Trent Sorbe, founder of Central Payments and Falls Fintech, today was given the Innovative Payments Association prestigious Maher Award, which recognizes dedication to the payments industry.
“The Maher Award is special to the Innovative Payments Association; its namesake was always ready to lend a hand or support a colleague. A spirit that Trent embodies,” said IPA President and CEO Brian Tate, who presented the award at the organization’s Innovative Payments Conference.
“During Trent’s involvement with IPA and the payments industry, he has generously given his time and knowledge, and now he’s passing that on to the next generation through his work at Falls Fintech,” said Tate. “We congratulate him on the award and thank him for his dedication and influence on payments.”
With about 30 years of debit, credit, and prepaid payments experience, Sorbe has created award-winning payment products, and holds 14 patents related to consumer financial services.
Sorbe has previously held senior positions at three nationwide payment card issuers and the FDIC. Additionally, he was named to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Community Bank Advisory Council and chaired the agency’s Cards, Payments, and Deposit Markets Committee.
At the conference, Tate also presented Skiba Awards, which are named for IPA Chairman Robert Skiba, executive vice president, of InComm. The award was created to acknowledge people and organizations that go above and beyond during the year to advance the payments industry. This year, the following were recognized:
- Alexandra Steinberg Barrage, partner, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP;
- Brian H. Montgomery, senior counsel, Pillsbury;
- Kelley Knutson, president, Netspend;
- Dane James, head of sales, Network Solutions at Discover Financial Services; and
- FBI Office of Private Sector.
About the Maher Award
Terrence P. Maher was a partner at the law firm of Baird Holm LLP. He was an expert in electronic financial services – primarily the payment card industry. As a strong advocate for the industry, Maher was active in the IPA and served as the association’s outside general counsel from 2006, when it was known as the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association, until his death in 2014.
Baird Holm sponsors this award, which recognizes a payments professional who has shown the same qualities in supporting the industry.
The Innovative Payments Association (IPA) is the leading voice of the electronic payments sector, including prepaid products, mobile wallets, and person-to-person (P2P) technology for consumers, businesses, and governments at all levels. The IPA encourages the efficient use of electronic payments, cultivates financial inclusion through educating and empowering consumers, and represents the industry before legislative and regulatory bodies. Learn more about IPA at ipa.org or follow us on LinkedIn.