Management
- Kenneth Goins, Jr. - Chief Executive Officer and Board Member
- Eric W. Ohlhausen - Chief Financial Officer
- Michael R. Meredith - EVP and Chief Marketing Officer
- Peter J. Mahr - EVP of Sales
- Bradley J. Fauss - EVP and General Counsel
- Kent Churchill - EVP and Chief Technology Officer
- Hal Ramakers - Vice President of Product & Implementations
- Lynn Cherry - VP & Chief Compliance Officer
- Sadia Ahmad - Vice President of Operations
Kenneth M. Goins, Jr. - Chief Executive Officer and Board Member
Kenneth Goins was named CEO and board member of Brightwell Payments, formerly Prepaid Solutions, upon the acquisition of the company by private equity firm Navigation Capital Partners (NCP). Goins had partnered with NCP in order to target acquisition opportunities in the electronic transaction and payments sector, and in that capacity, Goins led the acquisition process. Goins was a partner and principal of Elkmont Group, LLC, a firm founded to pursue new business venture and acquisition opportunities in conjunction with venture and private equity capital.
Goins has an extensive executive background in both public and private companies in the financial services, healthcare, information and insurance industries. He has completed numerous public offerings, and more than 50 mergers, acquisitions and business dispositions. Goins was previously president, CEO and board member of Prommis Solutions, LLC, a leading provider of foreclosure and bankruptcy outsourced processing services. Prior to Prommis, Goins served as COO of the Lender Services Division of LandAmerica Financial Group; CFO, president, CEO and chairman of INFO1 Holding Company, Inc., a credit information and technology company; and CFO, president, CEO and board member of Caredata.com, Inc., an online syndicator of healthcare information and business applications.
Goins is a cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of South Carolina, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. Goins is also a Certified Public Accountant.
Eric W. Ohlhausen - Chief Financial Officer
Eric Ohlhausen was named chief financial officer of Brightwell Payments, formerly Prepaid Solutions, upon the acquisition of the company by private equity firm Navigation Capital Partners (NCP). Ohlhausen had partnered with NCP in order to target acquisition opportunities in the electronic transaction and payments sector and was an integral player in identifying and completing the acquisition. Ohlhausen was a partner and principal in Elkmont Group, LLC, a firm founded to pursue new business ventures and business acquisition opportunities in conjunction with venture and private equity capital.
Prior to Elkmont, Ohlhausen was a founder of Epic Capital Partners, a boutique M&A advisory firm specializing in buy-side and sell-side engagements for clients in a range of industries. Ohlhausen also was SVP of Corporate Development for Caredata.com, an online syndicator of healthcare content and healthcare information business applications. At Caredata.com, Ohlhausen oversaw twelve acquisitions to propel company growth from $2.5 million annual revenue to $45 million. Ohlhausen began his career as a commercial lender for NationsBank (Bank of America) and co-founded LeadX, an online business lead exchange that was a forerunner to today's social networking sites such as LinkedIn.
Ohlhausen holds a Bachelor of Science in economics from the University of Virginia and is a member of Phi Eta Sigma national honor society. Ohlhausen earned an M.B.A. with Distinction from England's Manchester Business School and studied on exchange at the M.B.A. program of the International University of Japan.
Michael R. Meredith - EVP and Chief Marketing Officer
Michael Meredith was named chief marketing officer of Brightwell Payments, formerly Prepaid Solutions, upon the acquisition of the company by private equity firm Navigation Capital Partners (NCP).
Meredith has more than 27 years of program management experience in financial, telecommunications, pharmaceutical and aerospace industries. Most recently, he served as an executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Skylight Financial, a financial services company. Meredith played an integral role in Skylight's management team, which expanded the company fivefold through new product development and innovation, resulting in a successful sale of the company. Meredith served as point person for all due diligence and the company sale process.
A seasoned CMO, Meredith brings a blend of both the art and science of marketing as well as a keen understanding of financial and business practices to Brightwell Payments. Meredith received a Master of Business degree from Pepperdine University.
