Alternative Payments: Status Report & Reality Check - The opening session will set the tone for the next two days by exploring the salient market forces and economic issues that have given rise to alternative payments as viable payment solutions.  In what promises to be a thought-provoking launch to two data-charged days, industry leaders will explore the possibility that the new functionalities poised to go mainstream will trigger a paradigm shift in the payments model.  Designed to shed light on the current state of alternative payments, this session will look hard at the entire payments ecosystem, with a close watch on how emerging alternative payments might impact traditional payments.

Wireless Payments: Gaining Traction - Mobile phones are a vital part of our daily lives, and today allow companies such as Visa to deliver new and innovative products and services.  Already, a range of mobile and financial services companies are engaged in testing mobile payment products and service offerings.  These mobile phone payment technologies will deliver more than just new ways to pay.  They will also foster new reasons to pay electronically instead of with cash.  In fact, a range of value-added services is possible.  For example, users could download product information, special offers at a merchant’s location, or schedules of upcoming shows at a theater, directly to their mobile device.  SMS technology could allow coupons and gift cards delivery for redemption at a register.  Merchants could work with financial institutions to deliver additional rewards or loyalty benefits based on a consumer’s “opt-in” request or spending habits.  Consumers could choose to get messages about account status, possible fraud alerts, or even a “second factor” authentication message that confirms a purchase with a traditional card.  The potential associated with wireless payments is virtually limitless.  But just what is the status of wireless payments as an alternative payment today, and where is this dramatic new market heading?

The Security Specter: Dealing With Fraud & Risk Management - Many alternative payments solutions were born precisely because of security issues with traditional payments processes.  But fraud and risk management hurdles do exist for the emerging alternative payments services.  This session will expose the different types of fraud and security issues, and their impact.  Moreover, it will review the effectiveness of the most recent fraud protection methods and practices.

Pivotal Technologies: Empowering The Next Payments Model - The key to converting a greater portion of cash transactions to electronic transactions is to make them easier and faster. That is the way to win over the consumer at the retail level.  Learn about the benefits of specific cutting edge technologies that are empowering alternative payments, and about the innovative companies that are now implementing programs.  In a session designed to clarify the key technologies impacting the market, discover what changes in the traditional payment card business model are likely as a result of these new technologies.  What are the ramifications to both emerging players and entrenched financial concerns?

Contactless Cards: The New Horizon - What consumers really want is to pay wherever and however they choose, for whatever they need or want.  No more fishing for quarters at parking meters, the laundromat or a newspaper rack.  As the payments industry continues to develop products and services that make electronic payments a better way to pay, consumers will rely less and less on cash and checks.  A prime example is the contactless card, which makes using a payment card faster and more convenient.  Contactless technology has enjoyed a rapid rollout in the U.S. and continues to accelerate the migration toward electronic payments.  Launched in June 2005, Visa Contactless was deployed in major U.S. markets and now enjoys one of the fastest rollouts in card history.  Today there are more than 30,000 merchant locations that accept contactless payments, primarily those in which cash has been the dominant form of payment, including 7-Eleven, McDonald’s, and AMC movie theatres.  Find out first-hand in this exclusive session what is behind Visa’s enormous success with contactless cards!

Overcoming Difficulties Associated With Establishing An Alternative Payments System - The acceptance costs associated with credit cards, compounded by back-office costs required to deal with fraud, are incenting establishments to explore alternative payments methods.  But while alternative payments are making headway amongst retailers, many merchants remain skeptical.  The difficulties associated with establishing a new payments system are well documented.  Because of the relative young age of both the market and requisite technologies, demand to date is measured at best.  There is a need, therefore, that the system support niche or unique transactions, offer measurable improvements over existing solutions.  This session will take a hard candid look at the hurdles in erecting an alternative payments system, and will explore what it takes to deploy a successful, working one.

