Heather Indelicato, AFPP, APRP
Senior Vice President, Bank Operations
Midwest BankCentre
Biography
Heather has built her career through persistence, curiosity, and a commitment to improving banking for customers and employees. The first in her family to earn a college degree, she began as a teller while attending night school, ultimately earning a bachelor’s in business and an MBA while working full-time and raising a young family. Her career spans frontline service, supervision, branch management, risk and vendor management, and deposit and loan operations—providing a comprehensive understanding of how operational decisions impact customers and teams. Today, she leads a 50-person team overseeing deposit, loan, retail, and fraud operations, including ACH and wire payments, item and exception processing, and complex account servicing. Known for steady, people-centered leadership and strong operational discipline, Heather prioritizes talent development through formal programs like Midwest BankCentre’s Rising Leaders initiative and ongoing mentorship. Her investment in people has enabled the organization to grow assets from $2 billion to $3 billion without increasing headcount. Her career reflects determination and thoughtful leadership, making her a powerful role model for the next generation of women in banking and payments.
How is the nominee propelling the industry forward?
Heather is advancing the payments industry by modernizing complex payment operations while contributing to broader governance and innovation. She has led high-impact initiatives including lockbox outsourcing, debit card conversion, and enhancements to statement and mail operations. Most notably, she guided a seamless ISO 20022 conversion with zero customer disruption and led the onboarding of FedNow and RTP, increasing efficiency while strengthening controls and scalability across payment channels. Heather has expanded faster, more flexible payment options while enhancing fraud mitigation and risk management, spearheading real-time payments, peer-to-peer capabilities, enhanced debit controls, contactless cards, and digital authentication tools. Beyond her organization, she serves on the Jack Henry Payments Advisory Board and engages closely with the Federal Reserve, helping inform payments rule-making and emerging standards. What distinguishes Heather is her leadership approach—actively involving her team in system selection, testing, and implementation to build institutional expertise and develop future payments leaders, ensuring innovation is both sustainable and well governed.
Where do you see the nominee succeeding in the future?
Heather is well positioned to be a long-term leader in the payments industry. Her broad operational background, combined with expertise in risk management, technology, and customer experience, equips her to guide organizations through continued payments evolution. As real-time payments, automation, fraud prevention, and digital banking accelerate, Heather’s balanced approach will be increasingly critical. Equally important is her role as a mentor and talent developer, consistently building teams that are capable, adaptable, and resilient. Looking ahead, Heather is well suited for expanded executive leadership and industry influence, shaping not only payment systems, but the people and organizations behind them.