Thank you for attending the 2022 Mid-Year Conference
The MAG 2022 Mid-Year Conference and Tech Forum brought together key stakeholders in the payments ecosystem and focused on the latest in payments technology.
MAG conferences offer a unique experience, attracting payments professionals as well as those with organizational responsibilities that include payments and related matters. MAG Conferences bring together all key stakeholders in the payments ecosystem to discuss the most pressing issues in payments.
Benefits of attending a MAG Conference
- Two and a half days of pure payments knowledge with the best in the industry. The Merchant Only session is something you don't want to miss!
- Superior Networking - Connect with the top acquirers and networks as well as senior level payments executives from the top merchants.
- Merchant Only Special Interest Group (SIG) Roundtable discussions.
- Timely educational sessions and networking opportunities in an intimate setting that attendees have come to value - a value that impacts your company.
Tech Forum
The Tech Forum is designed specifically for payments IT professionals to learn and network among merchant technology professionals and leading technology providers focused on innovative uses of new payment technologies. Technologies in payments continues to evolve at a rapid pace. The Tech Forum provides attendees with the latest insights necessary to understand and use these new and emerging technologies in payments.
JOIN MERCHANT MEMBERS IN DRIVING POSITIVE CHANGE IN THE PAYMENTS INDUSTRY
MEET OUR MEMBERSThe MAG Tech Forum is aligned with the MAG bi-annual conference designed specifically for payment IT professionals. Technologies in payments continue to evolve at a rapid pace, and the Tech Forum provides education and networking opportunities among merchant technology professionals and leading technology providers focused on innovative uses of these new relevant payment technologies.
The objectives of holding the Tech Forum event alongside our MAG conferences is to foster collaboration, provide tech-focused knowledge, and build relationships across merchants, their payments IT and business teams, and technology focused sponsors.
PAYMENTS TECHNOLOGY
LEARN MORE!Mid-Year Conference and Tech Forum Agenda (EST)
- All
- Tech Forum
- Mid-Year Conference
- Livestream
- Virtual
Dive into the fraud ecosystem and dissect the different types of fraud and the associated bad actors. Participants in this session will learn how to identify various types of fraud, strategies to prevent it, and actions to take in case fraud occurs (because, yes, it will occur). This interactive session will provide valuable insights to help participants develop or enhance their companies’ fraud strategies and operations.
Presenter:
Patrick Raycroft (W. Capra)
Recent technological advancements have drastically changed the payments ecosystem, and merchants must enhance their IT strategies to meet customer preferences. From NFC and RFID technology enabling contactless payment methods to the APIs that facilitate more cohesive payments experiences, technologies are altering the way customers interact with the payments environment. It is a pivotal time for merchants to build the infrastructure to incorporate these innovations in an integrated manner, especially as customers get more comfortable in the digital world. Explore ongoing technology trends, what the future holds for the payments environment, and how merchants can take advantage of new developments.
Presenters:
Rick Oxenhandler (Oliver Wyman)
Mathieu Barthelemy (Oliver Wyman) - Virtual
The payments landscape is changing at a record pace, and networks are not standing still while it evolves. From how networks enable payments to how they work with FinTech, networks are bringing innovation faster and easier to the merchant community. With millions of connection points already built, networks are the central point for direct to bank transactions, cryptocurrency payments, and everything in between. Join us to hear to how networks are innovating in payments and what merchants might want to consider when planning for the future.
Presenters:
Jennifer Cruz (Discover)
David Schneider (Pulse, a Discover Company)
Troy Carrothers (BIM)
John Drechny (MAG)
There is no shortage of news stories on the movement of money to digital currencies, but what does that mean for the payments community? Merchants need to be aware of the different models that providers are bringing to market, as well as possible regulations on the horizon. In this session, panelists will discuss the different types of currency, their state of readiness for mainstream payments, and what the merchant community should be thinking about as the products come to market. This group of experts will leave you better informed on the topic and share tips on how to get more involved in the digital currency discussion.
Presenters:
Jim Cunha (Federal Reserve Bank of Boston) - Virtual
Issidor Iiiev (Mastercard) - VIrtual
Moderator: Beth Costa (Oliver Wyman)
John Drechny (MAG)
Learn about the high potential for faster payments to solve for real-world challenges, adoption to date, impacts to the payment lifecycle, and expectations for the future. Hear how developing and maintaining a faster payments strategy is key to use-case identification and implementation and meeting customer expectations and gain insights into how merchants can prepare for the faster payments solutions that will drive adoption and ultimate ubiquity across the U.S. payments ecosystem.
Presenters:
Carl Slabicki (BNY Mellon)
Maria Arminio (Avenue B Consulting)
Perry Starr (Target) - Virtual
Moderator: Reed Luhtanen (Faster Payments Council)
To maintain a competitive edge, businesses must change in harmony with the evolving landscape of the payments industry. Customers want fast, secure, and convenient payments methods. If merchants are looking to expand into new markets and keep up with the shifting payments needs, they need to look beyond traditional payments methods.
Presenter:
Jean Kany
Tune into the replay of today's keynote session. The payments landscape is changing at a record pace, and networks are not standing still while it evolves. From how networks enable payments to how they work with FinTech, networks are bringing innovation faster and easier to the merchant community. With millions of connection points already built, networks are the central point for direct to bank transactions, cryptocurrency payments, and everything in between. Join us to hear to how networks are innovating in payments and what merchants might want to consider when planning for the future.
Presenters:
The Home Depot has heavily invested in technology and innovation to support its goal of becoming the number one customer service retailer in the world. Hear how their strategic investments in payments technology and infrastructure have enabled key customer experiences and critical business outcomes.
