Intellect names David Thomas as head for credit unions and smaller banks
0
In his new role, Dave will also oversee Forge operations, ensuring a smooth and seamless experience for our clients during this critical period. He will also lead Intellect's expansion in the Canadian market for eMACH.ai Digital Engagement Platform amongst Credit Unions and Banks.
Dave is a seasoned technology leader known for enabling organisations to transform their technology landscapes. Before joining Intellect, he served as Chief Technology Officer at Central One. His extensive career also includes over 25 years at Accenture, where he held several senior roles. His appointment at Intellect comes alongside 140+ talented professionals who joined Intellect after the successful transfer of Forge and Member Direct from Central One to Intellect in March 2025.
Rajesh SaxenaRajesh Saxena, CEO, Intellect Consumer Banking, said, 'Dave brings a wealth of experience and a strategic vision that will be invaluable as we usher in a new era for Credit Unions in Canada and Banks. His track record of modernising and optimising technology infrastructures makes him the perfect leader for this transition. Dave's appointment underscores Intellect's commitment to providing a superior experience to Credit Unions & Banks in Canada. We are excited to welcome Dave to our team and look forward to his contributions.'
Dave Thomas
Dave Thomas, EVP & Head, Credit Unions, Small & Mid-market FI segment, Intellect Design Arena Inc said, 'I am excited to take on this new challenge with Intellect. The eMACH.ai platform, which is the foundation of all Intellect offerings, is precisely the type of technology that can help Credit Unions and Banks to provide a world-class experience in Canada. Guiding Credit Unions in the adoption of these innovative technologies aligns perfectly with my passion for creating meaningful member experiences. I look forward to collaborating closely with the talented team at Intellect to ensure a successful transition.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Auto Blog
34 minutes ago
- Auto Blog
2026 Ford Explorer Just Got More Affordable
By signing up I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . You may unsubscribe from email communication at anytime. Autoblog brings you car news; expert reviews and exciting pictures and video. Research and compare vehicles, too. View post: Civic Vs. Accord: What's The Best Honda Sedan For Under $30k? View post: How The World's Best Hillclimb Racer Trains His Body to Race at 14,000 Feet Above Sea Level View post: Are Kias Reliable? Here's Everything You Need To Know Best-Selling Midsize SUV for H1 2025 The 2026 model year is quite important for the Ford Explorer. With over 104,000 units sold in the first half of 2025, the Explorer is currently the best-selling midsize SUV in the US – a strong start for the newly refreshed model. Now, the company is doubling down on that momentum with a refreshed pricing strategy that could shake up the segment. According to the order guide that CarsDirect got its hands on, select trims of the 2026 Explorer are now more affordable than before, including a new rugged variant aimed squarely at off-road enthusiasts. The all-new Ford Explorer Tremor was slated to replace the outgoing Timberline trim, and with its pricing now official, it may be one of the smartest new buys in the three-row SUV space. A More Affordable Family SUV The base 2026 Ford Explorer Active now starts at just $38,330, down $1,720 from last year. Similarly, the top-end Platinum sees a $1,695 drop, starting at $50,830. The newly added Tremor trim joins the range at $48,330, undercutting Honda's Pilot TrailSport by over $1,000. That price also puts it just $1,100 below the now-discontinued 2024 Explorer Timberline. For shoppers looking for an affordable but capable SUV with legitimate trail-readiness, the Tremor could hit a sweet spot, both in terms of cost and performance. The 2026 Explorer Tremor takes over where the Timberline left off, but it's more than just a visual upgrade. Built for light off-road use, the Tremor rides on 18-inch black alloy wheels with all-terrain tires, comes with auxiliary lighting, and features a lifted suspension with retuned sway bars for better clearance and control. Ford also added underbody skid plates and unique Electric Spice accents on the wheels and tow hooks for a rugged aesthetic. Inside, the Tremor doesn't skimp on comfort, offering massaging front seats, Ford's latest infotainment suite, and available BlueCruise hands-free driving. There's a Steep Premium If You Want Top-Dog Power While the Explorer Tremor's $48K base price looks enticing, there's a catch. The 400-horsepower twin-turbo V6 engine is only available via the $11,505 Tremor Ultimate Package, bringing the total closer to $60,000. That's more than an ST 4×4, and it could impact how value-conscious buyers perceive the trim. Autoblog Newsletter Autoblog brings you car news; expert