Joel Van Arsdale, a Partner with First Annapolis manages the firm’s business in Europe including a personal specialization in merchant acquiring and retail card programs. Joel advises banks, retailers, processors, networks, and other payments companies throughout Europe on business strategy as well as mergers and acquisitions and partnership formations. Joel is a frequent author and speaker on the card acquiring and merchant acceptance and has worked with acquirers and merchants around the world. Joel has also worked with leading retailers to explore both global and pan-Europe retail card partnerships.
Joel joined First Annapolis in 2003, prior to which, Joel advised financial services providers at Ernst & Young LLP. He was a senior consultant at E&Y, first with the Risk Management & Regulatory Consulting practice then with Quantitative Economics & Statistics practice and advised clients on risk management and business strategy. At Ernst & Young Joel worked for many of the world's largest banks and was directly responsible for executing several influential industry trends - commercial bank expansion into brokerage, investment banking, and insurance and implementation of Basel II. Joel also held positions in the manufacturing and non-profit industries.
Joel received his M.B.A. with academic distinction from the University of Virginia's Colgate Darden Graduate School of Business Administration and graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in economics from the Emory University.
