About

Norman C. Patrick, Jr. leads the overall Consulting practice at Advisors Plus, utilizing his 25+ years of expertise in the areas of payments and business strategy.

Drawing on his experience managing one of the largest debit card portfolios in the US, Norm originated the Advisors Plus Debit and Checking practice in 2007.

Today, by closely examining the profitability, functionality and positioning of a client’s debit card business, Norm helps financial institutions optimize complex portfolio details to achieve their big picture goals of increasing profitability and enhancing member satisfaction.

Norm also builds on his background in project management to work with financial institutions on business strategy engagements such as annual planning sessions and loan growth initiatives.

Before joining Advisors Plus, Norm was VP of National City Bank (now PNC Bank), where he held P & L and product development responsibilities for a portfolio of over 3.5 million consumer and small-business debit cards driving more than $250 million in annual revenue. Norm also has expertise in consumer loan operations through his management of project teams and loan servicing units at National City Bank and Chase Manhattan Bank (now JPMorgan Chase).

Norm holds a B.B.A. in Business with a concentration in Finance from Cleveland State University, where he also completed MBA-level coursework. He is a frequent speaker at industry events and board meetings, is often cited in the press and serves on the faculty of the CUES School of Payments.

Jason Hortiz is a Principal Consultant with the Credit Card practice at Advisors Plus. Jason advises financial institutions on product development and ways to enhance portfolio growth and profitability through P&L analysis, product assessments, and industry benchmarking reviews.

A seasoned leader with 20+ years of experience in Card, Jason specializes in product management, new product development, secured and student card strategy, increasing portfolio profitability and strategic end-to-end analysis to help institutions capitalize on their competitive advantage.

Before joining Advisors Plus, Jason served as Head of Emerging Credit Card Products for PNC Bank where he led the launch of their successful cash rewards product and the development of the student and secured strategies. Prior to PNC, Jason spent 15 years at Bank of America in various product strategy roles.

Jason holds a B.S. and a M.S. in Public Administration from Wilmington University in Delaware.

Michelle Hillenbrand-Whale is a Principal, Strategic Consultant with the credit card practice at Advisors Plus. She advises credit unions on credit card portfolio growth, profitability, and marketing strategies.

Michelle has decades of experience in credit card portfolio management, including credit card sales, structuring of credit card products, and creating customized targeted promotions that produce positive measurable results. Before joining Advisors Plus in 2007, Michelle served as a VP and Manager of Credit Card at SunTrust (now Truist) and as an AVP at Bank One (now Chase).

Michelle holds a B.A. in Communications from Kent State University and is an accomplished leader with over 30 years of leading teams and managing multiple partnerships. She has extensive leadership training and accreditations, and digital marketing and data management certifications. In addition, Michelle is a frequent speaker and writer for industry related events.

Kari Anne Arnosk is Director of Debit Consulting at Advisors Plus. She works with financial institution clients to create the most effective strategies for maximizing their checking and debit card portfolio growth. She has a passion for researching trends in the financial services industry and using those proprietary findings to help her clients stay ahead of the curve with customized solutions to meet their business goals.

Kari Anne’s unique expertise within Advisors Plus is in working alongside a client’s internal team to analyze debit P & L statements, review the personal and business checking continuum, evaluate growth metrics and understand the competitive marketplace to provide comprehensive but targeted recommendations to maximize growth and deepen relationships.

Kari Anne joined Advisors Plus after serving as VP and Senior Product Manager at Key Bank, where she managed a $14.0 billion corporate deposit portfolio and implemented new product solutions for commercial deposit growth opportunities. Prior to her tenure at Key Bank, she was a VP at National City (now part of PNC Bank) where she grew one of the largest debit card portfolios in the US and developed expertise in branch management and small business lending.

Kari Anne holds a B.A. in Business from Kent State University and an MBA from Baldwin-Wallace College.

Christopher D. Joy is a Principal Consultant with the Credit Card practice at Advisors Plus. Chris advises credit unions on issues involving portfolio growth, profitability enhancement, member reward programs, and the competitive and regulatory environments.