Connect with Michael on LinkedIn
Peter J. Mahr - EVP of Sales
Peter Mahr brings more than 20 years of experience in sales and has an extensive background in financial services, ranging from asset base lending, electronic banking, insurance finance, prepaid program management and debit card processing. He is a skilled manager, building and managing successful sales teams that generate consistent market growth.
Mahr most recently served as executive vice president of sales and business development for Skylight Financial, Inc., an Atlanta-based payroll card provider. Prior to Skylight Financial, Mahr was vice president of business development for WildCard Systems, an open loop payment processor subsequently acquired by eFunds (NYSE: EFD), and later Fidelity Information Systems (NYSE: FIS). Mahr also held various sales management positions for Certegy's e-Banking division, now a part of FIS.
Mahr holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Houston.
Connect with Peter on LinkedIn
Bradley J. Fauss - EVP and General Counsel
Brad Fauss is a payments industry veteran with more than 10 years of electronic transaction processing experience, including leadership positions at Global Payments, TSYS Prepaid and Springbok Services. He gained legal expertise in mergers and acquisitions and securities compliance while with law firms Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP and Alston & Bird LLP. Fauss serves on both the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee for the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association (NBPCA). He is a frequent speaker on legal, regulatory and compliance issues affecting the debit, credit and prepaid card industries.
Fauss is a summa cum laude graduate of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Science in finance, and graduated with honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Kent Churchill - EVP and Chief Technology Officer
Kent Churchill has more than 15 years of experience in information technology (IT), including an extensive background in technology startups and IT turnarounds.
Prior to joining Brightwell Payments, Churchill spent several years developing a private system for an automated financial trading company. Churchill was also previously director of IT Operations for TSYS Prepaid, where he was responsible for improving system uptime, rebuilding the IT operational organization and consolidating datacenters. He began his professional career at Arthur Andersen Business Consulting in the Advanced Technology Group, where he specialized in networking, infrastructure, and security work, in addition to mergers and acquisitions, due diligence and audit support.
Churchill is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., and served as a Surface Warfare Officer in the Navy. Additionally, Churchill earned a Masters of Science in Management from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). He was awarded the Eugene Gwaltney Fellowship for his research in rapid prototyping and stereolithography while at Georgia Tech.
Hal Ramakers - Vice President of Product & Implementations
Hal Ramakers has more than 20 years of experience in product development, product management, process improvement and technology with small Fortune 500 companies. He specializes in change management from a process and personnel perspective to create organizations that are scalable and focused on company objectives, values and core initiatives.
Prior to joining Brightwell Payments, Ramakers served as the SVP of Technical Operations for LandAmerica Credit Services. While at LandAmerica, Ramakers was responsible for product development, product management and technical operations for the $60M company.
Connect with Hal on LinkedIn
Lynn Cherry - VP & Chief Compliance Officer
Lynn Cherry has more than 12 years of prepaid experience, including an extensive background in payroll cards focused on BSA/AML and OFAC compliance in addition to Regulation E.
Prior to joining Brightwell Payments, Cherry served as the VP of Compliance and Risk Management for Skylight Financial, a subsidiary of NetSpend Corporation. Prior to assuming responsibility for Compliance, Cherry filled several operational roles in the areas of information security, product, settlement and reconciliation, and marketing. She began her professional financial services career at Wachovia Bank, which is now Wells Fargo Bank.
Cherry holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management from Shorter University. She is a graduate of the American Bankers Association (ABA) Graduate School of Compliance Risk Management.
Connect with Lynn on LinkedIn
Sadia Ahmad - Vice President of Operations
Sadia Ahmad has more than ten years of financial services experience with a proven ability to successfully analyze an organization's business requirements, identify deficiencies and potential opportunities, and provide innovative business solutions.
During her tenure at Brightwell Payments, formerly Prepaid Solutions, Ahmad gained more than six years of management experience with responsibility for operational, technical, sales and client support. She has a strong technical and business background resulting from various roles in business development, product management, and team development.
Ahmad is a graduate of Cleveland State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration in Information Systems.
Connect with Sadia on LinkedIn