Drawing on decades of experience advising financial institutions across sourcing, strategy, payments, and technology, SRM experts and contributing authors Mark Sievewright and Casey Merolla will break down the key insights from the 2026 Industry Outlook Report and discuss strategic implications for banks and credit unions of all sizes.

With more than 30 years of financial services experience, Mark Sievewright has worked directly with numerous credit unions in the successful formulation and execution of their business strategies and plans. Mark is the recipient of several industry awards and is a recognized industry thought-leader.

Mark has led strategic consulting engagements for credit unions ranging from $250M to $53 Billion in assets. Also, he has supported credit unions on their merger-related strategies and related actions, including pre-merger planning and post-merger integration support.

During his career, Mark has held senior leadership positions at HSBC, MasterCard International (where he led the firm’s marketing and commercial services division in Europe, Middle East and Africa), Payment Systems Inc. (where he served as CEO), TowerGroup (now part of Gartner Group, where he served as CEO), and Fiserv (where he served as vice chairman and president of the company’s Credit Union Solutions division with more than 2,000 staff serving 2,600 credit unions).

In September of 2022, Mark’s firm Sievewright & Associates was acquired by SRM.

Casey Merolla brings over 20 years of financial services consulting experience, helping institutions navigate cost, product, strategic, and operational challenges. She partners with clients to craft growth strategies, implement emerging technologies, and optimize vendor relationships to stay ahead of industry shifts.

Her expertise spans strategic sourcing, enterprise payments, digital and product launches, mobile Credit Unioning, card growth strategies, and fraud operations. Casey has collaborated with leading issuers, networks, payment processors, Credit Union Service Organizations (CUSOs), group service providers, and other industry stakeholders to deliver sourcing and negotiation support, strategic assessments, back-office process improvements, and business case development.

Throughout her career, Casey has focused on both traditional and emerging payment strategies, supporting financial institutions, fintechs, processors, and card networks in driving innovation and preparing for future growth. Prior to joining SRM, she led the Payments Strategy and Innovation team at Accenture’s North American Payments Practice, following its acquisition of First Annapolis Consulting, where she spent 15 years. She holds an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business and a BS from UVA’s McIntire School of Commerce.

Steve Shaw is Managing Director, Strategic Marketing at SRM and will serve as moderator for this webinar.

With more than 25 years of experience leading marketing and communications initiatives across the banking, payments, and data services industries, Steve brings deep industry perspective to the conversation. Prior to joining SRM, he held marketing and communications leadership roles at Fiserv, Facteus, EverCommerce, and Euronet.