Chris has earned an industry-wide reputation for creating balanced, effective and credit union-centric credit card portfolio solutions for his clients. His 30+ years of experience in managing, growing and optimizing credit card portfolios provides unique insight when assisting clients in the highly competitive credit card marketplace.

Before joining Advisors Plus, Chris served as VP and Manager of Portfolio Profitability for National City Bank (now PNC Bank) and as a financial analyst with Bank One (now Chase). Both organizations were in the top 20 US credit card issuers by loan volume.

Chris holds a BBA in Business Administration from Ohio University. He is a frequent speaker at industry events and is often cited in financial institutions publications. Chris also serves on the faculty of the CUES School of Payments.

Katie Kean is Director of Credit Consulting for Advisors Plus. Katie provides financial institutions with the critical business intelligence needed to drive portfolio optimization and growth based on insights gained through competitive analysis, industry and peer benchmarking, product set assessments and projecting the impact of new technology.

As an accomplished leader with over two decades of experience in financial services, Katie excels at enhancing portfolio profitability and member experience through technological innovation, strategic thinking and deep-dive market analysis.

Before joining Advisors Plus, Katie served as VP of Strategic Services and VP of Finance for PNC Bank where she conceptualized strategy and created comprehensive solutions to jumpstart portfolio profitability and growth.

Katie holds a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance and Law, as well as an MBA and graduate degree in Enterprise Systems from Central Michigan University. She has been an adjunct professor of Finance & Law at Western Michigan University.

Bradley J. Wylie is Director of Credit Consulting for Advisors Plus. Brad advises credit unions on issues involving portfolio growth and profitability enhancement; portfolio repositioning and re-pricing; product set assessments and competitive analysis, industry/peer benchmarking and portfolio acquisition/divestiture.

Brad is an expert on credit card partnerships, including affinity card programs, co-branded cards and the creation and structuring of credit card reward programs. His 30+ years of experience conducting portfolio valuation analyses, managing RFP and due diligences processes, and creating and maintaining partnership agreements give him a unique perspective and skill set when working with clients in today’s post-CARD Act marketplace.

Before joining Advisors Plus, Brad served as a Director at First National Bank of Omaha, President of the Credit Union Card Association at Wescom Central Credit Union and SVP for Business Card Products at National City Bank (now part of PNC Bank).

Brad holds a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from The Ohio State University and an MBA from Capital University. He has served on the Visa Small Business Executive Council.

Tom Bennett is a Principal Consultant with the Checking and Debit Card practice at Advisors Plus. Tom advises financial institutions on ways to enhance portfolio growth and profitability through P & L and key metric performance analyses, competitive product assessments, and industry and peer benchmarking reviews. His combination of consulting knowledge and direct experience provides an informed and unique perspective to solve the challenges of our clients.

Tom has been in financial services for over 20 years. His career covers a variety of senior roles in consulting and banking managing deposits, debit cards, loans, online services and other key aspects of retail banking. Prior to joining Advisors Plus he was a senior consultant with Profit Insight, and prior to that held senior roles with SunTrust and Wachovia. His expertise spans product management, new product development, margin management, fee income management, product profitability, mergers and integration, research and analytics.

Tom graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Science in Business. He completed the Executive Leadership Program at Kenan-Flagler Business School and is an Honors Graduate of the Graduate School of Retail Bank Management at the University of Virginia.

Sandra Patelis is an associate consultant with Advisors Plus who works with card operations and servicing analysis reviews as well as PCF reviews. Her expertise is working with financial institutions on gaining efficiencies within their end-to-end operations and reviewing services, and settings for best practices towards a financial institution’s strategic needs.

Having worked with financial institutions for over 15 years, Sandra understands what it takes to build and maintain relationships. She demonstrates a natural ability to foster relationships, work effectively with others across organizational landscapes, build cross-functional partnerships for optimization, achieve goals and generate success.

Before joining Advisors Plus, Sandra worked as a learning professional for PSCU for 10 years specializing in credit card, debit card and prepaid card implementation training. As a training professional, Sandra served as a mentor to other learning professionals, as well as conducted comprehensive systems training to numerous financial institutions over the years. She provided various program learning to develop and enhance skills of our members’ employees and enhance the relationship with Owner financial institutions, and ultimately improve the success of their business. As a business consultant, Sandra continues to perform needs analysis, develop critical decision-making solutions based on the issues that arise while solidifying and maintaining strong Owner financial institution relationships.

