Albert Ko is Chief Executive Officer of Early Warning Services, LLC, a fintech company owned by seven of the country’s leading banks. The company’s innovations empower financial institutions of all sizes to make confident decisions, enable payments and mitigate fraud.
Ko is well known for his consistent track record of leading at scale and developing innovative product experiences in financial technology, payments, and consumer and small business management. He assumed the role on May 13, 2019.
Early Warning has served to protect the financial services industry from fraud and risk for more than 25 years. Today, the company is best known as the owner and operator of the Zelle Network®, a financial services network focused on transforming financial experiences. But, it is the company’s rich portfolio of deposit and payment risk management, identity verification, and authentication solutions for banks that have been foundational to its years of success.
Prior to joining Early Warning, Ko served as Chief Transformation Officer for Intuit. Appointed to this role in 2017, Ko drove Intuit’s operating rhythm and oversaw the cross-company transformational change initiatives that allowed Intuit to re-imagine and re-invent itself in order to best serve its customers.
Over his 13+ year career at Intuit, Ko held numerous leadership positions, including General Manager of Mint and Head of Product for Intuit’s Small Business Group, where he was responsible for the global expansion of QuickBooks, Payments, and Payroll.
Before joining Intuit, Ko was a management consultant at both the Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey & Company where he advised technology and industrial clients on strategy, organizational effectiveness, and supply chain management.
Al holds a B.A. in History and International Studies from Yale University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Kash Baghaei is Chief Product Officer at Early Warning. In this role, he leads the many teams responsible for guiding the design and delivery of payments, identity, and risk insight solutions that help financial institutions create amazing financial experiences.
Prior to joining Early Warning, Kash was Chief Product Officer at Xoom and head of consumer payment experiences (P2P & remittance) at PayPal. He brings a wealth of experience in product management and engineering, and an outstanding track record in building, launching and scaling innovative products. Prior to PayPal, he held product leadership roles at Zynga and Intuit.
Kash attended UCLA Anderson School of Management where he received an MBA in strategy and entrepreneurship. He also holds an MS in artificial intelligence from the University of Kansas.
Kash serves on the Advisory Board at MixPanel, a business analytics service company whose mission is to unlock customer insights to better convert, engage, and retain users.
Mike Cahill is Chief Technology Officer at Early Warning.
Mike brings nearly 30 years of experience as a hands-on technology leader, most recently at PayPal, where he spent the past 2 years leading various product and technology transformations. Most recently, he was a Senior Vice President of Engineering for Merchant Platforms, where he was responsible for Braintree and PayPal Checkout.
Before PayPal, he was Chief Technology Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Boku, Inc, a leading global provider of alternate payment solutions which he helped scale in preparation for its IPO in 2017. Prior to Boku, he was Vice President of Engineering at American Express for 2 years.
Mike is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and he enjoys woodworking, photography and plays saxophone in a few local bands.
Albert Ko is Chief Executive Officer of Early Warning Services, LLC, a fintech company owned by seven of the country’s leading banks. The company’s innovations empower financial institutions of all sizes to make confident decisions, enable payments and mitigate fraud.
Ko is well known for his consistent track record of leading at scale and developing innovative product experiences in financial technology, payments, and consumer and small business management. He assumed the role on May 13, 2019.
Early Warning has served to protect the financial services industry from fraud and risk for more than 25 years. Today, the company is best known as the owner and operator of the Zelle Network®, a financial services network focused on transforming financial experiences. But, it is the company’s rich portfolio of deposit and payment risk management, identity verification, and authentication solutions for banks that have been foundational to its years of success.
Prior to joining Early Warning, Ko served as Chief Transformation Officer for Intuit. Appointed to this role in 2017, Ko drove Intuit’s operating rhythm and oversaw the cross-company transformational change initiatives that allowed Intuit to re-imagine and re-invent itself in order to best serve its customers.
Over his 13+ year career at Intuit, Ko held numerous leadership positions, including General Manager of Mint and Head of Product for Intuit’s Small Business Group, where he was responsible for the global expansion of QuickBooks, Payments, and Payroll.
Before joining Intuit, Ko was a management consultant at both the Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey & Company where he advised technology and industrial clients on strategy, organizational effectiveness, and supply chain management.
Al holds a B.A. in History and International Studies from Yale University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Kash Baghaei is Chief Product Officer at Early Warning. In this role, he leads the many teams responsible for guiding the design and delivery of payments, identity, and risk insight solutions that help financial institutions create amazing financial experiences.
Prior to joining Early Warning, Kash was Chief Product Officer at Xoom and head of consumer payment experiences (P2P & remittance) at PayPal. He brings a wealth of experience in product management and engineering, and an outstanding track record in building, launching and scaling innovative products. Prior to PayPal, he held product leadership roles at Zynga and Intuit.