reviews and exciting pictures and video. Research and compare vehicles, too. Sign up or sign in with Google Facebook Microsoft Apple By signing up I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . You may unsubscribe from email communication at anytime. Still, with the base Explorer now cheaper than the equivalent Hyundai Palisade, Toyota Highlander, and Honda Pilot, Ford is positioning itself well. Rebates that once sweetened 2025 Explorer deals are gone for now, according to CarsDirect, but even at MSRP, the 2026 model has become a stronger competitor. The introduction of the Tremor, alongside simplified trim offerings and reduced pricing, suggests that Ford wants to keep the Explorer's crown as the midsize SUV king. Source: Ford About the Author Jacob Oliva View Profile


Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Billionaires' staff reveal their most demanding tasks
As the number of billionaires continues to grow, so does the list of their out-the-box demands and the number of people tasked with catering to them. Roles within the entourage of the super elite include everything from housekeepers and chauffeurs, to personal travel experts and tech support. Between 2020 and 2024, the combined wealth of the top 10 billionaires in the United States increased by about 88 percent, per the Institute for Policy Studies. And with that extra cash, rich people are increasingly buying second, third and fourth homes, with ever-increasing amenities that need constant upkeep. One recent job listing with the Celebrity Personal Assistant Network advertised a $250,000 position working as an executive assistant to a New York City billionaire, although staff of wealthy individuals can make as much as $500,000 per year. Applicants to that specific post required an Ivy League degree, must be on-call 24/7 and be prepared to leave town for 'weeks at a time with a moment's notice'. High standards like these are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to billionaires' demands. Daily Mail spoke to several insiders who revealed the extent of their employers' requests, which range from the outrageous to the illegal. Sarah Korpela has spent 15 years working as property manager for wealthy clients and in that time, she has seen no shortage of outlandish requests. Once, Korpela helped one of her clients move out of his roughly 10,000-square-foot home and sell seven of his cars, five ATVs, seven motorcycles and a few horses, she told The Wall Street Journal. Korpela, president of Luxury Estate Managers of Aspen, also helped him sell his $1 million wine collection to a local restaurant for about $400,000. But she drew the line when a client asked her to ship him his gun collection internationally. 'There's something called trafficking,' she recalled telling him. She said she sold the guns instead. 'If it's legal, I have done it in this business,' she added. Jamie Gagliano, a real-estate agent at Douglas Elliman who used to be the chief of staff for hedge-fund executive Larry Robbins, oversaw the billionaire's homes and vehicles. This included his personal helicopter. 'We're talking about assets that are sometimes north of $10 million — each of them,' she told The Journal. In her role, Gagliano led a staff of 25 people for Robbins. A job like hers pays anywhere from $300,000 to $500,000 annually. Robbins, a lifelong hockey fan, retrofitted one of his mansions in Alpine, New Jersey, so it would have a full-sized ice hockey rink while Gagliano was working for him. This meant that Gagliano soon found herself on a crash course for how to drive a Zamboni. She was heavily involved in working through the complex approval process. She also acted as Robbins' representative when discussing the project with a team of architects and engineers, an experience she credits with nurturing her interest in real estate. Another home that was in Robbins' portfolio during Gagliano's nine-year tenure was an absolute behemoth of a home sitting on 43 acres of pristine land in Mahwah, New Jersey. The home was bought in 2009 by Robbins' then-wife Amy Towers, who was once the COO for his company Glenview Capital Management. Complete with a 20-stall horse barn, an indoor riding area, a wine cellar and a football field, it clearly wasn't the average house. The 10-bed, 14-bath home is now on the market for $22.5 million. The property taxes alone are estimated to be $120,000 a year. The type of work Gagliano and people like her do isn't for the faint-hearted, as it often requires you to be on call all the time for any sort of emergency. That was certainly how it was for Kelly Fore Dixon, who served as the estate manager for the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Allen died in October 2018 after a decades-long battle with cancer. He had a large portfolio of properties all over the world. She managed his home in Beverly Hills, California, and recalled sleeping with her phone by her ear. The 12,000-square-foot estate had a recording studio, a home theater, a pool and 30 HVAC units, Dixon told The Journal. All of that was in the purview of Dixon, a maintenance worker, two housekeepers and a gardener — plus private security and about 80 subcontractors. The staff were 'silent and unseen' when Allen was around the property, said Dixon, who now runs the consulting firm Estate Management Systems. The house had $50 million worth of artwork, including a Monet that was accidentally sprayed with soda. 