Sandra has earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Eastern Michigan University and a master’s degree in Human Resources from Central Michigan. She has been an adjunct professor at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona and Cleary University in Howell, Michigan.

Mark Wallace is a senior consulting analyst with Advisors Plus and has over 13 years of experience with PSCU. He has been a critical part in developing company-wide metrics reporting while also providing essential data analysis and support to the Strategic Consulting and Marketing Teams.

Mark brings a broad spectrum of experience with over 25 years supporting credit card issuers in a group service provider environment and more than 30 years in the credit card industry. He has worked with financial institutions to execute marketing campaigns, tracking results and providing insights and trends. He has managed product development and has extensive back-office experience in delinquency/charge-off reporting and forecasting. Throughout his career, Mark has worked with and advised all levels of institution management in different capacities. He has also managed analysts responsible for portfolio performance and operations reporting, and collaborated with other teams to address campaign and reporting needs.

As a consulting analyst with Advisors Plus, Mark utilizes his extensive knowledge of card processing and corresponding data built throughout his 30-year tenure in the industry. Mark excels at delivering in-depth, detailed data analysis and making it understandable and relatable, and is the key resource for Advisors Plus metrics and reporting.

Mark holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Evansville in Evansville, IN.

Matt Sammet is a Consulting Analyst for the Portfolio Alliance Consulting group of Advisors Plus. Since 2013, Matt has managed Advisors Plus Alliance relationships with various credit unions and has developed targeted campaigns designed to maximize credit card portfolio growth and profitability.

With 25 years of experience in the financial services and electronic payments industry, Matt brings expertise and best practices to achieve growth for his clients. Prior to joining Advisors Plus, Matt was a financial analyst at Vantiv, where he worked on cost accounting, portfolio analytics, Fiserv (formerly First Data) billing, new client and new product pricing, and invoicing.

Matt holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Southern Indiana and is a Certified Public Accountant. Matt resides in Evansville, Indiana.

Shannon King is a Principal Consultant with the Credit Card practice at Advisors Plus. Shannon advises financial institutions on ways to enhance portfolio growth and profitability through P&L analyses, competitive product assessments and industry/peer benchmarking reviews.

Shannon draws on her career spanning over 25 years in payments to assist financial institutions in defining and achieving strategic goals. Her career covers roles in business card strategy, consumer credit card acquisition and portfolio product management, debit and checking product management and portfolio risk management. Before joining Advisors Plus, she was a credit card product manager for PNC Bank for 12 years. Prior to that, held multiple product and risk management positions at BB&T (now Truist).

Shannon holds a BS in Business Administration with a focus on Managerial Accounting and an MBA from East Carolina University. She is a graduate of both the Visa and American Bankers Association Bankcard Schools.

Paige Watkins is a Principal Consultant with the strategic consulting practice at Advisors Plus. 

Before joining Advisors Plus, Paige served as the Vice President of Convenience Services at Reliant Community Federal Credit Union in New York, where she oversaw payment operations, digital banking, contact center and digital communication channels, investment services, and loan servicing. During her thirteen-year tenure at Reliant, she also held leadership roles in member experience, executive services, and board relations, as well as roles in marketing and human resources. Paige brings this broad experience to the credit unions she works with through Advisors Plus.

Paige holds a Bachelor’s of Business Administration from Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, New York, and a Master’s of Business Administration from the State University of New York at Oswego. 

Jason Medick is VP, Marketing at Advisors Plus. With over two decades of experience in marketing strategy, Jason excels in leveraging data-driven insights to shape marketing strategies and enhance the customer experience. Jason is deeply passionate about merging the precision of data analytics with his extensive background in marketing strategy to truly comprehend the voice of the consumer, resulting in member engagements that consistently yield positive Key Performance Indicator (KPI) measurements.

