Speakers

John Ballantyne

Founder and CEO, Tru Treasury

John Ballantyne is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Tru Treasury, a firm committed to equipping community financial institutions with the capabilities to deliver industry-leading treasury management solutions and advisory services to business clients. Under his leadership, Tru Treasury has grown from a startup into a premier strategic service provider in the financial services sector.

With more than 22 years of experience in financial services, John has led high-performing teams across underwriting, treasury management, and payments. Before founding Tru Treasury, he held multiple leadership roles at a national bank within its Treasury and Payments division, including Vice President of Digital Money Movement, First Vice President of Liquidity Product and Commercial Card Incentives, and Head of Treasury Solutions Proposal Management.

Prior to his banking career, John successfully founded, scaled, and exited a medical payments startup. He also held roles at Amazon.com and Vanguard, further strengthening his expertise in financial technology, operational strategy, and business development.

A U.S. Army veteran and Iraq War veteran, John earned an MBA from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor of Science from Shippensburg University. He also holds rotary-wing aviator certifications (UH-60 and CH-47) from the U.S. Army Flight School.

Most importantly, John is a devoted husband of 18 years and a proud father of three.

Cheryl Friese

Manager Payment Services, Publix Employees Federal Credit Union

Cheryl Friese is Manager of Payment Services at Publix Employees Federal Credit
Union in Lakeland, Florida, with more than 40 years of experience in the banking
and credit union industries.

She oversees payment operations and supports
initiatives involving payment processing, regulatory compliance, fraud
prevention, and member service. Cheryl is committed to improving operational
procedures, supporting team development, and providing PEFCU members with
reliable, efficient payment services.

Ian Schweid CTP MBA

VP, Client Relations - Head of FedNow Client Specialist Group

Ian is part of the Client Relations team within the Federal Reserve Financial Service group. He and his team of FedNow Client Specialists work with financial institutions, service providers and corporate originators as they join and expand their usage of the FedNow instant payment network. Prior to joining the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, he was in the Product Management and Strategy team within the Financial Services Global Business Unit at Oracle.

During the last 25 years, Ian has led business and product related efforts at numerous banks. His responsibilities have included the areas of deposits, retail lending, treasury management, payments, digital channels and credit/debit cards. He has managed retail banking and private banking regions, treasury management groups, merchant processing services, and client service departments. As part of these efforts, he has worked to define the strategic direction for the business, identify and manage key vendor relationship, work directly with clients to help them succeed, manage large scale projects including complete system conversions, and implement new operations and sales processes.

He has served in numerous community and industry organizations including as a Member of the Federal Reserve FedNow RFP workgroup, Federal Reserve Faster Payments Task Force, President of the South Florida chapter of the Association of Financial Professionals (SFAFP), Member of the American Bankers Association (ABA) Payment Advisory Committee and former President and Advisory Board Member of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Biscayne Nature Center. He is a frequent speaker at industry events and conferences around the country. Ian has earned an undergraduate degree in business/finance from Eckerd College, and an M.B.A. from Florida International University.

Kyle Caldwell

VP, Fraud Product Management, Clearing House

Serves as Vice President, Head of Fraud Prevention at The Clearing House, where he leads enterprise efforts to define and execute the strategic vision for fraud prevention across the payments network. Known for his ability to connect strategy with execution, Kyle works across business, technology, and risk teams to deliver forward-thinking solutions that strengthen the industry’s defenses against financial crime.
Prior to joining The Clearing House, Kyle spent nine years at a large regional bank, where he held multiple leadership roles across fraud strategy, operations, and product development. He also gained valuable experience shaping fraud solutions on a broader scale during his time at fintech’s, helping financial institutions address evolving threats through identity, analytics, and biometric technologies.
Kyle brings an end-to-end perspective to combating fraud, shaped by years on the front lines and sharpened by strategic leadership roles. His approach blends operational empathy with product innovation—ensuring solutions are not only cutting-edge, but also grounded in real-world impact.
A recognized industry leader, Kyle is frequently invited to speak at conferences, roundtables, and executive forums. His work reflects a deep commitment to advancing collective progress in fraud prevention and fostering a more secure, resilient financial ecosystem.

