Pathward Tax Call Center Wins Global Contact Center Award

SIOUX FALLS, S.D.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 20, 2025--

The International Customer Management Institute (“ICMI”) announced the winners of its 2025 ICMI Global Contact Center Awards and named Pathward’s Tax Call Center the Best Medium Contact Center. According to ICMI, the award goes to the medium (76-150 agents) contact center that best exemplifies the “gold standard” for the industry. ICMI evaluates contact centers based on performance metrics, culture, and customer impact.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251120682929/en/

“I’m extremely proud of our call center team and am thrilled to see ICMI recognize them on a global stage,” said Michael Lister, Division President of Pathward’s Professional Tax Solutions. “We are pleased to provide increased financial access for consumers to professional tax preparation through a vast network of independent tax professionals throughout the U.S., and our award-winning customer service team is a key element of our success.”

Through its tax brands, EPS Financial and Refund Advantage, Pathward provides tax refund payment processing, taxpayer advance loans, tax office loans, prepaid cards, and customized merchant services solutions for independent tax professionals and their customer base. This year, Pathward operated with more than 42,000 independent tax offices – a new record for the company.

“This team is more than a support center. They are a strategic driver, a problem-solving powerhouse, and the emotional engine of our company during its most critical season. Their operational excellence, combined with their compassion and creativity, makes our call center not only second to none—but truly award-worthy,” said Clark Gill, Pathward’s President of Tax Services.

In a news release announcing the global award winners, Abbie Caracostas, ICMI Portfolio Director, said, “Congratulations to this year’s winners of the ICMI Global Contact Center Awards. The program recognizes and celebrates the exceptional leaders in the contact center community—individuals and teams who embody the very best of our industry. Through their dedication to innovation, new technologies and best practices, they are setting the standard for excellence across the industry.”

Learn more about our Professional Tax Solutions and brands.

About Pathward ®

Pathward ®, N.A., a national bank, is a subsidiary of Pathward Financial, Inc. (Nasdaq: CASH). Pathward is focused on financial access and strives to increase financial availability, choice and opportunity across our Partner Solutions and Commercial Finance business lines. The strategic business lines provide support to individuals and businesses. Learn more at Pathward.com.

About ICMI

The International Customer Management Institute (ICMI) is the leading global provider of comprehensive resources for customer management professionals -- from frontline agents to executives -- who wish to improve customer experiences and increase efficiencies at every level of the contact center. Since 1985, ICMI has helped more than 50,000 organizations in 167 countries through training, events, consulting, and informational resources. ICMI's experienced and dedicated team of industry insiders, trainers, and consultants are committed to helping you raise the strategic value of your contact center, optimize your operations and improve your customer service. ICMI is brought to you by Informa PLC.

The International Customer Management Institute named Pathward’s Tax Call Center the Best Medium Contact Center at its 2025 ICMI Global Contact Center Awards.

COVINGTON, Ky. (AP) — The last ghoulish gargoyle has been returned to its perch as part of a two-year restoration of a Kentucky cathedral with a facade modeled after Notre Dame in Paris.

The rehab project at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption was sorely needed to repair deteriorated stone, metal and glass that adorns the limestone exterior. The project included 32 recreated gargoyles along with repairs of deteriorated finials, arches and balustrades.

The 125-year-old church, in Covington just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, offers the experience of a European gothic cathedral in the Midwest, said the Very Rev. Ryan Maher, the cathedral’s rector. The cathedral has an “intimate connection to what is really the most popular and most well-known cathedral outside of Rome itself,” he said.

“I think it's very special and very unique,” said Maher, who watched from the sidewalk as the last gargoyle, made of terra cotta, was raised to top of the facade on Monday.

The renovation price tag was nearly $8 million, and most came from donations, Maher said.

Brian Walter, CEO of Trisco Systems, the contractor, said the final gargoyle going in was “a symbol of the accomplishment of all our facade work.”

“That’s a big, monumental occasion for not only people here, but for us. That kind of symbolized the last stone we’re putting in,” Walter said.

Restoration plans grew out of Maher's discovery in 2018 of a large piece of stone that fell from the exterior.

“We realized at that time that we needed to investigate not only the source of that one piece of stone that had fallen, but to take a look at the overall facade of the cathedral,” Maher said.

Workers will continue with smaller tasks around the facade, including the installation of chimeras that sit on the roofline, but the heavy lifting has been completed, Walter said.

“This is kind of a once or twice in a lifetime project,” Walter said.

The story has been updated to correct that the gargoyles are made of terra cotta, not stone.

Workers are seen beyond an orange cherry picker high on the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, known as "America's Notre Dame," as the final new terra cotta gargoyle is secured with straps to the left, in Covington, Ky., on Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The final new terra cotta gargoyle is installed by Cole Burklund, top, and Blake Priest using a cherry picker high on the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, known as "America's Notre Dame," in Covington, Ky., on Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The final new terra cotta gargoyle is secured at right after being installed high on the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, known as "America's Notre Dame," in Covington, Ky., on Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The final new terra cotta gargoyle is installed by Cole Burklund, in the bright yellow, and Blake Priest using a cherry picker high on the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, known as "America's Notre Dame," in Covington, Ky., on Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The final new terra cotta gargoyle is prepared for installation high on the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, known as "America's Notre Dame," in Covington, Ky., on Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)