- Roy Sosa, CEO
- Betrand Sosa, Chief Marketing Officer
- Neeraj Bansal, Executive Vice President, Bus. Dev. & Co-Founder
- John Mitchell, Executive Vice President, Sales
- Carlos Barragan, Senior Vice President, Data Strategy
- Diane McCartney, Vice President, Compliance
- Andres Pena, Vice President, Finance
- Frances Pinedo, Vice President, Risk
- Melissa Walker, Senior Director, Operations
Roy Sosa
CEO
As CEO of MPOWER Mobile, Roy Sosa provides strategic oversight and direction for the company. Mr. Sosa is a Founding Partner of MPOWER Ventures, L.P., and he currently serves as the Chairman and CEO of MPOWER Labs, Inc.
Mr. Sosa has over nine years of experience in the alternative financial services industry, having started NetSpend Corporation in 1999. NetSpend was the first prepaid card processor to specifically target the un-banked segment and as the former President and CEO, Mr. Sosa was the principal behind the company's business architecture and partnerships-driven culture that has led NetSpend to become a global leader in prepaid card services.
Mr. Sosa's unique entrepreneurial style is rooted in his diverse areas of expertise, including technology, strategy, design, finance and economics, and media. In addition to his tenure in the private sector, Mr. Sosa also served with distinction in the United States Marine Corps where he received numerous meritorious citations and promotions, including the Navy-Marine Corps Achievement and National Defense Service medals.
Betrand Sosa
Chief Marketing Officer
As Chief Marketing Officer, Bertrand Sosa oversees the consumer strategy, product development, and advertising and marketing initiatives of MPOWER Mobile. Mr. Sosa is a Founding Partner of MPOWER Ventures, L.P. and currently serves as President of MPOWER Labs, Inc.
Mr. Sosa has over nine years of experience in the alternative financial services sector, having co-founded NetSpend Corporation in 1999. As Vice President of Brand Development of NetSpend Corporation, Mr. Sosa was responsible for all consumer and corporate positioning of products and services, providing keen insight on the markets served, and leading the planning and execution of corporate communications strategies for the company.
Mr. Sosa is an active supporter of community organizations and non-profit programs nationwide. With NetSpend, Mr. Sosa developed a first-of-its-kind prepaid debit card program that today supports Breast Cancer research awareness nationwide, and he established the University of Texas College of Communication's first Advertising and Sports Marketing Scholarship Fund.
Neeraj Bansal
Executive Vice President, Business Development & Co-Founder
As Executive Vice President for Business Development, Mr. Bansal is responsible for identifying, cultivating, and managing MPOWER Mobile’s strategic relationships. He brings together key business and technology elements from industries such as financial transaction processing, wireless telecomm, retail and banking.
Prior to co-founding MPOWER Mobile, Mr. Bansal was Director of Business Development at CareGain, where he was a member of the founding team that built the business from inception to its ultimate acquisition by Fiserv. He helped lead the business to over $5MM in revenue, including the sale and deployment of the platform used by three of the top five insurers. Previously, Mr. Bansal built a market vertical for first Rain, using its products for market intelligence as a base and creating a multi-million dollar business unit. As Director of Business Development for NeuVis, now part of IBM, Mr. Bansal managed several complex client and strategic partners with Fortune 500 companies -- in particular, the relationship with IBM that led to the acquisition of the company. Mr. Bansal began his career as co-founder and CEO of 3Data Inc., which automated building product e-commerce by raising financing and signing the top two product manufacturers as pilot clients.
Mr. Bansal has also held positions at Viant, SGI and Tandem Computers. He serves as a board member and advisor to several ventures and investment funds including A1Technology, TB Capital, Slaant.com, Oryx and MyHollyworld. Mr. Bansal has won several awards, including the CMU Entrepreneur of the Year ( 1998). He has a Masters in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Business, as well as undergraduate degrees in Computer Engineering, Business Administration and Cognitive Science from Carnegie Mellon University.
John Mitchell
Executive Vice President, Sales
As Executive Vice President of Sales, Mr. Mitchell oversees sales and business development for all MPOWER Mobile portfolios, services and products. In his role, Mr. Mitchell is responsible for designing product distribution strategies, building global sales and distribution networks, and forging executive-level relationships with strategic partners for MPOWER Mobile.
Mr. Mitchell comes to MPOWER Mobile with nearly 20 years of business development experience in financial services, technology and telecommunications. Most recently, Mr. Mitchell spent 6 years with NetSpend Corporation where he was the primary architect and strategist behind the building of one of the most robust sales and distribution network in the prepaid debit industry. Mr. Mitchell also contributed to the development of NetSpend’s customer service strategy and its partner management center. Before joining NetSpend, Mr. Mitchell managed multi-million dollar sales accounts and enterprise solutions for both Dell Computer Corporation and Gateway. Mr. Mitchell also spent 4 years working in multiple roles at MCI Telecommunications ranging from sales training to B2B sales management.
Mr. Mitchell earned his B.A. in Economics at the University of Texas at Austin.
Carlos Barragan
Senior Vice President, Data Strategy
As Senior Vice President of Data Strategy, Mr. Barragan is responsible for the design of MPOWER Mobiles' data collection, processing, integration and mining infrastructure, as well as the implementation of the analytical models and business processes necessary to support the company's CRM, risk management and fraud prevention strategies. Mr. Barragan's main area of technical expertise is in the formulation and implementation of risk models, particularly for the financial services industry. Mr. Barragan has an extensive understanding of customer-centric data models, business intelligence, and artificial intelligence applications related to customer behavior analysis.
