What can the industry expect in 2006? The answer, say industry leaders: Focusing on hardware and software security, scrambling to meet Triple DES compliance, figuring out how to get the most bang for the ATM buck through connectivity and added functions, and discovering ways to reach unbanked consumers in the U.S. and abroad.

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Sept. 14-16's ATM Industry Association's North American ATM Debit Summit will address a few of those issues, which are affecting U.S. deployers, keeping security at the forefront.

Lori Breitzke, vice president of prepaid products for Atlanta-based RBS Lynk Inc., will discuss security concerns surrounding prepaid and stored-value cards. During her Thursday workshop Breitzke will explore technology options for fraud prevention and regulation compliance.

Breitzke said available technology could alert merchants and issuers when prepaid cards re-encoded with credit card numbers are used, for instance - helping them identify fraudulent transactions before they create major problems.

Also on the security circuit are Ariana-Michelle Moore, senior analyst at Boston-based Celent Communications LLC; Bill Dunn, vice president of sales for Freemont, Calif.-based Tranax Technologies Inc.; Robb Evans, managing director of account and transaction risk solutions for Scottsdale, Ariz.-based eFunds Corp.; and Michael Urban, operations director for Minneapolis-based Fair Isaac Corp.

Urban is expected to take an in-depth look at phishing schemes, explaining new tactics tech-savvy posers are using in addition to e-mail queries to get consumer card information.

"There are other social engineering tricks that criminals use to get card and PIN information, and we'll take a look at those, as well as what we've seen over the last four quarters in the way of phishing fraud," Urban said.

Discussions also are slated for compliance and regulation updates, profiting from prepaid and stored-value cards, branding, and ATM placements in Latin America and Mexico.

The conference opens with a four-hour training seminar for independent sales organizations, with presenters from ACCEL-Exchange, Automated Financial LLC, Citizens Financial Group, RBS Lynk, First Data's Star Systems, Palm Desert National Bank, Pueblo Bank & Trust and the Pulse EFT Association.

The seminar will include information about the new Plus ATM Operator Agreement rules, which take effect in November, highlighting the non-compliance consequences that will befall ISOs. The networks will review responsibilities of sponsoring financial institutions, processors and ISOs in meeting the new regulations, as well as discuss how the roles of the FI, processor and ISO could vary in certain circumstances.

Schurter, an ATMIA conference newcomer, will feature its 16-key PIN pad in Scottsdale.

Registration requirements, policies and procedures, paper trails, the storage of ATM inventory, insurance and appropriate licensing also will be shared.

What's in a card? On Thursday, Daveed Schwartz and Deborah Thoren-Peden, attorneys with San Francisco-based Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw, Pittman LLP, explore the legal and compliance issues and risks surrounding prepaid and stored-value cards.

Taking cards a step further, Jennifer Tescher, director of Chicago-based The Center for Financial Services Innovation, will discuss how stored-value cards can be used as a tool to reach underbanked and unbanked consumers in the U.S. Tescher touches on the latest stored-value card strategies and technology.

So how will all of these cards affect the market? That's a point G. Kirk Ergang Jr., senior vice president of network administration for Star Systems, will explore during his Thursday presentation about ATM and POS consumer preferences.

Cards and touching new markets are one way to build revenue, but how can deployers ensure long-term profitability? That's what Doug Sholes, director of new business development for Long Beach, Miss.-based Triton Systems, will address during his Thursday workshop about co-branding and marketing initiatives between banks and retailers.

Mexico: The Mexican market is one leaders like Jorge Fernandez, president and chief executive of Capture Systems, have been trying to break into for seven years. (Read also, Surcharging hits Mexico.)

Since surcharging hit June 15, more North American companies have expressed interest in getting a piece of the Mexican market. Fernandez will offer a more in-depth look into the Latin American and Mexican markets during his Friday workshop, where he will describe the high demand plastic has created in those markets for ATMs and POS terminals.

Addressing security from an external point of view, two newcomers to ATMIA West - Santa Rosa, Calif.-based Schurter Inc. and Hamburg, Germany-based Kilian Industries - will have stainless steel and aluminum keypads on display.

Schurter's new 16-key metal keypad will be showcased during the conference.

Pi Systems International and ATM Components & Technology will highlight a Triple DES fix for the NCR 5305 as well as Pi System's new 3 DES Fix Protocol Conversion Solution. "We have a lot of interest in the Triple DES fix," said Mike Weikert, director of sales and engineering for Springboro, Ohio-based ACT.

Bill Joyce, sales and marketing support manager for Grand Prairie, Texas-based Pi Systems, said the new conversion solution Pi Systems introduced about five weeks ago is expected to grab some attention as well. "The added value of our product is to be able to look out five to seven years and still be able to maintain, and allow, these legacy machines to have a useful life."

Other exhibitors include: American State Bank, Cash Connect, Columbus Data Services, Creative Strategic Solutions, Credit Union 24, Financial Payments, First Data Retail ATM Services, Fiserv EFT, Genpass Technologies, Graphic Systems, Kaba Mas, NYCE, Palm Desert National Bank, Pulse EFT Association, RBS Lynk, Switch Commerce and USA Payment Systems.