Mart Vos

CEO, Eko

Mart Vos is the founder and CEO of Eko, the largest white-label digital investment platform for banks and credit unions. Eko is working with 50+ financial institutions across the US, has won Finovate Best of Show two years in a row, and is on a mission to help everyday Americans invest through their trusted financial institution.
Before founding Eko, Mart led the engineering team at True North, a hedge fund, where he learned that the world of investing was powerful, but not exactly built for everyone. So he decided to fix that.
Mart studied in the Netherlands and Singapore, and is based in New York. In his free time, he likes to play football  though he will remind you, unprompted, that it's called football.

Landon Gaines

VP, Key Accounts Strategist, Corporate One FCU

A seasoned business development executive, Landon provides expert
consultation to member credit unions, offering tailored services that meet their
business needs. He brings more than two decades of industry experience in
strategy development, relationship-building, and leadership to his role at
Corporate One. Previously, he served as the senior vice president of operations at
Florida State University Credit Union. With oversight responsibilities spanning
multiple departments, including lending, marketing, compliance, and risk
management, Landon showcased his analytical mindset and ability to drive
credit union success. Before his tenure at Florida State University Credit Union,
Landon was the vice president of global commercial banking at Bank of America
Merrill Lynch. With expertise in small business and consumer banking, Landon's
extensive financial knowledge, strategic acumen, and diverse background
position him as a valuable resource to credit unions. He lives in Tallahassee,
Florida, with his wife, three children, and three dogs. In his free time, he enjoys
woodworking, fishing, hunting and spending time with his family.

Scott Holmes

AVP Partner Integration and Relationships, Corporate One FCU

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Matt Murray

Sr. Member Engagement & Education Specialist

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Melissa Ashley

President / CEO

A visionary and steadfast leader, Melissa is a strategic driver of growth in her role as President and CEO at Corporate One. Melissa joined Corporate One in 1999. During her time with the organization, she has served in various roles, including controller, vice president of finance, and EVP/CFO. Melissa became Corporate One’s president/CEO in 2018.

Melissa serves on the board of directors of Corporate One’s wholly owned credit union service organization (CUSO) Lucro Commercial Solutions. She also serves on two of The Clearing House's committees: the RTP Business Committee and the Rules Enforcement Committee. Melissa is also a board member for eDOC Innovations and the chair of the Corporate Credit Union Alliance. From 2019 through 2024, Melissa served on the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland’s Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council (CDIAC), offering valuable insights and perspectives from community depository institutions to the Cleveland Fed.

Prior to joining Corporate One, Melissa worked at a Big Four accounting firm. She has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting with a minor in Computer Science from The Ohio State University. She has also achieved the Certified Chief Executive designation from the Credit Union Executive Society (CUES) and is a certified public accountant in the state of Ohio. In her free time, Melissa likes to help on her family’s sweet corn and produce farm. She enjoys being outside and working the land, teaching her kids the value of a hard day’s work, and gathering with extended family over delicious meals at harvest time.

Christine Mayes

Chief Member Engagement Officer

A focused and strategic leader, Christine is responsible for business development growth and overseeing the Marketing and Communications, Member Success, and Member Experience teams.

Christine joined Corporate One in 2020 and quickly developed a passion for credit unions and forging deeper relationships with the member institutions Corporate One serves. Dedicated to credit union success and to helping members achieve their respective business goals, she ensures the Member Success team strategically aligns with and supports members so that they receive the utmost value out of their membership in Corporate One. She is committed to helping credit unions remain competitive and innovative by adopting digital and real-time payments.

Before joining Corporate One, Christine served in sales and sales management for Brink’s, Inc., supporting financial institutions of all sizes. Christine lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband and two dogs. She enjoys golfing and all water and outdoor activities in her free time.

Elena Casal

Chief Client Officer at The Clearing House

Elena Casal is the Chief Client Officer at The Clearing House, responsible for creating and managing the holistic experience for its customers and partners. The role is focused on promoting the company’s work to its diverse target segments, including growing the RTP® network across U.S. financial institutions, evolving the customer engagement model for all payments networks, as well as overseeing business lines focused on payments education, accreditation services, consulting and risk assessments.

Elena has deep experience with product and customers in the payments industry.  Prior to joining The Clearing House, Elena held regional and global product management positions at FIS, Clear2Pay and Fiserv where she was focused on building products and services across the global enterprise payments landscape. She also worked at the Federal Reserve Bank within the Retail Product Office and Monetary Policy Divisions with a focus on cross-border activities and economic policy in Latin America.

Elena currently serves on the P20 Board as well as the Girls on the Run Central Ohio non-profit Board. Elena holds a B.A. in Economics and International Affairs from Denison University and an M.S. in International Affairs from Georgia Institute of Technology.