'The art contractor came in for an annual inspection and said, "What the hell have you done to the painting?"' Dixon recalled. It turned out that Allen himself was the culprit. However, there are also the mundane requests that staff, particularly housekeepers, must keep on top of as well. 'People are passionate about how their pillows look,' Korpela said. 'Do they like sheets ironed? Pillow straight or karate chopped? What's on the bedside table?' Attention to detail is just as important for chefs who work for one percenters. They can make anywhere from $100,000 to $300,000 per year. 'Before we know what food they do like, we really want to know what food they don't like,' said chef Mike Shand, co-founder of Elite Private Chefs, a placement agency that has cooked for Beyoncé and Adele. However, it's not just the fact that these staffers have to be at the top of their game. They have to be on it just about 24/7. That's according to Stephanie Shepherd, who worked as Kim Kardashian's personal assistant from 2013 to 2017. 'Obviously Kim and I text all day every day,' Shepherd told Refinery29 in November 2017. 'From the second we wake up until we go to bed, so we just bounce off ideas.' Kim herself has previously disclosed that she has her assistant carry out even the most minute of tasks — including removing the cardboard sleeve from her Starbucks cup before presenting it in the morning. Servants for the rich and powerful also have to deal with some eccentric personalities. Brian Daniel, who worked as a personal assistant for years before founding his own staffing firm, said he's run into some truly strange things. 'I had one client who was a financial genius, and it turns out he was a nudist. He walks around in his birthday suit. They said the assistant would have to be okay with that because it's random — you come to work, he opens the door, and voilà,' he added. Still, many staffers form close relationships with their bosses. In 2019, Jeff Bezos gave a public shout-out to his longtime assistant John Connors. 'You're a big reason I'm able to be so busy and not go nuts — in fact, you somehow even make it calm,' Bezos gushed.


The Independent
6 hours ago
- The Independent
Less selection, higher prices: How tariffs are shaping the holiday shopping season
With summer in full swing in the United States, retail executives are sweating a different season. It's less than 22 weeks before Christmas, a time when businesses that make and sell consumer goods usually nail down their holiday orders and prices. But President Donald Trump 's vacillating trade policies, part of his effort to revive the nation's diminished manufacturing base and to reduce the U.S. deficit in exported goods, have complicated those end-of-year plans. Balsam Hill, which sells artificial trees and other decorations online, expects to publish fewer and thinner holiday catalogs because the featured products keep changing with the tariff — import tax — rates the president sets, postpones and revises. 'The uncertainty has led us to spend all our time trying to rejigger what we're ordering, where we're bringing it in, when it's going to get here,' Mac Harman, CEO of Balsam Hill parent company Balsam Brands, said. 'We don't know which items we're going to have to put in the catalog or not." Months of confusion over which foreign countries' products may become more expensive to import has left a question mark over the holiday shopping season. U.S. retailers often begin planning for the winter holidays in January and typically finalize the bulk of their orders by the end of June. The seesawing tariffs already have factored into their calculations. The consequences for consumers? Stores may not have the specific gift items customers want come November and December. Some retail suppliers and buyers scaled back their holiday lines rather than risking a hefty tax bill or expensive imports going unsold. Businesses still are setting prices but say shoppers can expect many things to cost more, though by how much depends partly on whether Trump's latest round of 'reciprocal' tariffs kicks in next month. The lack of clarity has been especially disruptive for the U.S. toy industry, which sources nearly 80% of its products from China. American toy makers usually ramp up production in April, a process delayed until late May this year after the president put a 145% tariff on Chinese goods, according to Greg Ahearn, president and CEO of the Toy Association, an industry trade group. The U.S. tariff rate may have dropped significantly from its spring high — a truce in the U.S.