T. Jack Williams - CEO
T. Jack Williams, the CEO of eCommLink, brings to the company nearly 20 years of prepaid experience. With his knowledge and insight into the industry, Williams is responsible for setting the direction of the company so that we remain the leading innovator of prepaid solutions in the physical, virtual and mobile spaces.
An expert in prepaid card programs since their inception, Williams designed and implemented what is considered one of the first prepaid gift card programs during his tenure with Blockbuster Inc. Immediately prior to joining eCommLink, Williams was senior vice president for Tier Technologies, where he oversaw the creation and ongoing utilization of their prepaid debit card programs. Included in this effort was extensive work with the government as they made their transition from paper to plastic for millions of child support, unemployment and pension payments. Williams continues to consult with governments worldwide, helping them established prepaid program for their constituents.
Williams was also senior vice president, relationship management for National Processing Company (NPC) in Louisville, Kentucky, as well as the senior vice president of marketing for Stored Value Systems (SVS), where he is credited with creating closed-loop gift card programs for retailers such as Kmart, Kroger, Exxon and Mobil. In 1999, he was selected as Credit Card Management magazine’s Debit Executive of the Year for his innovative work in the development of gift cards.
Ennio Ponzetto - President & General Manager
Ennio Ponzetto brings to eCommLink over 30 years of experience managing leading technology companies in the U.S. and abroad. In his role as president and general manager, E. Ponzetto is laying the ground work for eCommLink’s continued growth through the restructuring and optimization of all eCommLink operations. He will also play an integral part in eCommLink’s global expansion efforts.
Throughout his executive career, E. Ponzetto has overseen the R&D, sales and marketing, and engineering efforts of numerous high tech companies such as Olivetti, I.C.S., and Bull’s Printers Company Compuprint International. As Managing Director and General Manager, he has played a critical role in the strategic refocusing of these companies to maximize revenue and expand market share.
Brett Smith - CTO
With over 15 years of IT and operations management experience in the card and payment industry, Brett Smith oversees the creation and management of the company's technology infrastructure, architecture and application development.
Prior to eCommLink, Smith served as senior executive vice president of MBNA America - the world's largest independent credit card company - where he was responsible for Internet, offshore, CRM and systems globalization, among other major projects. Smith also managed technical teams providing development support for 18 business units in 26 regional and international sites, all while managing a $250 million annual operating budget. Smith has also held management positions at American Express Corporation, IBM and GTE Communications Systems.
Smith holds dual B.S. degrees in computer science and business administration from the University of Montana, Missoula.
Victor Newsom - Senior Vice President, Operations
Victor Newsom, senior vice president of operations, plans and directs all aspects of the company's operational (non-development) policies, objectives and initiatives.
Newsom worked in C-level and key operations positions for a variety of companies prior to joining eCommLink, including Bank of America, where he supported the launch of the first ever stock-to-checking account, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, where he managed the e-business strategies. Newsom was also the CTO of Internet Marketing Concepts, an ecommerce startup, and CEO of CompConnector, where he worked extensively with municipal and state government agencies to simplify claims and ensure HIPAA compliance.
A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Newsom is trained in Six Sigma processes and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with the Project Management Institute (PMI).
Cathy Kennedy - Controller
Cathryn Kennedy brings to eCommLink over 20 years of accounting finance experience and is a key player in eCommLink’s long-term growth strategy. Kennedy manages all aspects of accounting, financial analysis and human resources for eCommLink.
Throughout her career, Kennedy has worked in the entertainment, oil and gas, and gaming industries. Most recently, Kennedy was the director of finance for Pinnacle Entertainment, a leading developer, owner and operator of casinos both domestically and abroad.
A graduate of Ferris State University, Kennedy is a Certified Public Accountant.
Wally Wright - Vice President, Sales
A seven-year veteran of the payments industry, Wally Wright is responsible for fostering relationships with financial institutions and program mangers who share eCommLink’s commitment to and belief in prepaid debit solutions.
Immediately prior to joining eCommlink, Wright served as national sales manager for the ePayment Services Group at TransFirst Merchant Services in Omaha, Nebraska, where he was responsible for sales, marketing and product development. Before joining the corporate workplace, Wright was a combat medic for the U.S. Army.
A graduate of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Wright is active with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Raymond Lu - Vice President, Engineering
With more than 12 years of industry experience, Raymond Lu has been instrumental in managing all aspects of eCommLink’s engineering division, which focuses on development, testing, network infrastructure and security. Under his leadership, eCommLink has built a reliable, PCI DSS-compliant infrastructure that delivers high system availability, high security and high scalability for real-time and mission critical prepaid card processing.
Prior to joining eCommLink in 2003, Lu spent four years at Landmark Graphics Corp., the world's leading provider of software solutions for the up-stream oil and gas industry. In this position, he led the development of a premium Java technology-based web portal and an advanced web portal framework that provided location-free integration of massive production data and applications management solutions. In addition, Lu has numerous years of experience at prestigious organizations, such as The Institute of System Science in Singapore and The National R&D Institute.
Lu holds a Bachelor of Computation Science degree from Jiaotong University, as well as a Master of Computer Science degree from the National University of Singapore.
Tony Vargas - Vice President, Enterprise Project Management Office
Tony Vargas has over 27 years of experience in the banking industry, including 16 years as a project manager focused on the launching of card systems and products. As the vice president of enterprise project management for eCommLink, Vargas manages all release related requests and projects for the development of new products and services.
Immediately prior to joining eCommLink, Vargas was a vice president with Washington Mutual Bank where he managed multiple project teams in multiple sites specializing in the delivery of technologies and business solutions relating to debit and credit card products.
Vargas has extensive training in project management, time management and situational leadership and has successfully employed these PMI methodologies to improve the efficiency and predictability of eCommLink releases.