*This session is for merchant members and Tech Forum Sponsors only.
Presenters:
As the cloud has gained popularity and acceptance in the computing world, more and more businesses are making the switch. While these changes bring opportunities, they also introduce new challenges for business leaders, especially IT departments. Adopting to cloud computing processes is not an easy initiative. Cloud migration introduces its own challenges. Whether you are looking to take advantage of cloud infrastructure, platforms, or software services, we will cover the pros and cons of such a model.
Presenters:
Clint Myers (Fiserv) - Virtual
On-Stage Moderator: Robert Savage
Delivering an exceptional customer experience doesn’t just end at the checkout. In the slight chance that something goes wrong with a transaction after authorization and a dispute is raised, the entire ecosystem should have checks and technology in place to ensure it is legitimate and resolve it as quickly as possible. Our panel discussion will explore how sellers and acquirers currently remove unnecessary disputes from the ecosystem, the strides solution providers and card brands are making to improve the process and how these are impacting the customer experience.
Presenters:
Greg Witten (Verifi, a Visa Solution)
Joe Vasterling (Best Buy)
As systems become more complex with multiple channels and new integrations, inevitably there will be times when a downstream processor, network, or third-party provider system goes offline. This session will provide an overview of the payments ecosystem and the types of impacts these outages have on approval rates, authorizations, transactions speeds, and more, and hear what merchants can do to continue to function through these outages.
Presenters:
All merchants want to make data driven decisions. They recognize the value of analytics in optimizing declines, fraud, chargebacks, cost of acceptance, etc. The challenge is getting IT resources to consume, normalize, and enrich data files from payment vendors. An emerging solution of ‘data services’ is coming to the market, which would allow merchants to remove all the headaches of file monitoring and data normalization and spend their time analyzing data, using their preferred BI tool of choice – Tableau, Power BI, Domo, etc. Join this session to learn how these solutions give merchants all the benefits of creating, maintaining, and publishing their own analytics without involving IT.
Presenters:
Anand Goel (Optimized Payments)
Nitish Pandit (Priceline)
J.P. Morgan shares valuable best practices to help merchants safeguard e-commerce environments from the effects of malicious card testing attacks.
Presenter: Elizabeth Carefoot (J.P. Morgan)
The days of large scheduled release cycles with major code updates and product deployment are becoming a thing of the past. CI/CD allows for smaller, more frequent deployment into production using the CI/CD framework. Automation, more visibility, less errors, lower resource demand are all advantages.
Presenters:
Chinmy Gupta (EG America) - Virtual
Anurag Kshirsagar (T-Mobile) - Virtual
Moderator: Robert Savage (MAG)
Rising transaction volumes and growing payments options are making it difficult for merchants to manage and scale their payments and finance operations like data orchestration, reconciliation, tracking & reporting etc. The payments back-office plays a vital role in enabling these functions and ensuring revenue assurance. In this session, learn how ML based payments back-office platforms can boost productivity, lower revenue leakage, and reduce payments incidents while also streamlining your business operations, reducing overhead, and unlocking growth.
Presenter:
Swapnil Mengawade (Optimus FinTech)
Now more than ever, consumers want buying experiences that are seamless as they move across channels - online, in-store, or a combination of both. Advancements in personalized data insights, hyperlocal offers, and emerging payment methods such as EBT Online can help you grow revenue, improve customer satisfaction, and drive more commerce. In this session, hear about actions you can take to extend value beyond the "buy button".
Presenters:
Brad Goad (Fiserv)
Sandeep Bhanote (Fiserv)
Teresa Queen (Fiserv)
The ultimate networking session! Come join the most highly rated sessions of a MAG conference - these merchant-only discussion groups - led by merchant leaders - give you an opportunity in a no-pressure environment for an open and honest chat with your peers about what keeps you up at night.
- Mass Merchant
- Small Ticket / Restaurant
- Petroleum/Convenience Stores
- eCommerce
Buy Now, Pay Later payments are becoming more integrated into the merchant checkout processes. We have also seen current market participants expand their products to include variations of deferred payments. With so many choices, how do merchants determine which solution will best serve their customers? One of the determining factors should be how the payment can be integrated into a merchant’s current ecosystem. The panel will help merchants navigate the sea of options and gain practical insight.
Presenters:
Angie Grunte (Redbridge DTA)
Daniel Crisologo (Nordstrom)
Joe Myers (Elavon)
Pablo Cohan (Mastercard)
The amount of data available through transaction processing continues to grow at an exponential rate, but how do you use this data to help improve your processes. Learn about how BAC uses their market strength and power with card data insights to help merchants identify challenges and opportunities for business growth and turn the items into solutions from their merchant acquiring line of business. Panelists will share a coherent approach in responding to merchant needs in this ever-changing financial ecosystem.
Presenters:
Juan Garrido (Bank of America)
Robing Reodica (Bank of America)
Sara Walsh (Bank of America)
Luis Lenor (Bank of America)
Merchants have been focused on building their presence outside of the store to online and on mobile for a while now. While the concept of “omni-channel” has been top of mind for merchants, we are starting to see them grapple with the convergence of the digital and physical worlds. We are now in the evolution of driving seamless experiences that leverage multiple channels as part of the customer journey. While this was an experience consumers craved previously, the pandemic has catalyzed their expectations. Merchants that were able to be flexible and creative came out on top. Whether it is using a mobile app to order curbside pick-up, starting an order online and finishing it in store, or even paying virtually to physically charge a car, consumers expect these experiences and see it as one journey – not separate channels. The session panelists will discuss the convergence of the physical and digital environments and how merchants can create a seamless experience across all channels.
