The Center for Financial Services Innovation Announces New Board Members

Executives from eFunds, El Banco, Keybank, and Wells Fargo Are Added as CFSI Continues Its Expansion

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Four executives from across the financial services industry have joined The Center for Financial Services Innovation’s board of directors. Joining Jennifer Tescher, CFSI's Director; Ellen Seidman, ShoreBank EVP and former Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision; and Mary Houghton, ShoreBank's President and co-founder; will be new directors Bruce Murphy, Gary Palmer, Kevin Rhein, and Luz Urrutia. The full board met yesterday at CFSI’s offices in Chicago.

Bruce Murphy, Keybank’s president of Community Development Banking, has been a strong supporter of CFSI since its inception. Among other activities, he spoke at the inaugural Underbanked Financial Services Forum, co-produced by CFSI, discussing Keybank’s groundbreaking initiative to attract new customers from among underbanked residents of Cleveland. As president of Community Development banking, he leads the corporation’s construction lending for affordable housing, commercial loans for small business, and residential mortgage lending in low-to-moderate income markets, as well as overseeing equity investments in affordable housing and tax credit projects.

Gary Palmer joined eFunds Corporation in 2005, when it acquired Wildcard Systems, the prepaid solutions company he had co-founded. As eFunds’ Executive Vice President for Global Strategic Business Development, he continues to drive innovation in the prepaid card sector, as well as in broader realm of electronic payments. He has long been an advocate of using prepaid cards to assist the underbanked, speaking on the subject at a variety of forums, including the Underbanked Financial Services Forum. eFunds works to expand service to the underbanked through a number of initiatives. It recently joined with CFSI to analyze account records in its ChexSystems product, suggesting new possibilities for risk assessment and other potential improvements.

Kevin Rhein, Executive Vice President and Business Manager for Wells Fargo Card Services, has been Wells Fargo’s representative with the Responsible Credit Partnership, which joins CFSI on January 1, 2007, since its inception in 2002. He has broad experience serving diverse populations, and managing many of the products which function as access points to the underbanked, including remittances as well as prepaid, credit and debit cards. Wells Fargo has been a pioneer in emerging markets throughout its business divisions, and has worked with CFSI on numerous projects. Mr. Rhein worked with the Responsible Credit Partnership on a variety of initiatives, including Wells’ test of online financial education for college students, which was so successful at improving credit card management for both the user and the issuer that it is now standard for the bank’s college cardholders.

Luz Urrutia was recently named Community Banker of the Year by the American Banker, for her role as President and Chief Operating Officer for El Banco Financial Corporation. El Banco was lauded for both its vision and execution of providing robust introductory financial services for recent Latino immigrants. El Banco was selected by CFSI in 2005 for inclusion in CFSI’s showcase in the BAI Retail Delivery exhibit hall of promising new models for serving the underbanked. Prior to establishing El Banco, Ms. Urrutia was Senior Vice President at Wachovia. She served in a variety of roles during her eighteen years there, including leading the bank’s expansion into Canada and Mexico.

Said Ellen Seidman, Chair of CFSI’s Board, “We are enormously pleased to have in our ranks four financial services leaders who have demonstrated a strong interest in the work of CFSI and in making certain that all Americans have access to high quality, wealth-building financial services. Together with the continuing support of ShoreBank, this Board will enable CFSI to continue to increase its effectiveness and its ability to serve as a vital link between underserved consumers and the industry.”

About CFSI:

The Center for Financial Services Innovation, a non-profit affiliate of ShoreBank Corporation, facilitates financial services industry efforts to serve underbanked consumers across the economic, geographic and cultural spectrum. It provides funding and resources, enables partnerships, and identifies, develops and distributes authoritative information on how to respond to the needs of the underbanked profitably and responsibly. CFSI works with banks, credit unions, technology vendors, alternative service providers, consumer advocates and policy makers to forge pioneering relationships, products and strategies that will transform industry practice and the lives of underbanked consumers. For more on CFSI, go to www.cfsinnovation.com.