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Chief Executive Officer

Among the company’s founding executives, Joseph Cohane has more than 22 years of global executive-level experience in the electronic payment industry and merchant acquisitions; including operational responsibilities with Citibank, Global Payment Systems, NOVA Information Systems and U.S. Bancorp.

Cohane strategically participated in the development of two successful start-up companies; he joined NOVA in 1992, where he orchestrated the successful integration of the merchant-acquiring portfolios associated with Wachovia Bank, Regions Banks and MBNA. As Chief Operations Officer for euroConex Technologies, located in Dublin, Ireland, Cohane pioneered NOVA’s initial entry into European markets, securing its first joint venture outside of the United States with Bank of Ireland in 2000. euroConex Technologies was recognized as the best European Merchant Acquirer in 2005. Cohane has also held executive positions
in all business disciplines within the merchant-acquiring industry, including Portfolio Acquisitions and Conversions, Credit and Risk Management, Product Development, International Operations, New Business Development, Global Pricing and Profitability Strategies. Cohane has a Bachelor of Science in Business Management, from St. Francis University of Pennsylvania.

Chief Financial Officer

Stephanie Sharp is responsible for the company’s overall financial performance and planning, development of lender and investor relationships, operational accounting management and human resources. Sharp began her career with Coopers and Lybrand as an auditor. Her diverse clientele consisted of industries ranging from manufacturing to banking. She has broad knowledge in the areas of business financial statement compilation, establishing general ledger systems including accounts payable and receivable,
as well as payroll management.

Sharp has more than 15 years of experience in accounting and finance, including significant experience in the electronic payment industry. She joined NOVA Information Systems in 1991, as Vice President and Controller. She established the accounting department and the successful financial integration associated with the consolidation of four operating businesses and more than fifty merchant portfolio purchases. She has participated in executive level investor relations encompassing critical financial activities, such as public earnings release, investment banker due diligence and SEC filings. Sharp has a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Georgia

Chief Information Officer

Grant Putre has 25 years of international experience in information systems architecture and management. Putre has spent the last 18 years in the merchant acquiring industry, developing electronic payment processing systems and point-of-sale products with leading card payment processing companies. Putre joined NOVA Information Systems in 1991, on its inception, and played a key role in the development of the company’s industry leading authorization and data capture systems for card acquiring.

Putre also served as Chief Information Officer for euroConex Technologies headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Putre oversaw the creation of the technology platform for processing card payments across the European market and the development of euroConex’s suite of point-of-sale and e-commerce payment products. As a member of euroConex’s executive management team, Putre guided its strategic technology initiatives and successfully accomplished the challenges associated with European cross-border processing regulations, multi-currency and foreign exchange, chip-card integration and pan-European point-of-sale product design and development. Putre has a Bachelor of Business, Accountancy from Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane Australia.

Executive Vice President, Business Development

Matt Thatcher is responsible for the expansion and strategic planning of the company’s sales and business development organization, bank and association alliances and cross-border channel strategies.

With more than 20 years of experience in direct and channel sales management, Thatcher’s previous background includes working with established organizations such as Vision Solutions, DoubleTake Software, StorageNetworks Inc.  and NETtel Communications.  During his tenure at Vision Solutions, Inc., Thatcher led a team of 28 through five direct reports and was responsible for expanding the company’s channel strategy worldwide, as well as managing revenues driven through global OEM’s like Hewlett Packard and Dell, alliance partners, distributors, cloud service providers, and ISVs.

Prior to this role, Thatcher oversaw and led the Asia Pacific Region to high growth while at DoubleTake Software prior to its acquisition by Vision Solutions.  Thatcher brings a wealth of executive and business experience across many verticals such as healthcare, finance, banking, and retail manufacturing throughout EMEA, APAC and the America’s Region.

Controller, Senior Vice President, Accounting & Finance

Lisa Hyde has more than 20 years of experience in finance and accounting, with over 10 years in the credit card payment industry. Prior to Veracity, she held several key financial management positions with a top five payment organization. Her responsibilities included treasury, budgeting, domestic and international finance for acquisitions, as well as fiscal management projects involving multi-currency accounting services within the United States and Canada.

Lisa began her career as staff accountant for HBO and Company and was responsible for accounting and financial management. As Veracity’s Controller and Senior Vice President of Accounting and Finance, she will oversee accounting, budgeting, and merchant settlement. Hyde has a Bachelor of  Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Georgia.

Senior Vice President, General Manager

Brenda L. Stein, senior vice president of operational excellence is responsible for telesales, customer service and client training. Stein is a respected leader with more than 15 years experience in the payment processing industry. Her extensive experience and knowledge crosses a multi-level of cross functional responsibilities in alliance bank sales, bank referral sales, associations, credit, risk management, and portfolio management.

Prior to Veracity, Stein successfully served as vice president and general manager for multiple west coast alliance bank relationships at NOVA, executing strategic revenue and marketing growth plans including branch training and incentives that generated approximately $11.6 million in new business with annual portfolio revenues of $82.9 million. Stein also established a successful trade association and alliance bank referral telemarketing center with national organizations such as a leading member club retail warehouse. This venture included the introduction of co-branding opportunities that enhanced program effectiveness and efficiencies for the inbound/outbound call center. Stein was a 2006 Executive Circle award recipient for outstanding achievement and recognized by her channel bank clients for her dedication, innovation and passion for service excellence. Stein resides in Aiken, South Carolina with her husband and family.

Senior Vice President, Credit & Risk Management

Les Freeman has more than 28 years of executive leadership in Risk Management and Loss Prevention in the electronic payment industry and retail sector. Freeman is a 9 year veteran of the payment services industry and has served in multiple risk management executive positions, domestically and internationally. Most recently, Freeman was responsible for leading the Loss Prevention (merchant risk monitoring), Chargeback’s, Collections and Risk Assessment Management teams for a merchant acquiring portfolio of 800,000 merchants; processing over 90 billion in annual credit card volume. He was integral in leading the development and implementation of an industry leading proprietary advanced risk management system, with integrated scorecard and real-time electronic payment monitoring systems.

Additionally, Freeman was responsible for risk management strategies and the integration of risk technology at euroConex Technologies Ltd., a top four acquirer in the European marketplace, as the company acquired and executed the conversion of merchant credit card portfolios in England, Poland and Germany. Prior to his career in the payment industry, Freeman held executive positions in Retail Loss Prevention with nationally recognized retailers such as Federated Department Store, Macy’s, Kohl’s and Parisian. Freeman holds a Bachelor Degree in Forensic Studies from Indiana University, and a Masters in Criminology from Indiana State University.