Debra A. Bradford
About Debra A. Bradford
Independent director at Triumph Financial, Inc. (TFIN) since 2020; age 66. President and Chief Financial Officer of First American Payment Systems (by Deluxe) since 2008; earlier senior roles at ACE Cash Express and IPS Card Solutions (First Data). Certified Public Accountant; University of Texas at Austin; member of the Texas Society of CPAs. Serves on TFIN’s Audit Committee and Risk & Compliance Committee; the Board has determined she is independent under SEC and Nasdaq standards.
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Committees/Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| First American Payment Systems (by Deluxe) | President & Chief Financial Officer | Joined 2001; President & CFO since 2008 | Led financial and operating functions at a payments processor; prior Board and Audit Committee service at First American pre-acquisition |
| ACE Cash Express, Inc. | SVP & Chief Financial Officer | Not disclosed | Senior financial leadership in consumer financial services |
| IPS Card Solutions (formerly NTS, Inc.; First Data division) | Various roles incl. Chief Operating Officer | Not disclosed | Operations leadership in card/payment processing |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Committees/Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intermex International Money Express, Inc. (NASDAQ: IMXI) | Director | Not disclosed | Compensation Committee; Nominating & Governance Committee |
Board Governance
- Independence: Independent director; TFIN’s Board deems all directors independent except CEO Aaron Graft and director Davis Deadman.
- Committee assignments (2024): Audit Committee member; Risk & Compliance Committee member. Not a committee chair.
- Attendance: The Board met 4 times; committees met 21 times in 2024. Each director attended at least 75% of Board/committee meetings. Audit met 5 times; Risk & Compliance met 4 times. Ten of eleven directors attended the 2024 annual meeting.
- Board structure: Independent Chair separate from CEO (Chair: Carlos M. Sepulveda Jr.).
- Audit Committee expertise: Committee is fully independent and meets SEC/Nasdaq requirements; “financial expert” designations are Rafferty and Miller.
Fixed Compensation (Director)
| Year | Cash Fees | Stock Awards | Other Compensation | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $62,500 | $74,994 | $15,000 | $152,494 |
| Notes: |
- Director fee framework (Triumph Financial): Board cash retainer $40,000; Board stock $75,000; Audit member $12,500 cash; Risk & Compliance member $10,000 cash; chairs receive higher cash retainers. Stock awards fully vested at grant.
- “Other Compensation” reflects cash retainers for service on the boards/committees of TBK Bank, SSB or its subsidiaries (no per-person breakdown provided).
- Director compensation table amounts (above) are from TFIN’s 2024 Director Compensation table.
Performance Compensation
- Non-employee directors at TFIN do not receive performance-based cash bonuses or performance-vested equity; director stock awards are fully vested at grant. No options granted to directors are disclosed in 2024.
Other Directorships & Interlocks
| Company | Industry Overlap/Conflict Considerations | Interlocks |
|---|---|---|
| Intermex International Money Express, Inc. (IMXI) | Cross-border remittances; not disclosed as a competitor or counterparty of TFIN’s transportation-focused payments/factoring network | None disclosed with TFIN directors/executives |
Expertise & Qualifications
- Financial and accounting expertise (CPA), senior leadership, public company board experience, payments and transportation adjacency, and technology/cybersecurity exposure per TFIN board skills matrix.
- Serves on Risk & Compliance Committee providing oversight of enterprise risk, regulatory compliance, and IT/cybersecurity (including AI).
Equity Ownership
| Holder | Shares Beneficially Owned | Options Exercisable within 60 Days | RS/RSUs Subject to Future Vesting | % of Common Stock |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Debra A. Bradford | 8,506 | — | — | <1% (*) |
| Context: |
- Shares outstanding at record date: 23,420,261 (Feb 24, 2025).
- Beneficial ownership table lists Ms. Bradford with 8,506 shares; no options/RSUs shown; percent indicated as “*” (<1%).
- Stock ownership guidelines: Non-employee directors must retain stock equal to 5x annual cash retainer within 5 years; company states each director is in compliance or expected to be by the measurement date. Hedging and short sales prohibited; pledging restricted and not credited toward guidelines. No pledging disclosed for Ms. Bradford.
Governance Assessment
- Strengths
- Audit and Risk & Compliance memberships align with her finance and payments/cyber background; committee independence and charters emphasize robust financial reporting, compliance, IT/cybersecurity, AI, and enterprise risk oversight.
- Independence affirmed; attendance thresholds met; separate Chair/CEO structure supports oversight.
- Director compensation mix balanced between cash and equity; stock ownership guidelines at 5x cash retainer enhance alignment.
- Company-wide shareholder support: ~95% Say-on-Pay approval at 2024 meeting, signaling investor confidence in compensation governance.
- Potential Risks/Red Flags
- None specific to Ms. Bradford were disclosed: no related-party transactions involving her; no hedging/pledging by her reported; no attendance shortfalls cited.
- Director equity grants vest immediately (common practice but provides less holding power than time-vesting), partially mitigated by ownership guidelines.
- Related-party review environment: TFIN discloses a formal related party transaction policy overseen by the Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee; 2024 examples involve other directors (e.g., HPI Corporate Services), not Ms. Bradford.
Overall: Ms. Bradford brings material financial, payments, and cyber oversight to TFIN’s Audit and Risk & Compliance Committees, with independence and ownership alignment, and no disclosed conflicts—supportive of board effectiveness and investor confidence.