Kash attended UCLA Anderson School of Management where he received an MBA in strategy and entrepreneurship. He also holds an MS in artificial intelligence from the University of Kansas.
Kash serves on the Advisory Board at MixPanel, a business analytics service company whose mission is to unlock customer insights to better convert, engage, and retain users.
Mike Cahill is Chief Technology Officer at Early Warning.
Mike brings nearly 30 years of experience as a hands-on technology leader, most recently at PayPal, where he spent the past 2 years leading various product and technology transformations. Most recently, he was a Senior Vice President of Engineering for Merchant Platforms, where he was responsible for Braintree and PayPal Checkout.
Before PayPal, he was Chief Technology Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Boku, Inc, a leading global provider of alternate payment solutions which he helped scale in preparation for its IPO in 2017. Prior to Boku, he was Vice President of Engineering at American Express for 2 years.
Mike is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and he enjoys woodworking, photography and plays saxophone in a few local bands.
Tracy Cheney is General Counsel and Secretary for Early Warning. She joined the company in 2006 and served in several legal roles including chief compliance officer.
In her current role, Cheney provides leadership, oversight and direction for all legal, regulatory, compliance and corporate governance affairs. She supervises the provision of legal support and advice for the company’s payments, authentication, risk and consumer reporting business lines; corporate development initiatives; intellectual property; and employment litigation matters.
Prior to Early Warning, Cheney served for nine years as Corporate Counsel for First Data Corporation’s money transfer, payment instruments, remittance and processing and merchant acquiring businesses. During that time she supported the formation and launch of Early Warning.
Cheney holds her J. D. from the University of Denver and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Southern California. She is admitted to practice law in Arizona and Colorado. Cheney is on the board of directors for the Consumer Data Industry Association.
Suzanne Hartin is Chief Risk Officer for Early Warning. In this role, she leads the company’s risk functions including Information Security, Enterprise and Operational Risk Management, Business Continuity and Crisis Management, Third Party Risk Management, Compliance and Physical Security.
Suzanne has more than 20 years of risk management experience developed at a variety of the nation’s largest financial institutions. Prior to joining Early Warning, she was Vice President of Operational Risk Management at Capital One where she managed the Enterprise Business Continuity and Crisis Management teams as well as the Corporate Third Party Risk Management and Corporate Insurance Risk Management programs. She has also held a number of executive risk, compliance and information security positions at American Express and Bank of America.
Suzanne graduated from Davidson College with a degree in economics. She is a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) and is Certified in Risk and Information Systems Controls (CRISC). Suzanne serves on the Board of Directors for Sytek Electric, the world leader in design and manufacture of high-powered sub-sea motors used on ROVs (remotely operated vehicles) and other sub-sea applications and is a member of ISACA and the Executive Women’s Forum (EWF).
Melissa Lowry is Chief Marketing Officer for Early Warning Services, LLC., a fintech company owned by seven of the country’s largest banks and best known as the owner and operator of Zelle®. In her role, she leads Early Warning’s (including Zelle®) marketing and communications strategy, execution, and results from end-to-end. She manages a world-class marketing organization, including brand strategy, B2B marketing, internal and external comms, digital operations, and integrated consumer-facing campaigns.
Throughout the past five years, Lowry has played an instrumental role in the company’s launch and growth of Zelle®. She has led multiple national advertising campaigns and coordinated campaign messaging across hundreds of banks, significantly driving consumer awareness. Lowry is a frequent contributor to payments and marketing topics and has been quoted in American Banker, The Atlantic, Mashable, San Francisco Chronicle, and Tearsheet.
Lowry joined Early Warning in 2016 following the company’s acquisition of San Francisco-based clearXchange. She served as Head of Product & Marketing, helping grow the consumer base by over 200% year-over-year to more than 25 million registered users. In addition, she has held senior leadership positions in payments and innovation at Wells Fargo and started her career as an investment banking analyst at Lehman Brothers.
Lowry is the co-inventor on 27 mobile wallet patents. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Idaho State University and an M.B.A. from Stanford University.
Tracy Cheney is General Counsel and Secretary for Early Warning. She joined the company in 2006 and served in several legal roles including chief compliance officer.
In her current role, Cheney provides leadership, oversight and direction for all legal, regulatory, compliance and corporate governance affairs. She supervises the provision of legal support and advice for the company’s payments, authentication, risk and consumer reporting business lines; corporate development initiatives; intellectual property; and employment litigation matters.
Prior to Early Warning, Cheney served for nine years as Corporate Counsel for First Data Corporation’s money transfer, payment instruments, remittance and processing and merchant acquiring businesses. During that time she supported the formation and launch of Early Warning.
Cheney holds her J. D. from the University of Denver and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Southern California. She is admitted to practice law in Arizona and Colorado. Cheney is on the board of directors for the Consumer Data Industry Association.
