MICHAEL DEFILIPPO
Germantown
Summary
Senior Payments and Risk Management professional with 30 years of experience in credit card processing, merchant services, fraud mitigation, operational controls, and portfolio risk oversight within financial services. Proven track record of strengthening controls, reducing losses, improving operational efficiency, and partnering across business lines, compliance, and operations teams to support profitable growth. Ten + years of individual sales experience, along with the recruitment and onboarding of 1099 sales agents and partner banks. Partnered closely with commercial banking, treasury management, and executive leadership teams to identify opportunities for deeper client penetration and broader relationship expansion.
Overview
29
29
years of professional experience
Work History
Executive Vice President
Ladera Business Solutions
Germantown, TN
12.2007 - Current
- Managed recruitment and onboarding of 1099 sales agents and partner banks, improving market coverage and agent retention.
- Closed and administered partner and merchant accounts in Tennessee and supported expansion efforts in other markets.
- Calculated and audited residual payments for agents and partners, maintaining accurate commission records.
- Coordinated communications among customer support, technical support, and risk teams to resolve merchant issues.
- Designed and delivered merchant sales training for 1099 agents and partner banks to drive revenue growth.
- Built and strengthened relationships with 1099 agents, partner banks, and business partners to expand referral networks.
- Developed short- and long-term growth plans to identify new revenue opportunities and set performance targets.
- Represented the company to media and trade organizations to support brand presence and business development.
- Participated in budget forecasting, merchant pricing, and long-term financial planning, reporting findings to the President.
- Led regional merchant onboarding using proprietary POS and payment gateways, reducing activation delays for clients.
- Negotiated merchant pricing terms and underwriting exceptions with risk team to close complex accounts.
- Built partner outreach cadence and reporting templates to identify new revenue opportunities in Tennessee market.
Consultant
Self Employed
Germantown, TN
03.2005 - 12.2007
- Consulted in all aspects of business operations for merchant services sales organizations including identifying partners/vendors/sales agents partner banks and negotiation associated contracts.
- Established day to day operations for merchant services sales organizations.
- Implemented sales support, customer support and technical support strategies.
- Implemented operational training with a focus on being sales centric while increasing customer loyalty and retention.
- Created and implemented residual calculation and payment structures.
- Helped establish customer pricing strategies and sales agent commission.
- Recruited sales agents/partner banks.
- Designed commission calculation spreadsheet using Excel to reconcile monthly residuals for partners.
- Built standardized onboarding checklist for sales agents that reduced ramp time and errors in account setup.
- Conducted vendor contract reviews and documented SLA compliance requirements for operations and support teams.
Director of Risk Management
EFS Card Services/Concord EFS/First Data Corporation
Memphis, TN
12.1997 - 03.2005
- Managed a staff of 42 employees responsible for data entry/contract support/underwriting and risk management of merchant accounts.
- Worked closely with sales leaders to balance sales opportunities with risk.
- Worked with IT to develop an innovative data entry/underwriting/commission system to improve efficiency and reduce staff expenses.
- Worked with the Card Associations on the development and implementation of our companies Payment Card Industry Compliance.
- Trained sales team on merchant application/agent/pricing, underwriting and risk management requirements for new and existing accounts.
- Implemented a micro ticket equipment leasing program to increase equipment revenue.
- Reduced merchant chargeback losses by implementing risk-scoring rules in the underwriting workflow.
- Recipient of the President’s Advisory Council Appreciation Award.
- Designed fraud monitoring thresholds in the transaction system to catch suspicious spikes in volume.
- Authored training modules on underwriting criteria and risk indicators for new underwriters.
- Negotiated remediation plans with card associations to restore non-compliant merchants to good standing.
Underwriter
Nations Bank
Memphis, TN
12.1996 - 12.1997
- Analyzed consumer credit applications using credit reports, income documentation, debt-to-income ratios and internal bank data.
- Approve, decline, or refer credit applications within assign authority limits.
- Structure counteroffers.
- Ensure consistency in decision making aligned bank risk appetite, underwriting standards, and regulatory compliance.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Criminal Justice
Gannon University
Erie, PA05-1996
Skills
- Strategic planning
- Employee training
- Client/Agent Relationship building and support
- Procedure Establishment
- Operations/Underwriting/Risk Management
- Process Improvements
- Data Analysis
- Sales Forecasting
- Team Leadership
- Conflict Resolution
- Critical Thinking
- Negotiation Skills
- Market Analysis
- Sales Strategy
Timeline
Executive Vice President
Ladera Business Solutions
12.2007 - Current
Consultant
Self Employed
03.2005 - 12.2007
Director of Risk Management
EFS Card Services/Concord EFS/First Data Corporation
12.1997 - 03.2005
Underwriter
Nations Bank
12.1996 - 12.1997
Bachelor of Science - Criminal Justice
Gannon University