Presenter:
Erica Eby (Ingenico)
Payments system availability is one of the most important aspects of the merchant environment. As omni-channel expands sales across all hours, and global markets bring sales across all time zones and days of the week, no longer can we run the risk of technology failures that impacts revenue. Session panelists will discuss the aspects of building and operating a redundant architecture to ensure there are no interruptions of service that could create a negative customer experience and impact sales revenue.
Presenters:
George Maddaloni (Mastercard)
LeAnn Langston (T-Mobile)
Moderator: Robert Savage (MAG)
How is your company approaching the one-in-six American adults who use digital currencies? With half of these customers wanting to use their digital assets for payments, is your business prepared to take advantage of this rapidly emerging market? Tune into this session, where Flexa co-founder Trevor Filter will explore current digital payment trends and discuss the benefits of accepting digital currencies for your business. Emerge with a better understanding of how digital payments can be implemented and why your business needs to start developing a digital asset acceptance strategy today.
Presenter: Trevor Filter (Flexa) - Virtual
Saturation of tokenization products from acquirers, wallets, and card networks has increased complexity and fragmentation for today's merchants. They need to juggle several tokenization products, thereby increasing program costs and fracturing visibility into insights about their customers. This panel will provide tips on how to prepare and plan for managing customer data, along with best practices and solutions that allow you to connect the multi-token experience, no matter how your customers shop and pay. You will hear how real merchants have solved the real struggle to connect the disconnected.
Presenter:
Brant Peterson (FIS) - Virtual
Did you miss being in person for the first round of SIG sessions? No worries, we have you covered. Several of our SIG leaders will talk about the hot topics in their sessions and some of the key takeaways. You won't want to miss it!
Presenters:
Callum Godwin (CMSPI)
Randy Gibbons (Southwest Airlines)
Tune into the replay of today's morning session. Buy Now, Pay Later payments are becoming more integrated into the merchant checkout processes. We have also seen current market participants expand their products to include variations of deferred payments. With so many choices, how do merchants determine which solution will best serve their customers? One of the determining factors should be how the payment can be integrated into a merchant’s current ecosystem. We have assembled a panel to help merchants navigate the sea of alternative options and gain practical insight.
Presenters:
Angie Grunte (Redbridge DTA)
Daniel Crisologo (Nordstrom)
Joe Myers (Elavon)
Pablo Cohan (Mastercard)
A mobile driver’s license (mDL) is the latest development in the evolution of traditional physical credentials. This transition has been ongoing for over two decades and includes electronic and digital representations of banking cards, healthcare cards, and now driver’s licenses. With identity fraud on the rise, the importance of digital representation for physical identities is becoming increasingly critical on all fronts. On the other hand, some people would like to take back control over their identity. For example, when purchasing alcohol, why do we share our complete physical license with all our data on it, versus maybe just the data that the merchant needs to know? In this session, the panelist will look at digital credentials, the standards that exist for digital credentials, and dive into some of the use cases.
Presenter:
Sanne Ketelaar (UL)
This session will cover the evolution of payments methods in the U.S. and around the world, how merchants can prepare their checkout for emerging payments trends like crypto and buy now pay later, and the results merchants will see when they take a technology and future forward approach to payments.
Presenter:
Jean Kany (Citcon)
The ultimate networking session! Come join the most highly rated sessions of a MAG conference - these merchant-only discussion groups - led by merchant leaders - give you an opportunity in a no-pressure environment for an open and honest chat with your
peers about what keeps you up at night.
The amount of data available through transaction processing continues to grow at an exponential rate, but how do you use this data to help improve your processes. Learn about how BAC uses their market strength and power with card data insights to help merchants identify challenges and opportunities for business growth and turn the items into solutions from their merchant acquiring line of business. Panelists will share a coherent approach in responding to merchant needs in this ever-changing financial ecosystem.
Presenters:
Juan Garrido (Bank of America)
Robin Reodica (Bank of America)
Sara Walsh (Bank of America)
Luis Lenor (Bank of America)
Customers have more choices than ever when deciding where to shop and offering flexible payments options at checkout for all types of customers can help your brand gain a competitive edge. Whether it’s an interest-free payment plan spread out over time, or simply a way to pay for goods when customers do not qualify for traditional credit financing, buy now, pay later and lease-to-own payments solutions are necessary in today’s retail landscape for growing a happy and loyal customer base.
Presenters:
Nick White (Signet)
Jai Holz (Best Buy)
Mike Giordano (Progressive Leasing)
- 2021 winning strategies to fill your payments gaps
- What you need to consider in 2022 and why
- What is in store for payments beyond 2022
- How payments analytics helps identify where and when to pivot
Presenter:
Dan Coates (ACI Worldwide)
With parts of the world opening back up, the entire merchant industry is sure to see a surge from eager consumers and bad actors alike. In this session, you will learn how online accounts, transactions, and loyalty points are sold on dark web marketplaces and deep web forums, as well as how your team can identify information that has gotten into the wrong hands and what to do about it.
Presenter:
Jane Lee (Sift)
Interested in hearing about the breakout sessions which were only available in person? MAG staff will share the key takeaways and learnings from the breakouts from the MAG Studio.
There are now more techniques than ever before to take the mountain of data from transactions and put them into a visual form. Given the fast pace of digital transformation, it has become crucial not only to analyze data but to act on it. And when you choose the right visualization to highlight the most important aspects of your data, you can illuminate new insights and communicate them. That can result in smarter actions and bigger outcomes for your business.
Presenter:
Sharanya Ramesh (Adyen)
The pandemic has been a catalyst for significant change in the way we access food. We have seen restaurants and grocery stores launch or update eCommerce sites and mobile apps, deploy contactless payments and delivery options, offer a range of pickup and takeout options available, and pilot self-service and self-checkout processes.
