively not only for financial services organisations, but also for retailers, Telcos and Hi Technology firms. Prior to joining TCS, Peter spent 10 years at KPMG/ Atos Consulting.

Dr. Adrian Gluck

EVP and Chief Operating Officer, Apollo Enterprise Solutions

Biography

Adrian Gluck began his career as a systems engineer with Exxon Corporation. He then became chief information officer for a large insurance company, after which he launched a company that became leading provider of auto fleet leasing systems with worldwide clients including Avis and Hertz. Gluck currently serves as Chief Operating Officer of Apollo Enterprise Solutions, Inc., a leading provider of digital banking technologies. He holds patents and patents pending for several technologies including digital imaging, mapping systems, web indexing, ecommerce systems, trading cards and memorabilia. His technologies have helped generate sales of over $3 billion to date. Gluck is the author of the bestselling book "Business Warrior". He holds industrial engineering, MBA and PhD degrees, and he is a Registered Professional Engineer.

Mariano Dima

EVP Marketing & Products, Visa Europe

Biography

Mariano Dima was appointed new Executive Vice-President Marketing & Products at Visa Europe in December 2006.

In this role he is responsible for advertising, marketing, sponsorships and product development for Visa Europe.

Dima was previously European Marketing Vice President for Levi Strauss & Co., based in Brussels. He was responsible for consumer marketing, trade marketing, public relations, digital and CRM for the iconic Levi's brand.

An experienced international marketer, he has held a number of senior marketing positions with leading global brands. These include Head of Consumer Segments Strategy worldwide at Vodafone Group PLC, and Head of International Marketing & Business Development at Pentland Group PLC (Owners of Speedo, Berghaus, Lacoste and Ellesse brands).

He started his marketing career at PepsiCo International where he worked for more than 8 years in the US and Latin America. An Italian/Argentinean national, Mariano speaks Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and English. He has a degree in Industrial Engineering from Universidad de Buenos Aires.

October 2009

For further information or a photograph, please contact:

Corporate Communications Department
Visa Europe
Tel: +44 (0)20 7937 8111

Max Geerling

Head of Card & iDEAL Payments, Currence

Biography

Since 2011, Max Geerling is Head of Cards and iDEAL Payments at Currence, the owner of the Dutch electronic payment products and online payments system iDEAL.

Following his study in computing science, Geerling started his career as a researcher and architect.

From 2002, he held a management position at a software & electronics engineering company, where he was responsible for projects in e-payments, mobile payments and payment terminals.

Next, Geerling was a managing consultant, acting in various roles and projects, most recently concerning SEPA products and cards (acquiring & processing).

Geerling holds a PhD in Computing Science from the University of Nijmegen.

Mariano Dima

EVP Marketing & Products, Visa Europe

Biography

Mariano Dima was appointed new Executive Vice-President Marketing & Products at Visa Europe in December 2006.

In this role he is responsible for advertising, marketing, sponsorships and product development for Visa Europe.

Dima was previously European Marketing Vice President for Levi Strauss & Co., based in Brussels. He was responsible for consumer marketing, trade marketing, public relations, digital and CRM for the iconic Levi's brand.

An experienced international marketer, he has held a number of senior marketing positions with leading global brands. These include Head of Consumer Segments Strategy worldwide at Vodafone Group PLC, and Head of International Marketing & Business Development at Pentland Group PLC (Owners of Speedo, Berghaus, Lacoste and Ellesse brands).

He started his marketing career at PepsiCo International where he worked for more than 8 years in the US and Latin America. An Italian/Argentinean national, Mariano speaks Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and English. He has a degree in Industrial Engineering from Universidad de Buenos Aires.

October 2009

For further information or a photograph, please contact:

Corporate Communications Department
Visa Europe
Tel: +44 (0)20 7937 8111

Max Geerling

Head of Card & iDEAL Payments, Currence

Biography

Since 2011, Max Geerling is Head of Cards and iDEAL Payments at Currence, the owner of the Dutch electronic payment products and online payments system iDEAL.

Following his study in computing science, Geerling started his career as a researcher and architect.

From 2002, he held a management position at a software & electronics engineering company, where he was responsible for projects in e-payments, mobile payments and payment terminals.

Next, Geerling was a managing consultant, acting in various roles and projects, most recently concerning SEPA products and cards (acquiring & processing).

Geerling holds a PhD in Computing Science from the University of Nijmegen.

