Management
- Kenneth Goins, Jr. - Chief Executive Officer and Board Member
- Eric W. Ohlhausen - Chief Financial Officer
- Michael R. Meredith - EVP and Chief Marketing Officer
- Bradley J. Fauss - EVP and General Counsel
- Kent Churchill - EVP and Chief Technology Officer
- Hal Ramakers - SVP of Product & Implementations
- Michael Ross - SVP of Sales & Business Development
- James McCarthy - Senior Vice President
- Lynn Cherry - VP & Chief Compliance Officer
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
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 - SVP 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.
Michael Ross - SVP of Sales & Business Development
Michael Ross has more than 15 years experience in sales, marketing, and business development with more than 10 years experience in the payments industry, specfically prepaid. Prior to joining Brightwell Payments, Ross held sales leadership roles at Wave Crest Payment System and Springbok Services. In addition, Ross served as VP, North America Prepaid Products, and Prepaid Sales at MasterCard Worldwide. Throughout his career, Ross has worked with numerous Fortune 100 companies, including MasterCard, Harman International, General Motors, Toyota North America, and more.
Ross holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Journalism and Communications from Ball State University.
James McCarthy - Senior Vice President
James (Jim) McCarthy has a 28 year career in the payments industry. Prior to joining Brightwell Payments, he served as Directo Inc.'s President and Chief Executive Officer since November 2010 and as a Directo board member since September 2004. He previously served as the Senior Vice-President of Directo from June 2004 through October 2010. Prior to joining Directo, McCarthy had a 20-year history with Deluxe Corporation where he held leadership positions in sales, marketing and strategic planning that lead the company through product life cycles, organizational transition, integration of electronic payment services, acquisitions and divestitures.
McCarthy has a B.S. of Business Administration Degree from American International College. He has also completed graduate work at Fairleigh Dickinson University.
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.