Our Leadership Team

Senior Vice President, U.S. and Canadian Markets

Jennifer Cruz is Senior Vice President, U.S. and Canadian Markets. Jennifer leads the network’s acceptance, operations, and third-party credit issuing business development in the U.S. and Canadian markets. She is responsible for strategic growth of U.S. credit issuance, operations, and expansion of the network, as well as merchant enablement within the United States and Canada. Upon joining the network in 2002, Jennifer led global marketing, where she was responsible for acceptance marketing efforts worldwide and increased awareness and consideration for the network brand throughout the payment ecosystem. She also led U.S. client services and network operations in providing premier customer service to 500+ participants. Jennifer previously led U.S. and Canadian merchant enablement - driving acceptance growth, increased volume, and revenue for the network. Jennifer holds a BA from Arizona State University and an MBA from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management.

Senior Vice President and Chief Risk Officer

Natalie Kelly is Senior Vice President and Chief Risk Officer. Natalie oversees risk management practices to support responsible and sustainable business growth of the Global Payment Network. Prior to joining the network in 2025, Natalie spent 25 years at Visa where she held various global leadership positions across product, risk, sales, strategy, innovation, and transformation. Most recently, she was Chief Risk Officer of Visa Europe. Before her time at Visa, Natalie worked at SouthTrust Bank (now Wells Fargo) where she developed and executed issuing and acquiring bank card strategies. In addition to being named one of the Most Influential Women in Payments by American Banker, Natalie was also recognized with the Kindness in Leadership award by the Women of the Future organization. She holds a BS in Commerce and Business Administration from the University of Alabama.

Senior Vice President, International Markets; President of Diners Club International

Ricardo Leite is a senior financial services executive with over 25 years of expertise in global payments, product innovation, business strategy, and client management. Since joining the network in 2014, Ricardo has held leadership positions in the areas of commercial payments, global products, and global acceptance, and in 2019 was appointed Senior Vice President, International Markets. More recently, Ricardo was appointed President of Diners Club International. He leads the network’s international acceptance, issuing, and sales business development across EMEA, APAC, and Latin America & Caribbean. Ricardo has a deep understanding of B2B, B2C, and B2G payments, merchant acquiring; issuing models; and payments networks. His leadership has driven organizational transformations; strategic alliances with fintechs, PSPs, and acquirers; and expansion into new markets. Prior to joining the network, Ricardo held leadership roles at American Express, Mastercard, Visa, and Deloitte Consulting, where he advised top global financial institutions on payments strategy. A native of Brazil, Ricardo is fluent in Portuguese, with a working knowledge of Spanish. Ricardo holds an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden Graduate School of Business and a BS in business administration from George Mason University.

Senior Vice President, Strategy and Brand

Katelyn McCarthy is Senior Vice President, Strategy and Brand. Katelyn is responsible for defining and enabling the strategic priorities of the network, crafting the overall network brand strategy, and executing a portfolio of strategic business projects.Katelyn joined the network in 2019, and since then has overseen network strategy, strategic partnerships, and business development. Prior to 2019, Katelyn was an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company focused on commercial growth and strategy in the payments sector.Katelyn holds a BA in economics from Dartmouth College and an MBA from The University of Pennsylvania’s The Wharton School.