-

Nacha Honors the 15 Under 40 Award Winners for 2026

RESTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nacha is proud to announce the 2026 honorees in its 15 Under 40 Awards program, recognizing the next generation of payments industry leaders. All have demonstrated exceptional leadership, innovation, and dedication to advancing the payments landscape.

“These are the rising payments superstars”

Share

Nacha’s 15 Under 40 honorees for 2026 are:

  • Ximena Alemán, Prometeo.
  • James Chi, PMP, Block, Inc.
  • Caroline Cypriano, JJ4tech.
  • Sumner Francisco, AAP, AFPP, BNY.
  • Wayne Gonzales, AAP, Usio, Inc.
  • Heather Indelicato, AFPP, APRP, Midwest BankCentre.
  • Dani Lugo, Bank of America.
  • Angie Macias, AAP, NCP, SESLOC Credit Union.
  • Alexandra Nuth, Ingo Money/Ingo Payments.
  • Alejandro Pinzon, DRUO.
  • Adam Rigby, AAP, AFPP, CTP, Truist Financial Corporation.
  • Kevin Gary Smith, AAP, AFPP, Galileo Financial Technologies.
  • Alex Treece, Stablecore.
  • Lauren Wallin, AAP, APRP, Grasshopper Bank.
  • Eric Wester, AAP, AFPP, APRP, NCP, UMACHA.

“These are the rising payments superstars,” said Stephanie Prebish, AAP, AFPP, APRP, CTP, Nacha Senior Managing Director, Association Services. “Encouraging tomorrow’s leaders is vital to the future of payments, and the 15 Under 40 Awards is an excellent way to do that.”

The winners, who were selected by a committee of payments industry experts, will be honored at the Monday, April 27, keynote lunch at Smarter Faster Payments 2026 in San Diego. Learn more about the 15 Under 40 Awards and this year’s recipients on the Payments website.

For the third consecutive year, M&T Bank is the official sponsor of the 15 Under 40 Awards.

About Nacha

Nacha governs the thriving ACH Network, the payment system that drives safe, smart, and fast Direct Deposits and Direct Payments with the capability to reach all U.S. bank and credit union accounts. There were 35.2 billion ACH Network payments made in 2025, valued at $93 trillion. Through problem-solving and consensus-building among diverse payment industry stakeholders, Nacha advances innovation and interoperability in the payments system. Nacha develops rules and standards, provides industry solutions, and delivers education, accreditation, and advisory services.

Contacts

Dan Roth
Nacha
571-579-0720
media@nacha.org

Industry:

Nacha

Release Versions
English

Contacts

Dan Roth
Nacha
571-579-0720
media@nacha.org

More News From Nacha

New Nacha Payments Innovation Alliance Project Team Focused on Stablecoins and Tokenized Deposits

RESTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As digital assets become an increasingly important part of the payments universe, Nacha's Payments Innovation Alliance is unveiling its newest initiative: the Next-Gen Currency Project Team. The team, led by Nacha and the Digital Sovereignty Alliance, will explore the global use of digital assets—including stablecoins and tokenized deposits—for money movement.“While digital assets like stablecoins and tokenized deposits are gaining popularity and acceptance, there a...

Nacha Announces dhango is a Nacha Preferred Partner for Risk and Fraud Prevention, Compliance, and Open Banking

RESTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nacha announced today that dhango is now a Nacha Preferred Partner for Risk and Fraud Prevention, Compliance, and Open Banking. dhango provides white-labeled payments infrastructure that enables software platforms to embed ACH through a single API. Its ACH capabilities include merchant onboarding and underwriting, KYC/AML screening, authorization management, exposure and velocity controls, return and dispute management, and Third-Party Sender support for platforms...

Nacha Announces Finastra as a Preferred Partner for ACH Experience, ISO 20022, and Risk and Fraud Prevention

RESTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nacha today welcomed Finastra as a Nacha Preferred Partner for ACH Experience, ISO 20022, and Risk and Fraud Prevention. Finastra’s modern ACH solutions, Global PAYplus and Payments To Go, enable financial institutions to transition from traditional, batch processing to a scalable, resilient, and more adaptive operating model. Finastra’s cloud-native payments platform is designed to support the growing volume and velocity of ACH transactions, including the continue...
Back to Newsroom