Suzanne Hartin is Chief Risk Officer for Early Warning. In this role, she leads the company’s risk functions including Information Security, Enterprise and Operational Risk Management, Business Continuity and Crisis Management, Third Party Risk Management, Compliance and Physical Security.
Suzanne has more than 20 years of risk management experience developed at a variety of the nation’s largest financial institutions. Prior to joining Early Warning, she was Vice President of Operational Risk Management at Capital One where she managed the Enterprise Business Continuity and Crisis Management teams as well as the Corporate Third Party Risk Management and Corporate Insurance Risk Management programs. She has also held a number of executive risk, compliance and information security positions at American Express and Bank of America.
Suzanne graduated from Davidson College with a degree in economics. She is a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) and is Certified in Risk and Information Systems Controls (CRISC). Suzanne serves on the Board of Directors for Sytek Electric, the world leader in design and manufacture of high-powered sub-sea motors used on ROVs (remotely operated vehicles) and other sub-sea applications and is a member of ISACA and the Executive Women’s Forum (EWF).
Melissa Lowry is Chief Marketing Officer for Early Warning Services, LLC., a fintech company owned by seven of the country’s largest banks and best known as the owner and operator of Zelle®. In her role, she leads Early Warning’s (including Zelle®) marketing and communications strategy, execution, and results from end-to-end. She manages a world-class marketing organization, including brand strategy, B2B marketing, internal and external comms, digital operations, and integrated consumer-facing campaigns.
Throughout the past five years, Lowry has played an instrumental role in the company’s launch and growth of Zelle®. She has led multiple national advertising campaigns and coordinated campaign messaging across hundreds of banks, significantly driving consumer awareness. Lowry is a frequent contributor to payments and marketing topics and has been quoted in American Banker, The Atlantic, Mashable, San Francisco Chronicle, and Tearsheet.
Lowry joined Early Warning in 2016 following the company’s acquisition of San Francisco-based clearXchange. She served as Head of Product & Marketing, helping grow the consumer base by over 200% year-over-year to more than 25 million registered users. In addition, she has held senior leadership positions in payments and innovation at Wells Fargo and started her career as an investment banking analyst at Lehman Brothers.
Lowry is the co-inventor on 27 mobile wallet patents. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Idaho State University and an M.B.A. from Stanford University.
Sean Murphy is chief internal audit executive for Early Warning. Sean joined the company in 2010 and led the creation of the internal audit department that is responsible for auditing all aspects of Early Warning’s business operations for compliance with internal control and regulatory frameworks.
With more than 30 years in public and internal auditing and compliance, this industry veteran’s experience spans multiple industries including financial services, higher education and technology.
Sean holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Brigham Young University and earned his CPA in Alaska. He is a Certified Internal Auditor, Certified Information Systems Auditor and is a member of ISACA and the IIA.
José serves as Chief Operating Officer at Early Warning, the fintech company owned by seven of the country's leading banks. In this role he guides the company’s strategy and leads the teams that bring it to life, including those responsible for corporate development, customer implementation and support, consumer and client servicing and fraud risk management.
Prior to joining Early Warning in 2021, José served as Executive Vice President – Global Head of New Ventures at Banco Santander. There, he led corporate strategy, emerging technologies, and the customer experience. He has two decades of business experience, 15 of which have been product-focused, at Intuit, Digital Insight and NCR.
José holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Stanford University in Management Science and Engineering. He has served on the boards of various non-profit organizations, most recently as the Financial Officer for Third Street Community Center in San Jose, Calif., an organization focused on providing free educational opportunities and STEM learning programs for school-aged children.
Natalie Schwimer is Chief People Officer for Early Warning. In this role, she leads the company’s human capital management strategies and people operations, including Culture, Engagement, Talent Management, Total Rewards, Talent Acquisition, and Training. Natalie has 20 years of expertise leading Human Resources functions in both the private and non-profit sectors, with a focus on Human Resources transformation, leadership development, and creating amazing work environments that rise up to meet the needs of both employees and customers.
Prior to Early Warning, Natalie served as the Regional Vice President of Human Resources for Chubb Insurance (Western Region), the world’s largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company. While at Chubb, Natalie provided strategic regional leadership, with oversight of multiple talent initiatives and multi-state teams. She has additional experience in healthcare, financial services, home building, and the airline industry. Natalie holds a bachelor’s degree in English Literature and Secondary Education from Rutgers University, a Senior Certified Professional certification from the Society for Human Resources Management, and a teaching license. Natalie’s philanthropic pursuits include mentoring, Girls on the Run and the Special Olympics. Additionally, Natalie serves her community as a Board Member for the Make-A-Wish Foundation – Arizona Chapter. In her spare time, she enjoys running marathons, travel, and spending time with her family.
