Mike Bender is Chief Executive Officer of My Rewards. In 1995, he co-founded the company, then known as Image Products, along with his wife Bridget. Mike maintains an active role in the day-to-day operations of the company, specializing in the development of new solutions. Throughout his tenure, he has created many successful programs such as GIFT^®, My Rewards^®, LogosDIRECT^® and Get Fit Now America^®.

In 1999, Mike proposed the idea of a turnkey exercise incentive program to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. Today, that program is viewed as the industry standard and used by insurance companies in 20 states. In 2005, Mike decided to re-apply this strategy to the financial industry and My Rewards was born.

Prior to starting this company, Mike directed the product development, in-house manufacturing, distribution, company store development, and catalog production for the logo programs of Piper Aircraft, Cessna Aircraft, Piedmont Airlines and numerous other smaller companies.

Mike is a North Carolina native and attended UNC Chapel Hill. He is on the Board of Directors of a publicly traded bank headquartered in North Carolina. He’s also on the Advisory Council at The Episcopal High School. He and Bridget have one son. Mike is both an aviation and boating enthusiast, loves a good casino, and has no patience for golf.