Ginger Schmeltzer is a Strategic Advisor for Aite-Novarica’s Retail Banking & Payments practice, covering enterprise retail payments, emerging payments, and the processor and acquirer landscapes.

Recognized as a payments and digital banking expert, Ginger has over 20 years of experience providing strategic planning and analysis to the global banking and payments industry as a banker, a vendor, and a consultant. She was named one of the Most Influential Women in Payments in both 2013 and 2014.

Prior to joining Aite-Novarica, Ginger was the Principal and Founder of GDS Advisors, a strategy consulting firm focused primarily on fintech, digital banking, and payments. Her firm advised large banks, card associations, fintech companies, economic development organizations, and card issuers and acquirers. Before GDS Advisors, Ginger was Senior Vice President of Emerging Payments at Fiserv, where she led development and execution of enterprisewide initiatives to facilitate the delivery of new payment services, provided strategic advice and direction to Fiserv clients, and helped guide roadmap planning and development for many Fiserv product teams. Prior to joining Fiserv, Ginger served as Senior Vice President of Digital Channel Management at SunTrust Bank, where she oversaw the bank's online banking, mobile banking, and digital money movement product offerings. Before SunTrust, Ginger was a Senior Manager at global financial services and payments firm Edgar, Dunn & Company, where she led development of the firm’s mobile financial services practice. 

Ginger has been a guest speaker at many industry conferences, including Fiserv Forum, Money 2020, BAI Retail Delivery, and Net.Finance. She holds an MBA from Emory University and summa cum laude B.A. degrees in International Business and Spanish from Virginia Tech. Ginger is fluent in Spanish, is attempting to learn Portuguese and piano in her spare time, and is actively involved in supporting the education of girls in the refugee community in the Atlanta area.