When talking with Jane Hennessy, it is apparent that she is a woman with a big heart and a lot of life experiences, personally and professionally. From her double major (math and psychology) in college and her eventual Master’s degree in psychology, to her work experiences in Japan and New York, she laughed as she explained, “my journey is a long one.” Most notably from a payments perspective, her journey has included working at Wells Fargo for nearly 22 years, where she ultimately became Executive Vice President, and G2 Web Services where she worked as Head of External Alliances for three years. Currently, Jane plays roles for several different companies. She has been a Board Member at Oak Financial for nearly five years, an Instructor for Illumeo for four years, and in September she became an Advisory Board member for CompleXCountries.

Professionally, Jane is looking forward to some long-anticipated changes in the payments industry. She remarked, “There’s a lot to do in payments. Lots of changes could be made, and I have a passion for that.” In her opinion, the top issue in the payments industry is the speed at which payments are currently moving. She recognizes there are challenges here; however, both consumers and businesses want the ability to send and receive payments faster. She went on to say that, “faster payments may lead to faster fraud, as the fraudsters seek out what they see as vulnerability or new opportunities.”

Personally, helping animals is a major passion. Jane has been a foster mom to a multitude of dogs. She has fostered a total of 38 dogs. She gushed, “I get more out of it than the dogs. It’s amazing to see them transform over night from a shy and afraid animal to one who is thriving. Sometimes they come to me and they can’t function, and within 24 hours they’re a completely different dog!” Not only is she passionate about her own rescue efforts, but she shared that she is inspired by people who help others. One example Jane gave involved the recent Hurricane Florence. She explained that seeing people put their lives on the line to rescue abandoned animals, or seeing people risk their lives to save those who are trapped, is very inspiring and moving.

We asked Jane what advice she would give to her younger self, or to someone who wants to be where she is one day. After some thought, she shared, “Make sure you take a chance and explore opportunities. If you’re offered to be on a task force or work force (or in my case, 3 larger mergers), take it! You will never learn as much if you aren’t forced out of your comfort zone. Keep learning! It helps you be a better person. Don’t be complacent. Go out there and volunteer. Make the most of life and enjoy it!”

During EPCOR Payments Conference – Fall 2018, Jane will be hosting a session called Payments Laundering: Become an Expert. She hopes her attendees will take away that money laundering impacts all institutions, including banks and credit unions of all sizes. She explained, “One of the biggest priorities is a financial institution’s brand and they need to protect it. If you don’t have the resources with your current staff, consider outside sources. Savvy fraudsters work fast and share info! It’s crazy.”

You can check out Jane’s session and all the other informative sessions planned for EPCOR Payments Conference – Fall 2018 on our conference website. Or, dive right in and register today!