Management Team

Rick Auletta

President and Chief Executive Officer

Rick Auletta brings over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry to his roles as President, Chief Executive Officer, and Board member of Softgate Systems.   Previously, Rick was Chief Operating Officer, Softgate Systems where he was responsible for overseeing all sales activity and operations. Prior to joining Softgate,  Rick was Vice President of Sales for Princeton eCom's electronic bill payment solutions. During his tenure at Princeton eCom, he developed and implemented strategies that increased sales by over 150%.

Before joining Princeton eCom, Mr. Auletta served as Vice President of Business Development for TheStreet.com where he created the Professional Markets Group, designed to sell private label consumer financial information to online services, such as consumer portals, online brokerage firms and national consumer financial institutions. Prior to TheStreet.com, Rick worked for Standard & Poor's Corporation as Vice President of Sales in the Retail Brokerage Division where he was responsible for growing a $60 million division that sold independent equity research to major retail brokerage and commercial banking institutions.

Mr. Auletta also serves on the board of RewardsNow, a premier provider of turnkey loyalty programs headquartered in Dover, NH.

Tom Hopkins

Chief Financial Officer

Tom Hopkins has over 25 years of experience with high-growth financial services companies.  At Softgate Systems, Tom has responsibility for the company’s finance, accounting and human resource areas. 

Prior to joining Softgate Systems, Tom served as President of EBL International, and before that as Chief Financial Officer of E-Duction, two firms focused on providing financial services to under-served consumers in the U.S. and international markets.  Earlier in his career, Tom held senior finance, treasury and risk management positions at First USA Bank (since acquired by JPMorgan Chase) and Advanta Corp., two leading providers of Visa and MasterCard products.

Cole Silver

General Counsel

Cole Silver brings more than 30 years of senior management and legal experience to his role as General Counsel. Prior to joining Softgate Systems, Silver served as Chief Counsel to the CIT Group.  Before joining CIT, Cole served as General Counsel to Princeton eCom. While at Princeton, Cole managed all legal, compliance, and human resource matters. 

Before joining Princeton eCom, Silver served as General Counsel to Advanta Bank Corp., at that time one of the most profitable banks in the country. Silver began his legal career as a trial lawyer.

Silver is engaged in various pro bono matters and has been a guest speaker to various trade groups and organizations around the country.

Alex Peterhans

Chief Technology Officer

Alex Peterhans is responsible for the strategy, development, and the day-to-day management of Softgate System's technology platform. Peterhans brings 15 years of experience working in the financial services industry. Prior to joining Softgate Systems, Peterhans was a Director at PayQuik, a CitiBank subsidiary that gives partner organizations a branded product for access to the global money transfer market. At PayQuik, in the role of Chief Technology Officer Peterhans was responsible for directing all aspects of the company's IT infrastructure and software development efforts and was instrumental in facilitating the technology due diligence process that led to the successful acquisition of PayQuik by Citibank.

Peterhans was also a co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of American Cash Exchange, leading the development and operations of the company's flagship product that utilizes magnetic stripe card technology to transfer money electronically from retail point-of-sale in the US to any ATM machine in Mexico. Prior to American Cash Exchange, Peterhans served as Chief Technology Officer for Brut ECN, an Electronic Communications Network for electronic trading of NASDAQ and Exchange-listed equity securities, managing the technology platform that was ultimately acquired by SunGard.

Early in his career, Peterhans spent several years developing technology to support the emerging electronic bill payment industry.

Brenda Amarant

Vice President of Marketing

Brenda Amarant, Vice President of Marketing for Softgate Systems, has held key management positions in financial services and telecommunications industries.

Prior to joining Softgate Systems, Amarant served as a Managing Director at Online Resources (Nasdaq:ORCC) and Vice President at Princeton eCom, acquired by Online Resources in 2006. As Vice President of Marketing Communications and Programs for the Regional Bank Electronic Channels Group of JP Morgan Chase, Amarant created and managed marketing programs to drive adoption of retail online banking platforms. Before joining JP Morgan Chase, she directed marketing and sales operations for GoAmerica Communications Corporation. Amarant also spent 16 years with AT&T in various marketing management roles.