As customers continue to embrace digital channels for meals and dining, we will share new insights and offer a recipe for success to accept payments that work for your customers and your business. You will hear real-world examples of merchants who are making payments a business priority, how to support secure digital experiences that allow you to optimize revenue streams, and why enabling choice is essential to providing the experience your customers crave.
Presenters:
Eddie Torres (CyberSource, a Visa Solution)
Tim Stallard (CyberSource, a Visa Solution)
Many merchants look to add a Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) payments option because of the opportunity to increase revenue; however, it is important to consider whether the potential revenue bump will offset the cost of offering BNPL. Traditional, four-installment BNPL options burden merchants with high fees and increased returns. Merchants who turn to ACH-facilitated BNPL options can provide an attractive, flexible payments method to consumers without breaking the bank.
Presenter:
Ross McFerrin (Trustly)
Tune into the replay of day one's educational session. In this session, Patrick Raycroft, a Partner with W. Capra Consulting Group, will dive into the fraud ecosystem and dissect the different types of fraud and the associated bad actors. Participants in this session will learn how to identify various types of fraud, strategies to prevent, and actions to take in case fraud occurs (because, yes, it will occur). This interactive session will provide valuable insights to help participants develop or enhance their companies’ fraud strategies and operations.
Presenter:
Patrick Raycroft (W. Capra)
Tune into the replay of day one's educational session. Recent technological advancements have drastically changed the payments ecosystem, and merchants must enhance their IT strategies to meet customer preferences. From NFC and RFID technology enabling contactless payment methods to the APIs that facilitate more cohesive payments experiences, technologies are altering the way customers interact with the payments environment. It is a pivotal time for merchants to build the infrastructure to incorporate these innovations in an integrated manner, especially as customers get more comfortable in the digital world.
Presenters:
Rick Oxenhandler (Oliver Wyman)
Mathieu Barthelemy (Oliver Wyman)
This panel of experts will discuss everything from Super Apps in Asia to the Payment Security Directive in Europe to Open Banking and real time payments in markets around the world. As we see more of these initiatives become global in nature, gaining knowledge of what it means for your business will be critically important to your long-term strategies. Come learn from experienced professionals who have been watching these markets closely.
Presenters:
Rehman Baig (Adyen)
Vishal Mehta (Microsoft) - Virtual
Liz Garner (CMSPI)
Jeff Gallo (IHG Hotels & Resorts)
Ann Schmitt (Disney) - Virtual
Session panelists will highlight how the use of advanced technology solutions brings successful payments outcomes to merchants. They will discuss what new technologies have emerged in the past two years and become an integral part of the fraud recognition process, as well as what new technologies are coming that will be important components in the future.
Presenters:
Jeff Gipson (Discover)
Kris Zanuldin (Forter)
Andrea Falling (Ekata)
Moderator: Justin Staskiewicz (RBI)
The ultimate networking session! Come join the most highly rated sessions of a MAG conference - these merchant-only discussion groups - led by merchant leaders - give you an opportunity in a no-pressure environment for an open and honest chat with your peers about what keeps you up at night.
- Mass Merchant
- Small Ticket / Restaurant
- Petroleum/Convenience Stores
- eCommerce
Merchant-only day is a great time for us to hear how the MAG has worked to achieve its mission of being the voice of the merchants. Kathy Hanna, MAG Chair, and John Drechny, MAG CEO, will discuss the MAG team and its merchant community’s accomplishments since our last meeting. They will also give you a quick overview on the state of the payments ecosystem and what work can be done to make it better. This is a great time to learn how you can become more plugged into the MAG’s ongoing efforts as a MAG member.
Presenters:
John Drechny (MAG)
Kathy Hanna (MAG Chair, The Kroger Co.)
The payments industry is in a state of flux. The pandemic brought about a shift to digital channels, and most merchants were quick to react with new, or amended, solutions to enable their customers to pay. Fast-forward to the present day, and all these solutions have begun to present several hurdles that make retail payments more challenging than ever. In this session, our data-equipped experts will explore the three top challenges that merchants face in the modern state of payments: transaction efficiency, fraud, and the cost of payments acceptance.
Presenters:
Josh Pynn (CMSPI)
Liz Garner (CMSPI)
Have you ever wondered how some merchants always seem to integrate new payments or talk about what they are doing to innovate in the payments space? This is not by accident but instead is part of a strategic planning process that leads their organizations to identify and prioritize projects to improve their payments position. In this session, you will hear from a few of the best payments professionals at creating and gaining buy-in for their plans. This session is sure to be one of the highlights of the MAG’s 2022 Mid-Year Conference.
Presenters:
Kelly Andrus (EG America)
Jacqueline Chilton (McDonalds)
Scott Anderson (The Home Depot)
Kelly Haren (Walmart)
MAG’s mission is to drive positive change and innovation in the payments industry that serves merchants interests through collaboration, education, and advocacy. In this roundtable discussion, MAG merchant members, attorneys, and staff will share we are doing to amplify the merchants’ voice through collaboration efforts in current Communities of Practice and payments industry stakeholder discussions, education efforts through the Merchant Payments Professionals e-learning series that now has over 250 graduates, and advocacy efforts with governmental stakeholders and industry partners.
Presenters:
Owen Glist (Constantine Cannon)
Joe Vasterling (Best Buy)
Moderator: Eric O'Brien (MAG) &
Beth Provenzano (MAG)
The SIG sessions are the ultimate networking sessions that give merchants an opportunity for an open and honest chat with their peers on what keeps them up at night in a no-pressure environment. In this fireside chat-style session, hear from the merchant leaders of these discussions on the highlights, payments challenges, and key takeaways discussed during the 2022 Mid-Year Conference SIGs.