Before joining Advisors Plus, Jason held a pivotal role at Delta Dental as the Business Development and New Product Manager. In this capacity, he played a key role in developing new products and cultivating business relationships as well as spearheading Delta Dental's customer experience team, focusing on delivering an optimal end-to-end experience across all lifecycle stages, channels, and touchpoints in the customer journey. Prior to his tenure at Delta Dental, Jason served as the Marketing Director for Co-op Financial Services. In this role, he was responsible for developing and implementing marketing strategies for both traditional and digital advertising campaigns, new product introductions and sales enablement efforts. His unique blend of consumer insight and analytical acumen sets him apart in the dynamic field of marketing, where he continues to drive impactful results through a scientific approach to the art of strategic marketing.

Jason holds a Bachelor’s degree in Advertising from the University of Nebraska and a Master's degree in Data Analytics from the University of Iowa.

John Aldenderfer is a Senior Analyst in Advisors Plus. With over two decades of experience in the credit card space, John excels in understanding how the card processing platform performs and affects all aspects of a credit or debit card portfolio. John has previously held numerous positions working with credit, debit and merchant conversions at Fifth Third Processing Solutions, later Vantiv, later World Pay.

In Advisors Plus, John works with key personnel at client credit unions to identify, develop and implement strategies that leverage the effective use of PSCU solutions and campaigns to drive the growth and success of the client’s card portfolios.

John holds a BA in Communications with a Public Relations emphasis from the University of Southern Indiana.

John has been a member of Kiwanis International and volunteered at the Evansville Parks Fest Music Festival as well as serving as basketball coach for the team of his two children.

Jane Kennedy is a Sr Analyst for Advisors Plus Consulting. Jane is a marketing professional with over 26 years of experience. For 21 of those 26 years, Jane led not only the Marketing department within credit unions but several other departments, including: E-Services, Card Services and Business Development. In Advisors Plus, Jane works with key personnel at client credit unions to identify, develop, and implement strategies that leverage the effective use of PSCU solutions and campaigns to drive the growth and success of the client’s card portfolios.

As an accomplished and respected professional in Marketing and Business Development, Jane has a broad range of solid experience and expertise in marketing strategy, data analysis, process improvement, and building strong, trusting business relationships.

Before joining Advisors Plus, Jane worked within PSCU as a Solutions Marketing, Program Manager. In this role, she conducted the strategic management of marketing financial product lines to the credit union industry. Her lines of business included: debit, ATM, prepaid, contact center, integration, and loyalty products.

Jane’s career includes SEG-based, virtual, and community-based credit unions. Her passion is influencing the growth of the credit union industry. Her accomplishments include increasing loan and credit card growth by double digits, reversing declining membership bases, tripling Select Employee Groups, and increasing both deposits and checking accounts to exceed company goals.

Jane holds a BS in Business Administration with a major in Marketing and additional concentration in Management.

Jane served two years on the Filene I3 Innovation Team as well as the PSCU Forward Thinkers. She’s volunteered at Big Sisters, Ronald McDonald House, and the Academy of Finance at Northwest High School in St Petersburg. In her spare time, Jane enjoys traveling, drawing, and learning American Sign Language.

Tim Schott is a Senior Analyst for Advisors Plus. Tim provides financial institutions with data driven findings based on competitive analysis, peer benchmarking and industry knowledge. He utilizes his skills to develop and implement marketing strategies that drive the growth and success of his clients.

As a skilled leader with three decades of experience in financial services, Tim leverages his collaborative spirit to implement best practices to enhance member experience and execute successful marketing campaigns.

Before joining Advisors Plus, Tim served as AVP of Card Services for PNC bank where he analyzed and designed campaigns to maximize credit card portfolio growth and profitability.

Tim holds a B.A. in Business Administration and an MBA from Western Michigan University. In his spare time, he enjoys time at the beach, golf and hockey.

Karen Hill is a Senior Analyst within Advisors Plus Marketing. She has a passion for utilizing data to optimize marketing strategies and driving results for her FI partners.