Sean Murphy is chief internal audit executive for Early Warning. Sean joined the company in 2010 and led the creation of the internal audit department that is responsible for auditing all aspects of Early Warning’s business operations for compliance with internal control and regulatory frameworks.
With more than 30 years in public and internal auditing and compliance, this industry veteran’s experience spans multiple industries including financial services, higher education and technology.
Sean holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Brigham Young University and earned his CPA in Alaska. He is a Certified Internal Auditor, Certified Information Systems Auditor and is a member of ISACA and the IIA.
José serves as Chief Operating Officer at Early Warning, the fintech company owned by seven of the country's leading banks. In this role he guides the company’s strategy and leads the teams that bring it to life, including those responsible for corporate development, customer implementation and support, consumer and client servicing and fraud risk management.
Prior to joining Early Warning in 2021, José served as Executive Vice President – Global Head of New Ventures at Banco Santander. There, he led corporate strategy, emerging technologies, and the customer experience. He has two decades of business experience, 15 of which have been product-focused, at Intuit, Digital Insight and NCR.
José holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Stanford University in Management Science and Engineering. He has served on the boards of various non-profit organizations, most recently as the Financial Officer for Third Street Community Center in San Jose, Calif., an organization focused on providing free educational opportunities and STEM learning programs for school-aged children.
Natalie Schwimer is Chief People Officer for Early Warning. In this role, she leads the company’s human capital management strategies and people operations, including Culture, Engagement, Talent Management, Total Rewards, Talent Acquisition, and Training. Natalie has 20 years of expertise leading Human Resources functions in both the private and non-profit sectors, with a focus on Human Resources transformation, leadership development, and creating amazing work environments that rise up to meet the needs of both employees and customers.
Prior to Early Warning, Natalie served as the Regional Vice President of Human Resources for Chubb Insurance (Western Region), the world’s largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company. While at Chubb, Natalie provided strategic regional leadership, with oversight of multiple talent initiatives and multi-state teams. She has additional experience in healthcare, financial services, home building, and the airline industry. Natalie holds a bachelor’s degree in English Literature and Secondary Education from Rutgers University, a Senior Certified Professional certification from the Society for Human Resources Management, and a teaching license. Natalie’s philanthropic pursuits include mentoring, Girls on the Run and the Special Olympics. Additionally, Natalie serves her community as a Board Member for the Make-A-Wish Foundation – Arizona Chapter. In her spare time, she enjoys running marathons, travel, and spending time with her family.
Mark Travi, Chief Financial Officer for Early Warning, joined the company in June 2012 and manages the financial operations, contract and partner negotiations and acquisition strategy of the company. His executive level financial and operational experience spans more than 22 years across multiple industries.
Prior to joining Early Warning, Mark spent 2 years as the CFO/COO for Pathways Platform, a digital media start-up where he successfully negotiated a $3.0M Series A funding round and was instrumental in favorably restructuring the Company’s debt and operating structure.
Mark served 11 years as CFO for TMP Worldwide (a division of Monster Worldwide), the world’s largest publicly-held global recruitment advertising agency, where he was responsible for the organization’s financial and operational structure. During his tenure, he was responsible for the vetting and integration of 40+ acquisitions and was an instrumental team member in the acquisition and development of the company known as Monster.com. In 2002, he restructured the entire organization for continued profitable growth and led the sale of the agency to the private equity firm VSS in 2006 where he remained CFO through 2010.
Mark also served as President/CFO of the publicly traded Telecomm Industries, Inc. which he sold to PentaStar Communications and later repurchased through his start-up company ACTI.
Prior to serving in those positions; he was an Audit Supervisor for two large public accounting firms. Mark earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from Illinois State University.
Mark Travi, Chief Financial Officer for Early Warning, joined the company in June 2012 and manages the financial operations, contract and partner negotiations and acquisition strategy of the company. His executive level financial and operational experience spans more than 22 years across multiple industries.
Prior to joining Early Warning, Mark spent 2 years as the CFO/COO for Pathways Platform, a digital media start-up where he successfully negotiated a $3.0M Series A funding round and was instrumental in favorably restructuring the Company’s debt and operating structure.
Mark served 11 years as CFO for TMP Worldwide (a division of Monster Worldwide), the world’s largest publicly-held global recruitment advertising agency, where he was responsible for the organization’s financial and operational structure. During his tenure, he was responsible for the vetting and integration of 40+ acquisitions and was an instrumental team member in the acquisition and development of the company known as Monster.com. In 2002, he restructured the entire organization for continued profitable growth and led the sale of the agency to the private equity firm VSS in 2006 where he remained CFO through 2010.
Mark also served as President/CFO of the publicly traded Telecomm Industries, Inc. which he sold to PentaStar Communications and later repurchased through his start-up company ACTI.
Prior to serving in those positions; he was an Audit Supervisor for two large public accounting firms. Mark earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from Illinois State University.