Velera Picks Longtime Exec Brian Caldarelli as CEO

Credit union service organization (CUSO) Velera is getting a new chief executive.

President and CEO Chuck Fagan will step down as the group’s head Sept. 30 of this year, with Chief Administrative Officer Brian Caldarelli taking his place, Velera announced in a news release Wednesday (March 25).

“It has been an honor and a privilege to lead an industry asset like Velera for 11 years,” said Fagan, who was CEO of PSCU before it combined with fellow CUSO Co-Op Solutions in 2024.

The new group rebranded later that year as Velera, which provides payments and technology infrastructure to around 4,000 credit unions.

“With our strong foundation, strategic focus on next-generation capabilities and our award-winning culture, I believe this is the ideal time to make this transition, as Velera is well-positioned to continue to grow and accelerate innovation and long-term success for our partners,” Fagan added.

Like Fagan, Caldarelli is also a PSCU veteran, who joined that group as chief financial officer in 2013, following leadership roles at companies such as Bank of America.

“I am immensely proud of the exceptional organization that we have built, together with our credit unions,” Caldarelli said. “At the same time, I am excited by the opportunity to lead an organization that is not only navigating rapid industry change, but also helping to shape it.”

PYMNTS spoke with Fagan last month about the pressure facing credit unions as their members face increasing financial strain.

“Speed to member impact, from concept through the whole cycle—pricing, everything to market—needs to be on that KPI (key performance indicator) list front and center,” Fagan told PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster.

He also touched on another issue: the term “credit union” has a branding problem with the age group that credit unions need most.

Younger consumers—millennials and Generation Z—grew up watching the 2008 financial crisis wreck their parents’ financial lives: foreclosures, maxed-out cards and a system that seemed to reward recklessness. The term “credit,” Fagan said, “kind of has been a negative.”

PYMNTS also collaborated with Velera on the most recent Credit Union Innovation Readiness Index, which examined the importance of partnerships in advancing credit union innovation.

“More than half of credit unions, 56.2%, say external partners enable innovation at a much faster pace or greater scale than internal development alone, a figure that has doubled within eight months,” PYMNTS wrote recently. “Only 0.6% report being fully capable of innovating without outside support, a negligible share that underscores how deeply partner ecosystems are embedded in credit union strategy.”