Prior to joining MPOWER Mobile, Mr. Barragan was the Founding Partner and CEO of Hermes Systems, a software development company providing application development outsourcing, and more recently, Customer Centric, a technology company focused on CRM and analytics and pattern detection for customer information and transactions. In 2000-2001, Mr. Barragan was Artificial Intelligence Director of TrueCentric, a technology company focusing on personalized content delivery and a distributed agents platform. Before that he was Information Technology Coordinator for Alcance Corporation, a business and IT consulting firm, and New Technology Subdirector for SPS Consulting Group.
Mr. Barragan holds a joint MBA from the McCombs School of Business at UT Austin & ITESM (2006). He also earned a Master of Engineering in Computer Science from Cornell University (1996) and an undergraduate degree in Computer Science (ITESM).
Diane McCartney
Vice President, Compliance
As Vice President of Compliance, Diane McCartney is responsible for leading MPOWER Mobiles’ regulatory compliance team. She and her team work closely with the technical staff at MPOWER Mobile to ensure that all programs and products are in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
Prior to joining MPOWER Mobile, Ms. McCartney was Vice President of Compliance for ACE Cash Express, the largest check-cashing chain in the U.S. Ms. McCartney previously worked for the law firm of Bracewell and Giuliani as a Financial Institutions Regulatory Compliance Consultant. She has held vice president positions in compliance and in commercial lending at both state and national banks. Ms McCartney’s experience includes time as an entrepreneur having started and grown her own bank regulatory compliance consulting firm which she later sold to a CPA firm.
Ms. McCartney believes strongly in giving back to the community and has held leadership positions in organizations such as Dallas Social Venture Partners, the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship, Galaxy Counseling Center, the YWCA of Metropolitan Dallas, the Southern Dallas Development Corporation and the Garland Girls Slow-pitch Softball Association. She has also held leadership roles in numerous professional associations such as the National Association of Women Business Owners, Financial Women International, the Women’s Franchise and Distribution Forum, and the Federal Bank Secrecy Act Advisory Group, Privacy/Security Subcommittee. Ms. McCartney served on the faculty of the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking and Western States School of Banking and holds an MBA in Finance and a Bachelor of Science in Individual and Family Studies from The Pennsylvania State University.
Andres Pena
Vice President, Finance
As Vice President of Finance at MPOWER Mobile, Andres Peña is responsible for the financial and administrative management of MPOWER Mobile. He also oversees program implementation through strategic support and financial modeling.
Mr. Peña comes to MPOWER Mobile with over eight years of experience in financial services. Most recently, he was International Business Development Manager at NetSpend Corporation, where he led the implementation of strategic programs with top-tier partners. Before joining NetSpend, Mr. Peña was an Assistant Director at the International Treasury of Banco Santander Serfin in Mexico City, where he actively participated in the financial markets and performed thorough financial and risk analysis in order to guarantee the bank’s compliance with the applicable regulations.
Mr. Peña holds a Master of Business Administration degree at the University of Texas at Austin and a B.A. degree in Economics from ITESM Campus Monterrey. He is convinced that technology, innovation and market knowledge can promote a more equal income distribution worldwide.
Frances Pinedo
Vice President, Risk
As Vice President of Risk Management at MPOWER Mobile, Ms. Pinedo is responsible for enterprise risk management for all the products and services of the company. In her role, Ms. Pinedo oversees and manages exposure in the areas of money laundering, financial loss, and credit-, consumer-, and third-party fraud. Her areas of responsibility include development of all facets of the risk management area at MPOWER Mobile, including formation of risk assessments and design of the tools, policies, and processes necessary to support the Risk Management function.
Ms. Pinedo comes to MPOWER Mobile with over 14 years of experience in financial services. Most recently Ms. Pinedo was Director of Risk Management at NetSpend Corporation, where she was an executive for six years, holding several positions including head of Risk Strategy, Analytics, and Operations, as well as Call Center Director and Customer Service Manager. Before joining NetSpend, Ms. Pinedo was a risk strategy consultant for various large financial service companies, including USAA, and a Risk Manager at Household International where she worked closely with cross-functional teams including, marketing, customer service, collections, business development, and fraud operations in the development of risk analysis and strategy.
Ms. Pinedo earned an S.B. in Management Science/Operations Research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in addition to a minor in Latin American Studies. She is a firm believer in the enablement of financial services and advancement in education for the underserved.
Melissa Walker
Senior Director, Operations
As Director of Operations, Melissa Walker is responsible for the international procurement, production, and delivery of products at MPOWER Mobile. In addition, Ms. Walker is responsible for the planning, development, organization, monitoring, and maintenance of all international non-technical operations for the company.
Before joining MPOWER Mobile, Ms. Walker was an independent consultant, specializing in marketing, operations and logistics solutions for the payment card industry. Before that, she was Director of Operations at NetSpend Corporation where she was an initial member of the executive management team. Ms. Walker’s professional experience is concentrated in strategic creative planning, project management, contract negotiations, marketing management and execution. In addition to card industry consulting, she has extensive experience specializing in marketing, merchandise and operations project planning. Ms. Walker worked for adidas America as a Business Unit Manager for global products working directly with the adidas stable of brand athletes and sponsored teams. She has also worked on projects for the Discovery Channel, Nike, Adidas and Octagon Athlete Representation.
Ms. Walker earned a B.S. in Chemistry and a B.A in Philosophy from Potsdam College. Ms. Walker also sits on the Board of Governors at Lifeworks, an Austin based non-profit dedicated to transitioning at risk youth and families from crisis to safety and success.