Tech People in the Know: Samaha & Associates Ryan Prentice

In what is a recurring feature, Finopotamus profiles interesting and intriguing tech professionals who are positively impacting the credit union industry.

For this issue, we visited with Samaha & Associates Senior Consultant Ryan Prentice. The Miami-based technology consulting firm specializes in vendor searches, negotiations, and comprehensive end-to-end implementations for core systems, cards and payment systems, digital banking, lending systems, and oversees mergers and acquisitions, revenue optimization, comprehensive technology planning and business resumption planning, among other projects.

By W.B. King

Not long after graduating for Central Washington University with a degree in business administration and finance, Ryan Prentice worked as a corporate trainer at Pemco Technology Services. It was here that he embraced the promise of the credit union movement.

“That role allowed me to travel and travel was the impetus,” he told Finopotamus, adding that the company was later acquired by Jack Henry in 2009. “The time I spent at credit unions, seeing their passion to help people and improve their communities, was what ignited my passion for the industry and payments technology.”

Ryan Prentice

Prentice next spent nearly eighteen years at Jack Henry, first as an implementation manager, and then in a series of roles including technical product manager (card services), senior manager (client relations) and lastly, technical product manager.

“I have seen a huge shift in the industry in my 20-plus years. IT teams have gone from a back of office function to cutting edge innovators coding value added integrations from small widgets to entire member facing platforms,” said Prentice, who served as director of consulting services at Co-op Solutions (now Velera) before joining Samaha & Associates in 2024 as a senior consultant. “With the use of APIs [application programming interfaces] and SDKs [software development kits], these teams can create new member facing services in weeks instead of waiting for large technology providers to work through a lengthy SDLC [software development life cycle].

Cutting Through the Hype

Underscoring the importance of mentorship, Prentice pointed to his first boss at Pemco Technologies, Russell Sawyer—an early champion. “He was the person who really taught me about the credit union industry. He instilled the importance of customer experience and never asking someone to do something you wouldn’t do yourself. He is currently the vice president of leagues and industry relations for America’s Credit Unions.”

Among tech advancements that has him intrigued is API integration, which he noted has been the “most beneficial enhancement” for credit unions and their membership.

“The integration of near real-time APIs has allowed for the elimination of manual and/or batch processes improving feature/functionality and allowed credit unions to innovate internally, said Prentice, who recently co-authored the white paper, The Future of Banking: A Credit Union Guide, with Samaha & Associates CEO Sabeh Samaha, Managing Consultant Adam Denbo and Senior Consultant Steven Uhrman.

Coming as no surprise, as Prentice said they are industry hot topics, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are also trends he is keenly watching. “I still don’t think we really know the full extent of the impact it will have, but we know it will be massive,” he continued. “Cutting through the hype to focus on what is currently tangible is extremely important in our engagements, while things continue to evolve.”

Making Informed Decisions

Asked by Finopotamus to sum up the credit union movement in one word, “collaboration” was Prentice’s response. “The extent of collaboration you see in the credit union industry is what sets it apart from others and allows it to grow for the greater good of the collaborative membership.”

As is the case for credit unions looking to partner with like-minded fintechs, the same theory holds true when seeking a technology consultant collaborator, he noted.

“Partnering with consultants allows a credit union to focus on their mission. Consultants are able to provide credit unions expert advice on technology platform/integrations so credit unions can make informed decisions that benefits their membership,” he shared. “This partnership ensures the credit unions’ focus never wavers.”