Presenters:
Robert Goldberg (Universal Orlando)
Justin Staskiewics (Restaurant Brands International)
Brad Timbes (ExxonMobil)
Ken Grogan (Wakefern Food Corp.)
Wes Sweet (Walmart)
Scott Ethington (ExxonMobil)
Jim DuBoyce (W. Capra Consulting Group)
Dive into the fraud ecosystem and dissect the different types of fraud and the associated bad actors. Participants in this session will learn how to identify various types of fraud, strategies to prevent it, and actions to take in case fraud occurs (because, yes, it will occur). This interactive session will provide valuable insights to help participants develop or enhance their companies’ fraud strategies and operations.
Presenter:
Patrick Raycroft (W. Capra)
Recent technological advancements have drastically changed the payments ecosystem, and merchants must enhance their IT strategies to meet customer preferences. From NFC and RFID technology enabling contactless payment methods to the APIs that facilitate more cohesive payments experiences, technologies are altering the way customers interact with the payments environment. It is a pivotal time for merchants to build the infrastructure to incorporate these innovations in an integrated manner, especially as customers get more comfortable in the digital world. Explore ongoing technology trends, what the future holds for the payments environment, and how merchants can take advantage of new developments.
Presenters:
Rick Oxenhandler (Oliver Wyman)
Mathieu Barthelemy (Oliver Wyman) - Virtual
The payments landscape is changing at a record pace, and networks are not standing still while it evolves. From how networks enable payments to how they work with FinTech, networks are bringing innovation faster and easier to the merchant community. With millions of connection points already built, networks are the central point for direct to bank transactions, cryptocurrency payments, and everything in between. Join us to hear to how networks are innovating in payments and what merchants might want to consider when planning for the future.
Presenters:
Jennifer Cruz (Discover)
David Schneider (Pulse, a Discover Company)
Troy Carrothers (BIM)
John Drechny (MAG)
There is no shortage of news stories on the movement of money to digital currencies, but what does that mean for the payments community? Merchants need to be aware of the different models that providers are bringing to market, as well as possible regulations on the horizon. In this session, panelists will discuss the different types of currency, their state of readiness for mainstream payments, and what the merchant community should be thinking about as the products come to market. This group of experts will leave you better informed on the topic and share tips on how to get more involved in the digital currency discussion.
Presenters:
Jim Cunha (Federal Reserve Bank of Boston) - Virtual
Issidor Iiiev (Mastercard) - VIrtual
Moderator: Beth Costa (Oliver Wyman)
John Drechny (MAG)
Learn about the high potential for faster payments to solve for real-world challenges, adoption to date, impacts to the payment lifecycle, and expectations for the future. Hear how developing and maintaining a faster payments strategy is key to use-case identification and implementation and meeting customer expectations and gain insights into how merchants can prepare for the faster payments solutions that will drive adoption and ultimate ubiquity across the U.S. payments ecosystem.
Presenters:
Carl Slabicki (BNY Mellon)
Maria Arminio (Avenue B Consulting)
Perry Starr (Target) - Virtual
Moderator: Reed Luhtanen (Faster Payments Council)
To maintain a competitive edge, businesses must change in harmony with the evolving landscape of the payments industry. Customers want fast, secure, and convenient payments methods. If merchants are looking to expand into new markets and keep up with the shifting payments needs, they need to look beyond traditional payments methods.
Presenter:
Jean Kany
Tune into the replay of today's keynote session. The payments landscape is changing at a record pace, and networks are not standing still while it evolves. From how networks enable payments to how they work with FinTech, networks are bringing innovation faster and easier to the merchant community. With millions of connection points already built, networks are the central point for direct to bank transactions, cryptocurrency payments, and everything in between. Join us to hear to how networks are innovating in payments and what merchants might want to consider when planning for the future.
Presenters:
The Home Depot has heavily invested in technology and innovation to support its goal of becoming the number one customer service retailer in the world. Hear how their strategic investments in payments technology and infrastructure have enabled key customer experiences and critical business outcomes.
*This session is for merchant members and Tech Forum Sponsors only.
Presenters:
As the cloud has gained popularity and acceptance in the computing world, more and more businesses are making the switch. While these changes bring opportunities, they also introduce new challenges for business leaders, especially IT departments. Adopting to cloud computing processes is not an easy initiative. Cloud migration introduces its own challenges. Whether you are looking to take advantage of cloud infrastructure, platforms, or software services, we will cover the pros and cons of such a model.
Presenters:
Clint Myers (Fiserv) - Virtual
On-Stage Moderator: Robert Savage
Delivering an exceptional customer experience doesn’t just end at the checkout. In the slight chance that something goes wrong with a transaction after authorization and a dispute is raised, the entire ecosystem should have checks and technology in place to ensure it is legitimate and resolve it as quickly as possible. Our panel discussion will explore how sellers and acquirers currently remove unnecessary disputes from the ecosystem, the strides solution providers and card brands are making to improve the process and how these are impacting the customer experience.
Presenters:
Greg Witten (Verifi, a Visa Solution)
Joe Vasterling (Best Buy)
As systems become more complex with multiple channels and new integrations, inevitably there will be times when a downstream processor, network, or third-party provider system goes offline. This session will provide an overview of the payments ecosystem and the types of impacts these outages have on approval rates, authorizations, transactions speeds, and more, and hear what merchants can do to continue to function through these outages.
