The WesPay Staff

Our experienced staff comes from a wide range of backgrounds. The common denominator is outstanding electronic payments expertise and a dedication to you, our members. From keeping you informed about rule changes to planning great educational sessions these are the people making things happen.

Staff Biographies

William Schoch

President & CEO

As President and CEO of WesPay, Bill’s mission is to implement strategic initiatives, grow the association and provide maximum value to members through information, education and advisory services. His 20 plus years of electronic payments experience working for Visa, Citibank and NACHA gives him outstanding depth of perspective in our industry. He has worked with businesses, financial institutions, and payment processors to implement new products, technologies and strategies to improve commerce. Bill serves on the Board of WesPay, NACHA – The Electronic Payments Association, and Project Open Hand, a San Francisco-based community services organization. He is originally from Pennsylvania and earned his BA from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

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Carol Seo

Director-Business Analysis

Carol joined WesPay in 2012 and is responsible for developing business intelligence through analyzing business trends, member input, and the association’s membership database. She manages significant projects and works with department managers to track key business metrics.

Carol earned her BA in English from UC Berkeley, and an MBA from University of Southern California. She brings over 6 years of experience in the financial services industry.

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Michael Gilchrist, AAP

VP & Manager – Risk Management

Mike Gilchrist is Vice President & Manager, Risk Management, for the Western Payments Alliance. Having served the organization for 27 years, his primary responsibility is managing day to day operations for WesPay's risk related services, which includes oversight of the member hotline service and web-based member services, direct responsibility for the content and development of WesPay's audit and risk assessment services, and drafting and editing a number of the association’s member communications and technical documents.

Mike holds the designation of Accredited ACH Professional (AAP) from the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA).  In addition to participating on multiple Rules Work Groups and task forces, he has served on NACHA’s ACH Rules Enforcement Panel, the AAP Blue Ribbon Panel, and  Rules Review Panel. 

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Regis McKenna, AAP

AVP – Client Services

Regis is AVP of Client Services and has been with WesPay for over 12 years. He earned his Accredited ACH Professional designation in 1999 and is WesPay’s Primary ACH Hotline Representative, taking payments-related questions from 1000 member institutions and companies. He also conducts ACH audits for members. Regis serves as a staff advisor to the WesPay ACH Rules Advisory Group and Risk Management Task Force. He is also a member of the NACHA Council on Electronic Bill Payments (CEBP) as well as the NACHA Rules Work Group on Pain Points in the Rules. Prior to joining WesPay, he worked in the retail banking industry for over 25 years, most recently for a Bay Area commercial bank as an ACH Coordinator.

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John Curtis, AAP, NCP

VP – Director of Education and Communications

As VP, Director of Education and Communications, John Curtis oversees the educational offerings for WesPay to ensure members have access to high quality, timely and relevant training that is critical for success in today’s ever changing payments landscape.

John came to WesPay with over 20 years of banking experience and has held positions in Branch Management, Corporate Training and Development, Information Systems and Treasury Management. Before coming to WesPay, John dedicated the previous 14 years of his career to the Payments arena as a Product Manager for Electronic Payments covering ACH, EDI and Emerging Payment Technologies. During this time, John served in various volunteer roles including Chairman of WesPay’s Education Committee and board advisor. He also served as past Chairman of the Board of Payments Resource One. John has been featured in American Banker and is a member of the American Bankers Association Taskforce on Payments Law. John holds both the AAP and NCP accreditations and has lectured frequently on payments topics including: industry trends, legal issues, emerging technologies, compliance and risk.

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Patty Presta, AAP

VP – Education

As Vice President of Education, Patty is responsible for developing and providing education and training to WesPay members through in-person workshops, teleseminars and webinars. She also serves as a staff Advisor to the Education advisory group. Patty has been with WesPay since 2004, and is an Accredited ACH Professional through NACHA. Prior to joining WesPay, she developed her skills with the New England ACH Association as their Assistant Vice President of Education.

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Jim Petkovits, AAP, NCP

VP – Education

Jim is Vice President of Education for WesPay and has over 18 years of payments experience. Jim is responsible for developing and providing education and training to WesPay members through in-person workshops, teleseminars and in-house training. Prior to joining WesPay, Jim was the ACH Education and Training Manager for NWCHA since 2001, and a Customer Service Manager for Bank of America’s ACH Regional Processing Center in Seattle. Jim holds both an Accredited ACH Professional (AAP) and National Check Professional (NCP) accreditation.

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Chris Selmi, AAP

VP – Regulatory Compliance

Chris is Vice President of Regulatory Compliance for WesPay, responsible for defining and executing initiatives to position WesPay as a trusted knowledge source for payment-related regulatory impacts. He works closely with members to develop processes and programs designed to facilitate member compliance with payment law, regulations, and industry standards. Chris holds the designation of Accredited ACH Professional (AAP) from the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA).

Prior to joining WesPay Chris spent 16 years in the electronic payments organization at Bank of America where he served in a variety of capacities including operations manager, project support, client and application testing, and compliance and regulatory control manager for both ACH and Wire payments. Chris also served on the WesPay Board as Bank of America’s representative since July 2008, was active as the Chair of WesPay’s Rules Advisory Council and Risk Management Advisory Council, and is a member of NACHA’s Risk Management Advisory Group. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

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Kim Bickford

VP – Member Services

Kim Bickford is responsible for all aspects of member service. Her responsibilities include developing our strategic partnerships with industry and trade organizations as well as creating memory worthy member service. Prior to joining WesPay in July 2008, Kim served on our Board of Directors, chaired the Education, Marketing and Communications committee, and served on the Corporate Network Marketing Forum Committee.

Prior to becoming part of Wespay's team, Kim served as the Vice President of the Northwest Regional office for Southwest Corporate Federal Credit Union and Chief Operating Officer of Northwest Corporate Federal Credit Union. Kim is a member of the American Financial Professionals and has taught courses on various payments subjects including credit union marketing and ACH origination for businesses. She holds a BA in Political Science from the University of Oregon.

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Ryan Gullum, AAP

VP – Administration

Ryan has been with WesPay since 1999. Since earning the ACH Accredited Professional designation in 2009, he plays a major role in conducting ACH audits for WesPay’s financial institution members and assists as a hotline representative. Ryan also manages membership dues and provides ongoing day-to-day technology support.

Prior to joining the WesPay team, he worked for Frankilin-Templeton Funds and Thompson Financial Group. Ryan has a BS in Business Administration from University of Phoenix and an MBA in Computer Information Science from Cal State University East Bay.

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Gary Kawasaki

Member Services Representative

Gary has worked with our members on a day-to-day basis for over 10 years. He is responsible for managing workshop registration, publication purchases, and member services accounting issues. Gary enjoys the honor of issuing certificates for workshop completion.

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Jill Knorr

Member Service Representative

Jill has been with WesPay/NWCHA for over 8 years as a Member Services Representative in the Seattle office. She oversees the daily operations for the office which include: Coordinating events, answering members’ questions, registering members for classes, billing and receiving, and proofing material. Prior to this position Jill was a medical transcriptionist in both private and hospital settings.

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Dennis Duong

AVP - Accounting

Dennis has been part of the WesPay team for over 12 years. He manages all the accounting and financial operations, works with an outside tax counsel and prepares all year-end reporting.

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