Advantage Network Manager, The Advantage Network, The First National Bank in Sioux Falls

 

INSPIRED BY COMMUNITY

Teresa Thill has always had a love for finance. Even as a young child, she played restaurant with her sister and cousins — creating a menu with prices, calculating the bill, and collecting the payment with handmade cardboard debit cards. She loved math, science, and transactions.

Teresa graduated with a degree in business administration in finance from the University of South Dakota. It was Teresa’s passion for finance that brought her to where she is today: leading The Advantage Network, where she works with regional member institutions to help them find ways to grow and innovate their Electronic Funds Transfer services.

But her love of the industry extends beyond just finance and EFT services; she’s always been an advocate of community and community banks.

“Community banks truly care about their customers,” said Teresa. “People who bank with a community bank know they are not just a number in the system; they know they are valued and in good hands. Community banks are extremely important because they build long-term relationships with customers throughout their lifetime.”

As Teresa works with customers in all stages of their business, she guides them through technology and industry evolutions.

TECHNOLOGY’S ROLE IN THE FUTURE

“The thing that fascinates me the most about the industry is how one swipe of a debit card creates so many moving pieces behind the scenes,” said Teresa. “There’s money transferring from one network to another, merchants and processors approving transactions, and fraud monitoring double-checking the validity of the transactions, all within a matter of seconds.”

With the role of mobile wallets and technology increasing in popularity, Teresa recognizes the basic needs of the customer. She added, “In this day and age, it’s all about ease of use and how quickly you are able to obtain things. Technology will continue to speed up the process and make things more convenient in the payments industry.”

When she’s not introducing customers to solutions, you can find Teresa doing anything outdoors, running, golfing, hiking, or chasing after her three kids. She’s also a classroom volunteer with Junior Achievement, where she shares her knowledge by teaching financial literacy.

“The more kids learn and hear about the importance of money, their community, entrepreneurship, and planning for their future, the better,” said Teresa. As Teresa looks forward to technology and what’s next, she offers a simple goal. “We need to be here to help the community and the customers so they know we are all in this together.”