-China trade war is set to expire on Aug. 12 — but continues to shape the forthcoming holiday period. Manufacturing activity is way down from a year ago for small- and medium-sized U.S. toy companies, Ahearn said. The late start to factory work in China means holiday toys are only now arriving at U.S. warehouses, industry experts said. A big unknown is whether tariffs will keep stores from replenishing supplies of any breakout hit toys that emerge in September, said James Zahn, editor-in-chief of the trade publication Toy Book. In the retail world, planning for Christmas in July usually involves mapping out seasonal marketing and promotion strategies. Dean Smith, who co-owns independent toy stores JaZams in Princeton, New Jersey, and Lahaska, Pennsylvania, said he recently spent an hour and a half running through pricing scenarios with a Canadian distributor because the wholesale cost of some products increased by 20%. Increasing his own prices that much might turn off customers, Smith said, so he explored ways to "maintain a reasonable margin without raising prices beyond what consumers would accept.' He ordered a lower cost Crazy Forts building set so he would have the toy on hand and left out the kids' edition of the Anomia card game because he didn't think customers would pay what he would have to charge. 'In the end, I had to eliminate half of the products that I normally buy,' Smith said. Hilary Key, owner of The Toy Chest in Nashville, Indiana, said she tries to get new games and toys in early most years to see which ones she should stock up on for the winter holidays. This year, she abandoned her product testing for fear any delayed orders would incur high import taxes. Meanwhile, vendors of toys made in China and elsewhere bombarded Key with price increase notices. For example, Schylling, which makes Needoh, Care Bear collectibles and modern versions of nostalgic toys like My Little Pony, increased prices on orders by 20%, according to Key. All the price hikes are subject to change if the tariff situation changes again. Key worries her store won't have as compelling a product assortment as she prides herself on carrying. 'My concern is not that I'll have nothing, because I can bring in more books. I can bring in more gifts, or I can bring in just things that are manufactured in other places,' she said. 'But that doesn't mean I'm going to have the best stock for every developmental age, for every special need." The retail industry may have to keep taking a whack-a-mole approach to navigating the White House's latest tariff ultimatums and temporary reprieves. Last week, the president again reset the rates on imports from Brazil, the European Union, Mexico, and other major trading partners but said they would not take effect until Aug. 1. The brief pause should extend the window importers have to bring in seasonal merchandise at the current baseline tariff of 10%. The Port of Los Angeles had the busiest June in its 117-year history after companies raced to secure holiday shipments, and July imports look strong so far, according to Gene Seroka, the port's executive director. 'In my view, we're seeing a peak season push right now to bring in goods ahead of potentially higher tariffs later this summer," Seroka said Monday. The pace of port activity so far this year reflects a 'tariff whipsaw effect' — imports slowing when tariffs kick in and rebounding when they're paused, he said. 'For us consumers, lower inventory levels, fewer selections and higher prices are likely as we head into the holidays.' Smith, who co-owns the two JaZams stores with his partner, Joanne Farrugia, said they started placing holiday orders two months earlier than usual for 'certain items that we felt were essential for us to have at particular pricing.' They doubled their warehouse space to store the stockpile. But some shoppers are trying to get ahead of higher prices just like businesses are, he said. He's noticed customers snapping up items that will likely be popular during the holidays, like Jellycat plush toys and large stuffed unicorns and dogs. Any sales are welcome, but Smith and Farrugia are wary of having to restock at a higher cost. 'We're just trying to be as friendly as we can to the consumer and still have a product portfolio or profile that is gonna meet the needs of all of our various customers, which is getting more and more challenging by the day,' Smith said. Balsam Brands' Harman said he's had to resign himself to not having as robust a selection of ornaments and frosted trees to sell as in years' past. Soon, it will be too late to import meaningful additions to his range of products. 'Our purpose as a company is to create joy together, and we're going to do our very best to do that this year," Harman said. 'We're just not going to have a bunch of the items that consumers want this year, and that's not a position we want to be in."