Gaming & Alternative Payments: Ground-Breaking Applications - One of the more publicized and therefore visible applications of alternative payments is for Internet wagers.  Gambling both online and onsite -  has proven to be a windfall for alternative payments.  Indeed, casino’s are a virtual greenfield for alternative payments.  Why?  What makes gaming such a natural fit for alternative payments?  This session will also address the legal obligations and special risks faced by payment intermediaries (ACH operators, merchant banks, etc.) in the online gaming field, including the overall legal landscape vis-à-vis online gaming.  Finally, it will address how all of this affects payment providers, both in terms of their offers and strategies.

Prepaid & Stored Value: Re-Writing The Payments Paradigm - Without question, the most impressive strides in alternative payments to date – both in terms of consumer acceptance and vendor offerings – have come from the prepaid and stored value fronts.  Prepaid and stored value cards enable banks to generate new customer relationships, as well as deepen ties with existing clients.  And they are no longer only for the unbanked.  They can be used by almost anyone and can be used to purchase almost anything, from consumables and paying rent, to bill payments and everything in between.  However, different prepaid cards do not benefit issuers equally, nor is every prepaid product appropriate for all issuers.  This session will focus on the principal differences between various prepaid applications in the context of the benefits to issuers, and provoke insight into which form of prepaid is right for them.

Regulatory Update: Key Issues Emerging From Alternative Payments - From the Bank Security Act to Check 21, the regulatory issues swirling about alternative payments are pervasive and pressing.  This special session will tackle key regulatory issues such as what are the critical features of the Bank Security Act?  What are the main effects of Check 21 on businesses, and upon banking and other financial service providers?  A panel of experts will explore what every financial services provider needs to know to avoid costly fines and save money.

Innovative Solutions In Billing - This session deals with the questions of how alternative payments services are delivered, how they are billed, and how they effectively manage customer care in a converged environment.  Billing can account for up to half the cost of delivering a new service, with customer care accounting for much of the remainder.  Pre-paid services can lighten some of the burden of billing, but introducing a system that can handle real-time payments carries its own challenges.  Such services can be outsourced, but at what cost to suppliers’ relationships with customers?  This session will demonstrate how billing, payments, and customer care can be transformed from a business burden and overhead into a competitive advantage.  It will also consider the revenue sharing and settlement problem in the new world dynamic.

Biometrics:  Let Your Fingers Do The Paying - Everyone is familiar with the concept:  Pay with the touch of a fingerprint.  The promise is to debit a consumer’s checking account without the hassle of purses or cash or checks or credit cards.  Faster, more efficient and, because no account numbers are exposed, more secure transactions.  Biometrics has long been associated with security, and it will be the security factor that will determine how quickly and to what dimension this alternative payment method is embraced.  This session takes a close look at the technology behind the process, and a hard look at the nuts and bolts that form the underpinnings of the business processes that will ultimately determine biometrics future.

Interchange And Electronic Payments:  Litigate, Legislate, Or Compete? - In the past two decades, retailers have invested substantially in infrastructure to support electronic payments, but today have little to no control over their costs to participate due to the interchange fee system.  Efforts to litigate change will likely leave lawyers as the big winners and, if recent history is any guide, Congress will side with whom ever has the deepest pockets.  That leaves competition - the tried and true method of curbing monopolistic pricing power.    What merchants need today is an interoperable payment network that supports retailer-issued cards that can be used as broadly as a credit or check card.  They can spend several years to develop such a system and hope that it’s still relevant by the time it comes online, or they can turn to an existing nationwide network.  Learn how leading card issuers are addressing these issues with a private label system that provides retailers lower-cost interchange and the opportunity to share in fee revenue

Alternative Payments: The Shape Of Things To Come (What’s Next?) - As a wrap-up to two days of intensive data flow, market leaders and industry evangelists will contribute their visions, their concerns, and the aspirations swirling about the prospects for alternative payments.  What is the short and long-term potential for alternative payments?  Delegates will be encouraged to ask questions and share their own thoughts on the direction of the industry and the challenges that still must be met before the paradigm can shift.

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