Presenters:
All merchants want to make data driven decisions. They recognize the value of analytics in optimizing declines, fraud, chargebacks, cost of acceptance, etc. The challenge is getting IT resources to consume, normalize, and enrich data files from payment vendors. An emerging solution of ‘data services’ is coming to the market, which would allow merchants to remove all the headaches of file monitoring and data normalization and spend their time analyzing data, using their preferred BI tool of choice – Tableau, Power BI, Domo, etc. Join this session to learn how these solutions give merchants all the benefits of creating, maintaining, and publishing their own analytics without involving IT.
Presenters:
Anand Goel (Optimized Payments)
Nitish Pandit (Priceline)
J.P. Morgan shares valuable best practices to help merchants safeguard e-commerce environments from the effects of malicious card testing attacks.
Presenter: Elizabeth Carefoot (J.P. Morgan)
The days of large scheduled release cycles with major code updates and product deployment are becoming a thing of the past. CI/CD allows for smaller, more frequent deployment into production using the CI/CD framework. Automation, more visibility, less errors, lower resource demand are all advantages.
Presenters:
Chinmy Gupta (EG America) - Virtual
Anurag Kshirsagar (T-Mobile) - Virtual
Moderator: Robert Savage (MAG)
Rising transaction volumes and growing payments options are making it difficult for merchants to manage and scale their payments and finance operations like data orchestration, reconciliation, tracking & reporting etc. The payments back-office plays a vital role in enabling these functions and ensuring revenue assurance. In this session, learn how ML based payments back-office platforms can boost productivity, lower revenue leakage, and reduce payments incidents while also streamlining your business operations, reducing overhead, and unlocking growth.
Presenter:
Swapnil Mengawade (Optimus FinTech)
Now more than ever, consumers want buying experiences that are seamless as they move across channels - online, in-store, or a combination of both. Advancements in personalized data insights, hyperlocal offers, and emerging payment methods such as EBT Online can help you grow revenue, improve customer satisfaction, and drive more commerce. In this session, hear about actions you can take to extend value beyond the "buy button".
Presenters:
Brad Goad (Fiserv)
Sandeep Bhanote (Fiserv)
Teresa Queen (Fiserv)
The ultimate networking session! Come join the most highly rated sessions of a MAG conference - these merchant-only discussion groups - led by merchant leaders - give you an opportunity in a no-pressure environment for an open and honest chat with your peers about what keeps you up at night.
- Mass Merchant
- Small Ticket / Restaurant
- Petroleum/Convenience Stores
- eCommerce
Buy Now, Pay Later payments are becoming more integrated into the merchant checkout processes. We have also seen current market participants expand their products to include variations of deferred payments. With so many choices, how do merchants determine which solution will best serve their customers? One of the determining factors should be how the payment can be integrated into a merchant’s current ecosystem. The panel will help merchants navigate the sea of options and gain practical insight.
Presenters:
Angie Grunte (Redbridge DTA)
Daniel Crisologo (Nordstrom)
Joe Myers (Elavon)
Pablo Cohan (Mastercard)
The amount of data available through transaction processing continues to grow at an exponential rate, but how do you use this data to help improve your processes. Learn about how BAC uses their market strength and power with card data insights to help merchants identify challenges and opportunities for business growth and turn the items into solutions from their merchant acquiring line of business. Panelists will share a coherent approach in responding to merchant needs in this ever-changing financial ecosystem.
Presenters:
Juan Garrido (Bank of America)
Robing Reodica (Bank of America)
Sara Walsh (Bank of America)
Luis Lenor (Bank of America)
Merchants have been focused on building their presence outside of the store to online and on mobile for a while now. While the concept of “omni-channel” has been top of mind for merchants, we are starting to see them grapple with the convergence of the digital and physical worlds. We are now in the evolution of driving seamless experiences that leverage multiple channels as part of the customer journey. While this was an experience consumers craved previously, the pandemic has catalyzed their expectations. Merchants that were able to be flexible and creative came out on top. Whether it is using a mobile app to order curbside pick-up, starting an order online and finishing it in store, or even paying virtually to physically charge a car, consumers expect these experiences and see it as one journey – not separate channels. The session panelists will discuss the convergence of the physical and digital environments and how merchants can create a seamless experience across all channels.
Presenter:
Erica Eby (Ingenico)
Payments system availability is one of the most important aspects of the merchant environment. As omni-channel expands sales across all hours, and global markets bring sales across all time zones and days of the week, no longer can we run the risk of technology failures that impacts revenue. Session panelists will discuss the aspects of building and operating a redundant architecture to ensure there are no interruptions of service that could create a negative customer experience and impact sales revenue.
Presenters:
George Maddaloni (Mastercard)
LeAnn Langston (T-Mobile)
Moderator: Robert Savage (MAG)
How is your company approaching the one-in-six American adults who use digital currencies? With half of these customers wanting to use their digital assets for payments, is your business prepared to take advantage of this rapidly emerging market? Tune into this session, where Flexa co-founder Trevor Filter will explore current digital payment trends and discuss the benefits of accepting digital currencies for your business. Emerge with a better understanding of how digital payments can be implemented and why your business needs to start developing a digital asset acceptance strategy today.
Presenter: Trevor Filter (Flexa) - Virtual
Saturation of tokenization products from acquirers, wallets, and card networks has increased complexity and fragmentation for today's merchants. They need to juggle several tokenization products, thereby increasing program costs and fracturing visibility into insights about their customers. This panel will provide tips on how to prepare and plan for managing customer data, along with best practices and solutions that allow you to connect the multi-token experience, no matter how your customers shop and pay. You will hear how real merchants have solved the real struggle to connect the disconnected.
