MPC attracts diverse global audience

With final preparations underway for the 11th annual MPC Digital Commerce Event, the virtual show, set to run Aug. 17 to 19, 2021, is attracting registrants from numerous industries, countries and organizations, conference planners stated.

Marla Ellerman, founder and executive director of The MPC Digital Commerce Event, thanked sponsors, partners and friends for their support. "Eleven years ago, a small group of mobile payments leaders met in New York City," she said. "Today, we meet online all the time to discuss emerging trends and opportunities in digital commerce."

MPC has evolved from a once-a-year gathering to an always-on digital platform, Ellerman noted, adding that MPC21 Virtual will include the following keynote speakers:

• Dominic V. Venturo, SVP and chief digital officer, U.S. Bank
• Kevin Gosschalk, founder and CEO at Arkose Labs
• Eric Allen, CEO, LISNR
• Scott Goldthwaite, president, Aliaswire
• Jean-Pierre Lacroix, president, SLD
• Kathy Crumley, global banking strategist, Intel
• Kash Razzaghi, SVP, revenue and partnerships, Circle Internet Financial Inc.
• David Lott, Retail Payments Risk Forum, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
• Emmanuel Daniel, Chairman, The Asian Banker
• Eagle Yi, fintech executive and former head of WeChat Pay North America
• Todd McDonald, chief product officer, R3
• Ashish Arya, global head of strategy and marketing, Pinterest
• Rob Hanlon, CEO, Cybermoney

Opening sessions

MPC21 will unite a rich cohort of finance, technology, regulatory and infosec leaders, Ellerman stated. "Global cyberprivacy expert Dr. Ross Federgreen, chief executive officer, CSR Privacy Solutions Inc., is MPC21's master of ceremonies," she said. "Ross will open each day of the show, prepping the audience for a fun-filled day of education, engagement and networking."

Following is a preview of several other conference highlights:

• U.S. Bank: In addition to delivering the opening keynote, U.S. Bank will host workshops, networking and panel discussions on connectivity, commerce optimization, payroll best practices and emerging digital commerce trends.

  Peter Gordon, head of enterprise money movement at U.S. Bank, noted that the pandemic made a lasting impact on digital commerce. "Twenty-two percent of consumers reduced use of cash during the pandemic," he said, adding the pandemic compressed years of change into a few months.

• OV Loop: The post-COVID landscape, from mobile wallets to touch-free commerce, will be explored in a two-part discussion with panelists Will Graylin, CEO and chairman, OV Loop; Eric Allen, CEO at LISNR; Christopher Brunner, founder and CEO, AuthVia; and David Shackleton, CEO, OpenBack. Dale S. Laszig, senior staff writer at The Green Sheet, will moderate.

  "The capabilities we celebrated 10 years ago are today's baseline requirements," Laszig said. "I'm excited to share perspectives on the new digital literacy from future commerce innovators."

• Arkose Labs: In a keynote address, Kevin Gosschalk, CEO at Arkose Labs, will explore emerging trends in cybercrime and digital channels, as well as offer advice on how business and technology partners can collaboratively mitigate fraud. To further explore these topics, Ashish Jain, chief product officer at Arkose Labs, will moderate a panel with Rafael Lourenco, executive vice president, partner, ClearSale and Rich Stuppy, vice president and senior customer experience officer at Kount.

  "At the conference I'll provide insights into how fraudsters look at this space and discuss longer-term strategies for dealing with increased attacks on mobile transactions," Gosschalk said. "[This includes] how businesses and their technology partners can better work together, through increased accountability and more committed partnerships."

  Jain agreed, stating he looks forward to exploring these topics with experts. "Off the back of a year like no other, we have seen some dramatic shifts in fraud patterns," he said. "We have all been racing to keep up with fast-changing consumer habits; the economic turmoil which pushed more people into fraud than ever before; and changing regional and industry attack patterns."

Global perspectives

In addition, Kathy Crumley, global banking strategist at Intel, will return to the MPC stage. "Intel will continue to showcase our commitment to the banking industry as we lean into our premier partner ecosystem in their delivery of end-to-end secure solutions and services," she said, adding that Intel's panel discussions will dive deeper into transformational innovations, such as AI and Edge computing in banking, financial services, insurance and payments sectors.

Crumley observed MPC's presentations address global themes, citing the following examples:

• Global certification bodies: Brain Byrne, director, engagement and operations at EMVCo, and Eric Jamison, vice president, product management at Envestnet/Yodlee, will discuss emerging security standards around the world.

• 5G connectivity: Greg Wilfahrt, chief mobility and marketing officer, AP Technology, will interview industry experts on the latest developments in 5G and how this long-awaited technology will impact secure payments for businesses and consumers.

