Our Team

Christopher Burns is Chief Executive Officer of First Atlantic Commerce. He joined FAC in 2004 and was appointed CEO in September, 2011. Christopher has extensive experience in international, offshore and domestic card payments systems and ecommerce acquiring. Prior to the post of CEO, Christopher served as SVP of Business Development at FAC, where he was responsible for all aspects of client relationship management, bank acquirer relationships and strategic partnerships. He holds a BA (hons) degree in Business Management and worked in the UK for many years before returning to Bermuda.

Ronnie Viera has 25 years’ experience leading Information Technology teams in a variety of industries including banking, insurance and payments including First Atlantic Commerce. He has over 40 years of experience in IT, Operations and 20 years’ experience in Cybersecurity as a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC).

Ronnie has also been involved in organisations outside of the company having spent 2 years as President of the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce, current Chair of the Bermuda Government Cybersecurity Governance Board, Board member of the Technology Leadership Forum (an IT internship programme) and executive member of the Institute of Directors Bermuda (IoD). Ronnie also holds the IoD Certificate in Company Direction.

Corinne Leite has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada and is a member of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants. She has over 20 years experience as a senior finance executive across a variety of industries, both public and private. Most recently, she has provided senior executive consulting services to a breadth of Bermuda based companies. Corinne is responsible for the finance team as well as the corporate administration of the company.

Eldred F. Garcia, SVP New Business & Partner Development - Eldred brings 25+ years of experience in the payments industry through banking, consulting, the major credit card brands, processor, 3rd party vendors, and on the merchant side as well. Eldred’s focus has been primarily in the credit card industry and more specifically with emerging technologies and fraud prevention. While at Visa, Eldred was responsible for cardholder authentication in e-commerce for Latin America and the Caribbean region.

Eldred also directed the Latin America and Caribbean region for TowerGroup, a research and consulting firm in Boston owned by MasterCard, Accertify, a fraud prevention company owned by American Express, EPX, an international payments processor, and most recently Bluefin, the first PCI-Validated P2PE solutions provider in North America. Eldred served in the City of Miami’s Technology Advisory Board and with the United States Secret Service MECTF and ADFIN Groups and was head of the EMV Readiness Committee. Eldred holds a BA in International Business and Management from FIU and an MBA with a concentration in Marketing from Barry University and is a 14-year veteran as a non-commissioned medical officer in the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps.

Oana Burlacu has a Bachelors in Engineering from Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania and a Masters in Engineering Systems from University of Guelph, Canada. She has over 10 years of experience in the financial industry, including work with some of Canada’s biggest tech names including Canada’s largest acquirer and Interac, the country’s leading debit network. Before that, Oana worked in the automotive industry as well as been involved in training Indigenous people in Canada with IT skills, empowering them to grow and advance in their careers.

Vivian graduated with honours in Mathematics from Rollins College, where she was awarded the Caroline L. Harper Scholarship for Excellence in Mathematics. She began her career as a high school math teacher before transitioning to the business development team at FAC in 2007. In this role, she identified merchants' needs and goals, customizing solutions to meet their objectives. Through her efforts, she built strong client relationships and remains dedicated to their success. In 2023, Vivian was promoted to Team Lead, Customer Success. As a collaborative leader, she inspires her team to continuously improve and maintain an unwavering commitment to customer success.

After initially starting with the company in its early beginnings in 2000, Dawn has been in the full-time role as Team Lead, Payment Systems, for the past five years. Prior to returning to First Atlantic Commerce and Bermuda in 2020, Dawn worked in a consulting role for 15 years working on several implementation projects for different companies in the credit card industry with a focus on payment solutions. Dawn started her payments career at Bank of Montreal, Mastercard in Toronto while attending Trios College for Network Engineering, gaining industry certifications including Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and DBA designations. 

Renée Mailhot is a payments specialist with over 24 years of experience in IT, operations, and project management, with expertise in implementation and transformation across both the private and public sectors. Originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Renée holds degrees in Computer Science and Business Administration (Marketing Major) and has studies in payments, payments fraud, transaction monitoring, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and ITIL.

Over her career, she has specialized in developing enterprise payment platforms, designing and implementing transaction and fraud monitoring frameworks (AML/ATF & Card Payments), payments technology, and operations.

She is responsible for leading the Operations Support team in supporting customers with payment processing, playing a key role in new payment gateway projects, and managing gateway operations to ensure maximum availability.

James Gibbons was educated at Harrow School, England and received a BSBA in Finance from Georgetown University in 1985. He worked as a registered representative for Prudential Bache Securities 1985-1986, as a Director of Gibbons Management Services Limited from 1986-1989, as Managing Director of Gibbons Deposit Company Limited from 1989-1999, as President and CEO of Capital G Limited from 1999 – 2010 and is currently Treasurer of Edmund Gibbons Limited, Chairman of Capital G Bank Limited, a Director of Harbour Trust Limited and President of Bermuda Air Conditioning Limited.

Mr. Gibbons is an Independent Director of RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd and numerous other Boards. He was a member of Bermuda Government’s Council of Economic Advisors, The Waterfront Task Force, Monetary Advisory Committee, and the Mayor’s Commission on the Future of the City of Hamilton and Public Funds Investment Committee. Mr. Gibbons is a member of the Bermuda Zoological Society’s and Youthnet’s Advisory Boards. He is an Honorary Trustee of the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute.

David Gibbons was born in 1960. He attended Harrow School in England and Dartmouth College in the USA. From 1987-1989 he was Aide de Camp to Viscount Dunrossil and Major General Sir Desmond Langley, Governors of Bermuda. He was Commanding Officer, The Bermuda Regiment from 2000-2002.

He is currently Managing Director of Bermuda Motors, Managing Director of Gibbons Co. Ltd, Marketing Director of Burrows, Lightbourn Ltd., Director and Member of the Executive Committee, Colonial Group International, and holds numerous other Directorships. He is a member of the Bermuda Regiment’s Defence Board and Promotions Board. He is President of The Bermuda Squash Racquets Association

Drew Gibbons holds an M.A. in International Development from the University of London, Goldsmiths, and a B.A. in Anthropology with a minor in Japanese language from the University of Arizona. He has a diverse professional background, currently working as a Financial Planning & Strategy Analyst at Coralisle Group in Bermuda, while previously having worked in Cybersecurity and research in New York, and a Curriculum Consultant in Beijing, China, and Seoul, South Korea.

He also worked in Private Banking at Capital G Bank in Bermuda and has been a board member of the Bermuda Environmental Task Force since 2021. He has certifications in Network Security Training, and UX/UI Design from Pratt Institute. He is proficient in Japanese language and has experience in various industries, including banking, insurance, education, and e-commerce.