Presenter:
Brant Peterson (FIS) - Virtual
Did you miss being in person for the first round of SIG sessions? No worries, we have you covered. Several of our SIG leaders will talk about the hot topics in their sessions and some of the key takeaways. You won't want to miss it!
Presenters:
Callum Godwin (CMSPI)
Randy Gibbons (Southwest Airlines)
Tune into the replay of today's morning session. Buy Now, Pay Later payments are becoming more integrated into the merchant checkout processes. We have also seen current market participants expand their products to include variations of deferred payments. With so many choices, how do merchants determine which solution will best serve their customers? One of the determining factors should be how the payment can be integrated into a merchant’s current ecosystem. We have assembled a panel to help merchants navigate the sea of alternative options and gain practical insight.
Presenters:
Angie Grunte (Redbridge DTA)
Daniel Crisologo (Nordstrom)
Joe Myers (Elavon)
Pablo Cohan (Mastercard)
A mobile driver’s license (mDL) is the latest development in the evolution of traditional physical credentials. This transition has been ongoing for over two decades and includes electronic and digital representations of banking cards, healthcare cards, and now driver’s licenses. With identity fraud on the rise, the importance of digital representation for physical identities is becoming increasingly critical on all fronts. On the other hand, some people would like to take back control over their identity. For example, when purchasing alcohol, why do we share our complete physical license with all our data on it, versus maybe just the data that the merchant needs to know? In this session, the panelist will look at digital credentials, the standards that exist for digital credentials, and dive into some of the use cases.
Presenter:
Sanne Ketelaar (UL)
This session will cover the evolution of payments methods in the U.S. and around the world, how merchants can prepare their checkout for emerging payments trends like crypto and buy now pay later, and the results merchants will see when they take a technology and future forward approach to payments.
Presenter:
Jean Kany (Citcon)
The ultimate networking session! Come join the most highly rated sessions of a MAG conference - these merchant-only discussion groups - led by merchant leaders - give you an opportunity in a no-pressure environment for an open and honest chat with your
peers about what keeps you up at night.
The amount of data available through transaction processing continues to grow at an exponential rate, but how do you use this data to help improve your processes. Learn about how BAC uses their market strength and power with card data insights to help merchants identify challenges and opportunities for business growth and turn the items into solutions from their merchant acquiring line of business. Panelists will share a coherent approach in responding to merchant needs in this ever-changing financial ecosystem.
Presenters:
Juan Garrido (Bank of America)
Robin Reodica (Bank of America)
Sara Walsh (Bank of America)
Luis Lenor (Bank of America)
Customers have more choices than ever when deciding where to shop and offering flexible payments options at checkout for all types of customers can help your brand gain a competitive edge. Whether it’s an interest-free payment plan spread out over time, or simply a way to pay for goods when customers do not qualify for traditional credit financing, buy now, pay later and lease-to-own payments solutions are necessary in today’s retail landscape for growing a happy and loyal customer base.
Presenters:
Nick White (Signet)
Jai Holz (Best Buy)
Mike Giordano (Progressive Leasing)
- 2021 winning strategies to fill your payments gaps
- What you need to consider in 2022 and why
- What is in store for payments beyond 2022
- How payments analytics helps identify where and when to pivot
Presenter:
Dan Coates (ACI Worldwide)
With parts of the world opening back up, the entire merchant industry is sure to see a surge from eager consumers and bad actors alike. In this session, you will learn how online accounts, transactions, and loyalty points are sold on dark web marketplaces and deep web forums, as well as how your team can identify information that has gotten into the wrong hands and what to do about it.
Presenter:
Jane Lee (Sift)
Interested in hearing about the breakout sessions which were only available in person? MAG staff will share the key takeaways and learnings from the breakouts from the MAG Studio.
There are now more techniques than ever before to take the mountain of data from transactions and put them into a visual form. Given the fast pace of digital transformation, it has become crucial not only to analyze data but to act on it. And when you choose the right visualization to highlight the most important aspects of your data, you can illuminate new insights and communicate them. That can result in smarter actions and bigger outcomes for your business.
Presenter:
Sharanya Ramesh (Adyen)
The pandemic has been a catalyst for significant change in the way we access food. We have seen restaurants and grocery stores launch or update eCommerce sites and mobile apps, deploy contactless payments and delivery options, offer a range of pickup and takeout options available, and pilot self-service and self-checkout processes.
As customers continue to embrace digital channels for meals and dining, we will share new insights and offer a recipe for success to accept payments that work for your customers and your business. You will hear real-world examples of merchants who are making payments a business priority, how to support secure digital experiences that allow you to optimize revenue streams, and why enabling choice is essential to providing the experience your customers crave.
Presenters:
Eddie Torres (CyberSource, a Visa Solution)
Tim Stallard (CyberSource, a Visa Solution)
Many merchants look to add a Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) payments option because of the opportunity to increase revenue; however, it is important to consider whether the potential revenue bump will offset the cost of offering BNPL. Traditional, four-installment BNPL options burden merchants with high fees and increased returns. Merchants who turn to ACH-facilitated BNPL options can provide an attractive, flexible payments method to consumers without breaking the bank.
Presenter:
Ross McFerrin (Trustly)
Tune into the replay of day one's educational session. In this session, Patrick Raycroft, a Partner with W. Capra Consulting Group, will dive into the fraud ecosystem and dissect the different types of fraud and the associated bad actors. Participants in this session will learn how to identify various types of fraud, strategies to prevent, and actions to take in case fraud occurs (because, yes, it will occur). This interactive session will provide valuable insights to help participants develop or enhance their companies’ fraud strategies and operations.
