Pulse has made several staffing changes that reflect the company's increased emphasis on value-added products and services, including the safeguarding of financial institutions and their debit cardholders from fraud.
As part of an expanded focus on bringing new products to market while continuing to enhance the value of existing products, PULSE is combining its product management, retail services and strategic business development teams. These teams have been merged into one department led by Judith McGuire, who has been promoted to senior vice president, product management, from vice president, retail services.
McGuire has been with PULSE since 2002 and now directs product management activities for all PULSE network products. She previously worked for First Data Corporation in multiple roles, including product development and marketing.
"PULSE is committed to serving the evolving needs of our network participants in a changing financial services marketplace," said Dave Schneider, PULSE president. "This effort includes the work of Judith and her team, which is dedicated to managing our existing lineup of products and services, as well as expanding this lineup."
PULSE has been aggressively enhancing and expanding its products and services, and McGuire sees opportunities to accelerate this momentum.
"In 2007, we introduced the Perks Everyday debit rewards product, the recurring PINless Bill Pay service and DebitProtect," she said. "Our participants are looking to us to provide even greater value in the future, and we plan to deliver."
Perks Everyday is a points-based rewards program that allows debit cardholders to choose from hundreds of reward items, while recurring PINless Bill Pay gives consumers the flexibility to automatically pay recurring bills using their debit cards without entering their personal identification numbers, or PINs.
Recognized fraud expert James Cichy has joined PULSE as vice president, fraud management. Cichy is responsible for PULSE fraud protection and prevention services, including DebitProtect, which provides risk scoring for all PIN, signature and PINless debit transactions on the PULSE network. Prior to joining PULSE, Cichy was employed at Fifth Third Bank, where he and his team were recognized for their outstanding efforts to minimize fraud losses.
"The addition of Jim's expertise reflects the importance PULSE places on fraud protection," said Warren Coles, PULSE executive vice president and chief operating officer. "Addressing fraud is a top priority of our participants, and it's a top priority of PULSE."
PULSE also has promoted Mike Urquizu from senior manager, business development, to vice president, sales. A PULSE employee since 2001, Urquizu oversees the national financial institution sales program and manages a team of sales executives. He is responsible for sales of PULSE network participation, as well as various processing solutions.
"Mike has extensive experience in the EFT industry, and manages a broad and growing sales force for PULSE," said Fritz Weitzel, senior vice president, sales. "His team's efforts have contributed significantly to PULSE's phenomenal growth over the past two years."