Wespay announces the 2022 Leadership Awards recipients today at its annual Payments Symposium. The recipients of the Leadership Awards have made significant contributions to our industry and are helping to shape the future of payments.
Recipients this year include Jim Morrell, President/CEO, Peninsula Credit Union, past chair of Wespay Board of Directors and Advisors and member of the Payments Symposium Task Force; Alaska USA Federal Credit Union; Jeff Swinford, VP, Senior Product Manager Treasury Services, City National Bank and serves on the Wespay Rules Advisory Council; and Jim Petkovits, VP of Education, Wespay.
“In an industry full of dedicated professionals and institutions, a few stand out as true leaders in their field,” said Debra Wendt, Chair of the Wespay Board of Directors, and Senior Vice President & Chief Payments Officer of Banker’s Bank of the West. “These recipients demonstrate the importance of dedicated volunteer contributions that drive Wespay’s commitment to improve members’ payments programs,” said Wendt.
Jim Morrell receives the The Russell L. Fenwick Award for Payments System Leadership
Jim Morrell is President/CEO for Peninsula Community Federal Credit Union. He is the immediate Past Chair of the Wespay Board and has served on the Executive Committee of the association for six years. He helped lead and was a significant contributor to the association’s new strategic plan, and he has served as an informal liaison for Wespay to many credit union organizations. Jim has served credit unions for the past 29 years and for 10 years now as President/CEO for Peninsula Community Federal Credit Union in Shelton, WA. Jim is a certified Credit Union Development Educator (CUDE) in the United States and Africa. The CUDE program enables Jim to pursue the use of cooperative operating principles to help individuals build financial capability and communities inspire economic development. Jim currently participates with the CUNA Payments Sub-Committee as Chair, and previously the Nacha Board as Vice-Chair and CUNA Board of Directors.
Alaska USA Federal Credit Union receives the George E. Lowther Award for Outstanding Payments Industry Service
Alaska USA Federal Credit Union has demonstrated a commitment to payment education across their organization. Team members at Alaska USA have participated in literally hundreds of Wespay educational sessions in the past year and are leveraging their Wespay Training Subscription to expand knowledge and advance their member delivery. Their commitment to this level of education is a foundational step to keeping the payments space safe and sound. Founded in 1948, Alaska USA Federal Credit Union has more than 709,000 members in all 50 states and around the world with branches in Alaska, Arizona, California, and Washington. Alaska USA provides worldwide service through an extensive network consisting of branches and offices in Alaska, Washington, Arizona’s Maricopa County, and San Bernardino County, California.
Jeff Swinford receives the The Frank E. Zima Award for Payments Advocacy
Jeff Swinford is the Vice President, Senior Product Manager Treasury Services at City National Bank. Since 2014, Jeff has chaired the Rules Advisory Council at Wespay and also serves on the Federal Reserve Board’s Retail Payments Customer Advisory Group. Jeff has been responsible for managing CNB’s ACH and other payment products since 2009. Prior to that he spent 20 years in the credit union industry, starting as a teller, then working his way up to managing staff and payment functions, including ACH and wires. Jeff obtained his AAP in 2005 and then at the recommendation of Mike Gilchrist and Frank Zima, in 2006 joined the Wespay Rules Committee. In 2003, Jeff obtained his BS in Business Administration from Cal State University, Dominguez Hills.
Jim Petkovits receives the Frank E. Zima Award for Payments Advocacy
Jim Petkovits is Vice President of Education at Wespay. Jim has over twenty-five years of payments experience. Jim is responsible for developing and providing education and training to Wespay members through Workshops, Webinars and in-house training. Prior to joining Wespay, Jim was the ACH Education and Training Manager for Northwest Clearing House Association since 2001, and a Customer Service Manager for Bank of America’s ACH Regional Processing Center in Seattle. Jim holds the Accredited ACH Professional (AAP), National Check Professional (NCP), and Accredited Payments Risk Professional (APRP) accreditations. Jim has been recognized nationally for his expertise in the emerging cannabis banking space and is an invaluable resource for payments regulations and systems for Wespay members and staff alike.
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The Russell L. Fenwick Award for Payments System Leadership is named for the late Bank of America executive who played a pivotal role in urging financial institutions across the country to adopt national rules and payments processing standards for the Automated Clearing House process. Mr. Fenwick was the first chair of CACHA (Wespay) and Nacha.
The George E. Lowther Award for Outstanding Payments Industry Service is named for the late Wells Fargo executive who was instrumental in working with regional volunteers in the west to adopt the California Automated Clearing House Association (CACHA) model for regional payments associations in support of a unified national Automated Clearing House.
The Frank E. Zima Payments Advocacy Award is named after the late Wells Fargo and Western Payments Alliance executive who, during the course of a 30 year career in the electronic payments industry, effectively advocated for a number of initiatives that had a significant impact on this nation’s electronic payment processes and specifically resulted in the more open, inclusive rule-making process that all ACH network participants benefit from today.