Presenter:
Patrick Raycroft (W. Capra)
Tune into the replay of day one's educational session. Recent technological advancements have drastically changed the payments ecosystem, and merchants must enhance their IT strategies to meet customer preferences. From NFC and RFID technology enabling contactless payment methods to the APIs that facilitate more cohesive payments experiences, technologies are altering the way customers interact with the payments environment. It is a pivotal time for merchants to build the infrastructure to incorporate these innovations in an integrated manner, especially as customers get more comfortable in the digital world.
Presenters:
Rick Oxenhandler (Oliver Wyman)
Mathieu Barthelemy (Oliver Wyman)
This panel of experts will discuss everything from Super Apps in Asia to the Payment Security Directive in Europe to Open Banking and real time payments in markets around the world. As we see more of these initiatives become global in nature, gaining knowledge of what it means for your business will be critically important to your long-term strategies. Come learn from experienced professionals who have been watching these markets closely.
Presenters:
Rehman Baig (Adyen)
Vishal Mehta (Microsoft) - Virtual
Liz Garner (CMSPI)
Jeff Gallo (IHG Hotels & Resorts)
Ann Schmitt (Disney) - Virtual
Session panelists will highlight how the use of advanced technology solutions brings successful payments outcomes to merchants. They will discuss what new technologies have emerged in the past two years and become an integral part of the fraud recognition process, as well as what new technologies are coming that will be important components in the future.
Presenters:
Jeff Gipson (Discover)
Kris Zanuldin (Forter)
Andrea Falling (Ekata)
Moderator: Justin Staskiewicz (RBI)
The ultimate networking session! Come join the most highly rated sessions of a MAG conference - these merchant-only discussion groups - led by merchant leaders - give you an opportunity in a no-pressure environment for an open and honest chat with your peers about what keeps you up at night.
- Mass Merchant
- Small Ticket / Restaurant
- Petroleum/Convenience Stores
- eCommerce
Merchant-only day is a great time for us to hear how the MAG has worked to achieve its mission of being the voice of the merchants. Kathy Hanna, MAG Chair, and John Drechny, MAG CEO, will discuss the MAG team and its merchant community’s accomplishments since our last meeting. They will also give you a quick overview on the state of the payments ecosystem and what work can be done to make it better. This is a great time to learn how you can become more plugged into the MAG’s ongoing efforts as a MAG member.
Presenters:
John Drechny (MAG)
Kathy Hanna (MAG Chair, The Kroger Co.)
The payments industry is in a state of flux. The pandemic brought about a shift to digital channels, and most merchants were quick to react with new, or amended, solutions to enable their customers to pay. Fast-forward to the present day, and all these solutions have begun to present several hurdles that make retail payments more challenging than ever. In this session, our data-equipped experts will explore the three top challenges that merchants face in the modern state of payments: transaction efficiency, fraud, and the cost of payments acceptance.
Presenters:
Josh Pynn (CMSPI)
Liz Garner (CMSPI)
Have you ever wondered how some merchants always seem to integrate new payments or talk about what they are doing to innovate in the payments space? This is not by accident but instead is part of a strategic planning process that leads their organizations to identify and prioritize projects to improve their payments position. In this session, you will hear from a few of the best payments professionals at creating and gaining buy-in for their plans. This session is sure to be one of the highlights of the MAG’s 2022 Mid-Year Conference.
Presenters:
Kelly Andrus (EG America)
Jacqueline Chilton (McDonalds)
Scott Anderson (The Home Depot)
Kelly Haren (Walmart)
MAG’s mission is to drive positive change and innovation in the payments industry that serves merchants interests through collaboration, education, and advocacy. In this roundtable discussion, MAG merchant members, attorneys, and staff will share we are doing to amplify the merchants’ voice through collaboration efforts in current Communities of Practice and payments industry stakeholder discussions, education efforts through the Merchant Payments Professionals e-learning series that now has over 250 graduates, and advocacy efforts with governmental stakeholders and industry partners.
Presenters:
Owen Glist (Constantine Cannon)
Joe Vasterling (Best Buy)
Moderator: Eric O'Brien (MAG) &
Beth Provenzano (MAG)
The SIG sessions are the ultimate networking sessions that give merchants an opportunity for an open and honest chat with their peers on what keeps them up at night in a no-pressure environment. In this fireside chat-style session, hear from the merchant leaders of these discussions on the highlights, payments challenges, and key takeaways discussed during the 2022 Mid-Year Conference SIGs.
Presenters:
Robert Goldberg (Universal Orlando)
Justin Staskiewics (Restaurant Brands International)
Brad Timbes (ExxonMobil)
Ken Grogan (Wakefern Food Corp.)
Wes Sweet (Walmart)
Scott Ethington (ExxonMobil)
Jim DuBoyce (W. Capra Consulting Group)
Conference Sponsors and Exhibitors
Sponsorship Value
As a MAG exhibitor and/or Mid-Year Conference sponsor, merchants will:
- Remember your company, products and services
- See you as a supporter and partner in the payments community
- Recognize your brand
REMINDER: You must be a current MAG Annual Sponsor in good standing to be a Mid-Year Conference and/or Tech Forum Conference sponsor. View the MAG Annual Sponsor Listing here.
ANNUAL SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
Learn MoreThank you Mid-Year Conference and Tech Forum Sponsors
Mid-Year Conference Sponsors
THANK YOU TO OUR MEDIA SPONSOR
SIG Reports
SIG documents are proprietary and confidential.
These documents are for the MAG members only and must not be circulated outside of the MAG Membership.
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SIG Notes available on the MAG Learning Center
Tech - Customer Experience / Payments Tech
Tech - Security / Payments Tech
Petroleum / Convenience Stores
Small Ticket / Restaurant
eCommerce
Mass Merchant