Jouk Pleiter

Chief Executive Officer, Backbase

Biography

Jouk Pleiter is CEO and co-founder of Backbase, a software company that delivers Bank 2.0 portal solutions to financial services institutions around the globe. Backbase has offices in New York City and Amsterdam and its software is used by leading institutions such as:  ABN AMRO, AIG, Barclays, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, ING and UBS. Before Backbase, Mr. Pleiter was president and co-founder of Tridion, one of the world’s leading WCM software vendors, later acquired by SDL and renamed SDL Tridion. Before Tridion, Mr. Pleiter co-founded Twinspark Consultancy, one of the first interactive web agencies in the Netherlands. Mr. Pleiter holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Groningen.

Richard Fraser

General Manager, Retail Banking EMEA, FIS

Biography

Richard began his retail banking career as a management trainee with Northern Rock in the 1980's and joined the Nottingham Building Society/Bank of Scotland joint venture which launched Britain's first home-banking service in 1984. In the 1990's he first worked for FIS in sales and marketing roles before joining IBM to head its newly formed core banking solutions unit. Rejoining FIS in 2009 he is responsible for professional services, support and service delivery for the company's largest European clients.

He completed his banking examinations in 1980, was awarded the Northern Rock prize for Development & Marketing and was runner-up in the 1982 Birmingham Trophy.

Satish Wadhwa

Sales Director, Banking & Financial Services, Wipro Technologies

Biography

Satish has 14 years of IT industry related experience in Banking & Capital Markets and has been with Wipro Finance Solutions SBU for the last 9 years across various roles in the Banking & Capital Markets verticals right from Solution Design, New business development, Account Management, Client Engagement and Sales Leadership focused in the UK-European region.  He is currently the European Business Head for Sales in Banking & Financial Services, leading a multi-cultural team across Europe.   Prior to this role he was the Client Partner for Citigroup for Europe.  In this role,  he was part of the core team that shaped and partnered for a multi-year, global core banking rollout program.  Additionally, he was instrumental in the CitiGroup Meerbusch Datacenter acquisition by Wipro as also in setting up a near shore delivery center at Warsaw, Poland. In the recent years, he has also co-managed vertical initiatives in specific proactive solutions that we are undertaking in the European Banking & Capital Markets space.

Mike Healey

Sales Director, Adeptra Ltd

Biography

Mike Healey is Sales Director at Adeptra, a leading provider of automated, fully interactive consumer communications. Adeptra’s clients encompass the majority of the world’s leading consumer finance organisations including 7 of the leading 10 UK card issuers, 5 of the top 10 North American card issuers, and 4 of the top 5 Australian card issuers.

Mike has been with Adeptra since 2002, helping to shape its award-winning technology and further extending Adeptra’s customer base. Mike has been pivotal in delivering market-leading solutions to the likes of Barclays, Barclaycard, Santander, The Lloyds Banking Group, including both the HBOS and LloydsTSB brands, Co-operative Bank and the Nationwide Building Society.

In 2008 Mike moved to Sydney, Australia where he helped set-up Adeptra’s Asia Pacific operation. Upon his return, Mike was appointed Sales Director and now oversees the acquisition of new customers and applications across the EMEA region.

Prior to joining Adeptra, Mike was Sales Director at a number of high tech companies.  

Kevin Keen

Director Global Key Accounts, Western Union

Biography

Kevin Keen is Director for Financial Services & Postal Organisations, Strategic Network & Business Development, for Western Union and based in London. Kevin is responsible for the on-going development of the sales organization to enable a more sales focused acquisition strategy, whilst driving growth through the identification, qualification and acquisition of major bank and postal prospects across the region. This has involved defining sales strategy for major Pan-European and global banks across EMEA. Over the past 10 years, Kevin has demonstrated a solid track record in the field of enterprise payment and transaction management solutions for the banking, financial services and retail industries. Prior to Western Union, Kevin held senior sales positions at eFunds International Limited (now FIS) and S2 Systems International Limited (now ACI).

Joseph Konowiecki

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Apollo Enterprise Solutions, Inc.

Biography

Joseph Konowiecki is currently Chairman & CEO of Apollo Enterprise Solutions, Inc.  Mr. Konowiecki has been an investor and founder of several other market-leading companies including PriceGrabber.com, Digital Interactive, Media Technologies and U.S.F.C. (United States Football Club).  Mr. Konowiecki is a proven executive who was previously an EVP at PacifiCare Health Systems from 2002-2007 and was instrumental in its turnaround and subsequent sale to United Health Group for $9.2 billon.

Mr. Konowiecki was formerly the managing and strategic partner at K&R.  He led the firm into becoming 50 + lawyers and his areas of practice included health care, M&A, corporate, securities, and general business. Mr. Konowiecki has led some of the largest healthcare public offerings and mergers in the USA and successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of PacifiCare Health Systems vs. Book, leading to a favorable, unanimous decision by the high court.