• Emerging markets: Gary Stein, chief product and compliance officer at OPY USA and Rodrigo Sanchez, senior vice president, product at dLocal, will explore digital commerce initiatives in Brazil, India, Mexico and Nigeria.

• Global trends: Curated by Tracy Lai, partner at Lystar Group, presentations by executives from leading organizations, including The Asian Banker and Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), will focus on digital wallets, cross-border payments, privacy protection and overseas opportunities for U.S. companies.

Banking, fintech themes

Scott Goldthwaite, president at Aliaswire, observed MPC has grown year over year. "Aliaswire is proud to sponsor this year's Banking Track," he said. "The conference has become important to financial institutions, particularly as their commercial clients have come under pressure to improve electronic invoicing and enterprise payment processes and seek solutions to help them remain viable."

Goldthwaite, whose keynote will open the banking sessions, called MPC "a great platform for learning, engaging and collaborating," and mentioned he looks forward to the following discussions:

• Next-gen banking: Educational fintech tools that seamlessly integrate with mobile banking, peer-to-peer lending and alternative finance will be explored by moderator Deborah Reuben, CEO at TomorrowZone, with panelists Bill Bilbruck, CEO at Captur; Johnson Cook, president and co-founder at Greenlight Financial Technology; and Max Ukropina, CEO at Float Today.

• Human-centric digital transformation: Advanced approaches to bill management and payments will be the focus of a keynote address by Jean-Pierre Lacroix, president at SLD.

• Smarter bill payments: Novel, efficient bill payment and management tools will be discussed in this panel led by Thomas Aronica, CEO at Biller Genie. Panelists will include Lanny Byers, chief revenue and strategy officer at Vouchr, and Nirmal Kumar, chief technology officer and head of product at Aliaswire.

• Prepaid in the digital payments, open banking era: Prepaid platforms pushing the limits of payment cards will be further explored by experts. Michelle Beyo, founder and CEO at Finavator Inc.; Scott Johnson, vice president, business development, Galileo; and Jeremy Kuiper, head of emerging payment solutions at MetaBank will share perspectives with moderator Jennifer Tramontana, president, The Fletcher Group and executive director, CPPO.

• How checks enhance digital payments: Checks and epayments can coexist, according to select payments industry veterans who will share the latest industry statistics, forecasts, commentary and counsel for transactions in 2021 and beyond. Moderator Ryan Tuttle, services & payments consultant, Euromonitor, will be joined by Evan Albert, CEO and co-founder, Seamless Chex; Jason Estes, president and CEO, iCheckGateway.com; and Travis Powers, vice president, partner and ISO Relations, CrossCheck.

• StableCoin's impact on payments: StableCoin's impact on domestic and global real-time payments and its rapidly scaling ecosystem will be debated among cryptocurrency analysts Nitin Guar, director, financial services and digital assets at IBM; Paulo Rodrigues, CEO Public Mint; Muneeb Shah, product strategy and commercialization lead, payments at R3. Brett Mecum, president and founder, Cadmus Public Affairs, will moderate.

• Federal Reserve's ecommerce study: Key findings from the Fed's research will contrast COVID's impact on consumer payment behavior, particularly ecommerce, before and during the pandemic in this keynote address by David Lott, retail payments expert with the Retail Payments Risk Forum of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

• Safe, secure contactless commerce: With so many options for touchless commerce, how can merchants confidently offer the most up-to-date and secure solutions? This session with payments industry leader Eric Allen, CEO and president at LISNR, will identify best practices and essential criteria for protecting all contactless points of interaction.

Free admission, cash prizes

Conference planners noted MPC21's theme—Where digital commerce and technology meet—reflects an ever-widening assembly from across the commerce value chain. Special presentations include the Aite Group Digital Wallet Awards, The Green Sheet Inc.'s Visionary Award and a virtual happy hour with live magic show sponsored by U.S. Bank.

"We want people to learn and have fun; balancing work and play has been our focus from day one," Ellerman said, adding that cash prizes will be delivered daily to eligible attendees who visit the virtual exhibit hall. She went on to thank sponsors and partners for footing registration costs, noting the digital platform has been expanded to accommodate last-minute sign-ups.

Ellerman credited conference planners for helping grow and evolve the MPC platform, which was recently rebranded to reflect its broader focus. "We started as the Mobile Payments Conference and changed to MPC after adding channels and industry verticals," she said.

In addition to aforementioned conference highlights, Ellerman hinted at last-minute additions to the MPC21 agenda. The Green Sheet readers can enter code GREEN2021 to waive their entrance fee. To register and view up-to-date agenda, visit mobilepaymentconference.com/.

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