Forty Under 40: Reed Luhtanen

Early on in his career at Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Reed Luhtanen was instrumental in rolling out the acceptance of EBT food assistance cards at Sam’s Club. He also coordinated the acceptance of online electronic WIC benefits within Walmart.

With those accomplishments under his belt, Luhtanen emerged as an expert in the field of payments, and since 2013, has been the retailer’s senior director of payments strategy.

“I didn’t choose to get into payments,” he said. “They needed someone and I was there and it was a good fit.”

He’s recognized nationally, and this year was named a “Top 10 Payments Lawyer” by industry magazine Paybefore. He has drafted a white paper, “Volume and Cost Trends in the Debit Industry,” and promotes Walmart’s legislative and regulatory agendas at both the state and federal levels.

Since 2009, he has traveled throughout the country to speak at financial services conferences.

“You get the opportunity to go out and tell the industry what the company’s thinking about,” he said.

He moved around a lot when he was young — the Midwest, Florida and Tennessee — but Luhtanen has been in Northwest Arkansas since he was 12. A two-time graduate of the University of Arkansas, he has a bachelor’s in political science and a degree in law.

He was recently named to the board of directors for Apple Seeds Inc., a nonprofit that promotes healthy living through garden-based education in area schools.