The exceptional members of the Advisory Board have experience in financial services, payments, technology, and eCommerce.
Richard Lyons
As Executive Vice President and Global Product Group Executive for MasterCard Worldwide, Richard (Rick) G. Lyons, Jr. was responsible for managing and growing the MasterCard global debit and ATM business. He directed strategic planning, product development, innovation, and implementation to capitalize on the demand for debit offerings associated with the MasterCard, Maestro, and Cirrus brands. During his tenure MasterCard’s US signature debit business grew market share more than 50% and its PIN debit business moved from relative obscurity to become the fastest growing US domestic program. He led a resurgence of MasterCard’s debit business position in Europe, Canada, and the Latin America regions. He directed the company’s global prepaid business, attracting major new programs including the US Social Security Direct Express program, the H&R Block tax refund anticipation card, and other regional and global programs. In 2007, he developed and implemented the MasterCard MoneySend person-to-person remittance service in the Asia Pacific region.
Prior to MasterCard, Mr. Lyons was senior vice president of Internet and Payment Systems Strategy for Comerica, Inc. At Comerica, he led a $50 million project to formulate corporate strategy and implementation of Internet technologies throughout the company. He also managed Comerica’s debit, self service, and remote banking programs across the Michigan, California, Texas, and Florida affiliates. Under his leadership, the company expanded its retail self service delivery capabilities and created the highest revenues and efficiencies for these services in Comerica history.
Before Comerica, Mr. Lyons served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Internet, Inc, which owned and operated MOST, then the fifth largest and fastest growing regional payment network in the United States. He also held various retail bank and payments management positions with leading U.S. retail banks. Active in industry conferences as both organizer and speaker, Mr. Lyons served on the Board of Directors, Executive Committee, and Strategic Steering Committee of NYCE Corporation, the Board of Magic Line EFT, Inc., and the Board of Directors and as Vice Chairman of the Electronic Funds Transfer Association (EFTA).
Mr. Lyons majored in business administration at Marywood College in Scranton, PA, and management at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD. He resides with his wife, Mary, in Rowayton, CT, is an avid sailor, and serves as Executive Director of Trinity Church in Greenwich CT.
Susan Ehrlich
President, Sears Financial Services
Senior Vice President, Sears Holdings Corporation
Susan Ehrlich is President of Sears Financial Services. Sears Financial Services serves over 40 million loyal shopper households across Sears Full Line Stores, Sears Essentials, Sears Grand, Kmart, Lands End, Sears Home Services and Sears Commercial – providing an array of credit and payment vehicles including the Sears Card, Sears and Kmart Gift Cards, Layaway as well as third party payment acceptance to meet the diverse needs of our customers.
In her role, Susan leads the company’s efforts to provide innovative payment and credit solutions that enable customers to do business with SHC and ensure a smooth and satisfactory customer experience wherever and whenever they use Sears products and services.
In October 2010 US Banker magazine named Susan Ehrlich #17 in their Top 25 Women in Finance (non-Bank). Susan was recognized for introducing and expanding programs like On-Line Layaway and the Christmas Club Card to the Sears portfolio of Financial Services products. These products make purchasing easier and more accessible for Sears and Kmart customers in the face of a difficult economy.
Susan joined Sears Holdings in 2006 from WaMu Card Services where, as EVP, Marketing Strategy & Planning, she was responsible for strategic planning and market research for WaMu’s $20+ Billion credit card business headquartered in San Francisco, CA. During her career with WaMu Card Services (formerly Providian Financial) she held responsibilities for loyalty/brand development, new product development, business card, prepaid card and web site management, and played a key part in the successful turnaround of the Providian Financial business. Prior to WaMu, Susan was a Senior Vice President of Portfolio Management at Citi Cards in Long Island City, NY where she was accountable for Citibank’s high risk credit card portfolio.
Susan holds a B.A. with honors in Organizational Behavior and Management from Brown University and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.
She is an avid golfer and wine enthusiast and helped found the Bruce Cass Wine Lab wine education programs in the San Francisco Bay area.
Dr. Janey Place
A highly respected industry veteran, Dr. Place has served for fourteen years in executive management positions with Bank of America, Mellon Financial Services and Wells Fargo. Her responsibilities included payments, technology strategy and web services. Place also served as President of the Financial Services Technology Consortium, a leading banking technology industry group. She is currently the founder and CEO of Digital Thinking, a strategic banking consulting firm, and advises or serves on the board for several technology companies. Dr. Place was recently named one of the top financial service innovators in the last two decades by Bank Technology News. She holds a Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree and Ph.D. in systems theory from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Karim Hadchiti
Karim Hadchiti has over 15 years experience in leading and operating technology-based businesses. In April 2008, he joined Stangsundet Holding AB, a start up private equity firm in Stockholm, Sweden. Prior to this post, Karim held several positions at Office Depot, most recently as Vice President of Global eCommerce. From 1998 to 2001, he was Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Business Development at 4SURE.com, a startup internet retailer of technology products where he played an instrumental role in facilitating its acquisition by Office Depot in 2001.
As a senior executive, Karim directed strategic planning, brand building and innovation, and market expansion. He also has substantial business integration, acquisition, and transitional leadership experience in start-up, turnaround, and rapid growth environments at private, public and Fortune 500 companies. Karim holds a MBA in Finance and Master of Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.