Prior to joining Advisors Plus, Karen worked for an Arizona credit union in different roles. Originally in the Learning & Development team, supporting through a core conversion, and intranet and eLearning redesign projects. Then transitioned to Marketing department where she thrived as the lead graphic designer and was responsible for multi-channel campaign management, leading a rebrand during a digital transformation project, vendor management and implementing a new trigger-based email marketing program.

She then spent time working as a freelance graphic designer and partnered with a digital marketing agency to design and building websites, logos, and emails, as well as with a national brand - designing and managing their marketing materials for their retail locations.

Karen holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Communication from Arizona State University and Associates degree in Graphic Design.

Ineza Wysocki is a Marketing Consulting Analyst at Advisors Plus. She has worked in marketing and the financial services industry for over seven years. Ineza is passionate about analyzing data and creating marketing strategies coupled with first class member experience to drive success for financial institutions.

Before joining Advisors Plus, Ineza spent six years on PSCU’s Events team, where she was the Events & Meetings Planner. In her role, she supported various events including: Board of Directors’ meeting; Member Forum, PSCU’s signature yearly event; various credit union-facing, thought leadership and internal employee events. As the project lead, Ineza was responsible for content development, marketing strategies, communication plans and analyzing quantitative data and metrics for each. She also managed PSCU’s various philanthropic efforts.

Ineza holds a bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management from the University of Central Florida.

Kristin Kryza is a Marketing Campaign Analyst within Advisors Plus. Prior to joining PSCU in November of 2022, she spent several years working for large credit unions in Florida within various capacities – from digital services to marketing and PR.

In Kristin’s most recent position, she was responsible for creating engaging promotions within digital banking, troubleshooting technical issues, and helping to implement new products and system releases. She also played a key role in many project teams, including a full-scale digital banking replacement initiative, a brand decommission, establishing a new member rewards program, and developing a public relations and blog strategy.

Kristin has a passion for delivering an excellent user experience by employing a consistent, detailed-oriented approach. She has been described by peers and leaders as possessing contagious enthusiasm, a strong work ethic, and growth mindset.

Kristin holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Advertising and Public Relations from the University of Central Florida.

She is a native Floridian that enjoys hiking, traveling, music, learning about other cultures, and spending time with her family and cat, Cali. In August of 2022, she made the life-changing decision to move from the sunny Gulf beaches in Florida to the Badlands in East Montana. Kristin has since moved again in October of 2023 to Fargo, North Dakota.

Emily Mayben is a Marketing Consultant for Advisors Plus. She has worked in the financial industry for 17+ years, most recently serving as Director of Marketing at Alabama Teachers Credit Union.

While at ATCU, Emily was responsible for a range of traditional and digital marketing efforts, public relations, brand management, and community affairs. Emily also led and was a member of several high-performance teams that completed key initiatives including rebranding, implementation of a new digital banking system, execution of an online account and loan platform, and numerous system conversions.

Emily has been active in both the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) Marketing and Business Development Council and League of Southeastern Credit Union (LSCU) - specifically serving as a member of the Cooperative Image Campaign Task Force and as Vice President of the Cheaha Chapter Young Professionals Group.

Emily holds a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and a master's degree in Public Administration with a concentration in Management from Jacksonville State University. She is also a CUNA Certified Credit Union Marketing Executive (CU-CME).

In her spare time, Emily enjoys University of Alabama football, attending concerts, and traveling with friends and family.

Trish Tomczak is a Marketing Campaign Analyst within Advisors Plus. She has been in the credit union industry for over 21 years and spent a short time in the banking industry as a Director of Marketing.

Her proudest career moments have been served as Vice President of Marketing for a mid-size credit union in Michigan. During her employment, she led and implemented many strategic initiatives like credit card portfolio growth, website rebranding, designed matrix programs built around deepening members relationships and bringing a data team in house.

Trish holds a Certified Credit Union Executive (CCUE) designation from CUNA Management School and is part of the class of 2015. Trish holds a Bachelors of Business Administration degree with a concentration in management from Northwood University.

She has lived in Midland, Michigan her whole life and has two teenage daughters, Ryenn and Addisyn. Her husband and her have just renovated their cabin and look forward to summers on the lake! They travel, attend concerts and love learning how to play golf.