Twenty years ago, ATMs were strictly about cash withdrawals and envelope deposit. The number of debit card transactions was 1/125th of what it would be by 2009. Prepaid cards were mostly for long distance phone calls — from a landline. Mobile phones were still shrinking from brick-like dimensions, and the idea of using one for anything but a phone call was preposterous.

The 20th annual ATM, Debit & Prepaid Forum, to be held Oct. 22–25 in Phoenix, presents a stark contrast from then to now, with a four-day slate that promises insights into the future of payment tools and technologies.

Here's a "flyover" view of forum attractions:

• four pre-conference workshops
• more than 80 speakers
• four tracks (mobile, debit, prepaid, ATM/self-service)
• more than 45 sessions
• more than 60 vendors
• more than 1,200 industry members

Day one workshops

The forum opens on Monday afternoon with workshops covering up-and-coming trends and game-changers in the payments industry — the migration to EMV, the impact of mobile apps on financial services, and the disruptive influence of emerging companies and technologies.

Presenters will include industry specialists from Mercator Advisory Group, Fiserv and MasterCard, to name a few.

ATMIA Canada Conference 2013: Sessions to Inform & Educate
Payment industry leaders will offer insights on how to succeed in today’s evolving landscape. Topics include best practices, fraud/security, future trends, new products, potential partnerships, and a regulatory update. Register.

Payments Innovation Day

Day two ushers in a revival of the PiD demonstration showcase, featuring companies on the cusp of becoming "disrupters." Solutions on view will include mobile payments, prepaid mobile remote, on-card gesture, mobile banking, e-wallet and others. Following four rounds of demonstrations over the course of the day, attendees will have the opportunity to vote on the most promising solution, choosing the PiD People's Choice Winner.

Day three sessions

Industry segments, or tracks, come into play on Wednesday. Following keynote speeches covering "The Prepaid Opportunity," and , "An Enterprise Approach to Payments," the breakout sessions get underway.

Sessions on the ATM track will include:

• an ATM deployer panel discussing the evolving role of the ATM in a multi-channel financial world
• a case study from Iberia Bank and Diebold on the role of an outsourcing strategy in FI growth
• an update on issues that loom in the coming year, namely EMV, ADA and Reg E (the fee placard rule)
• a look at the role of the ATM in a future that includes mobile payments, increasing online and P2P payments and cardless ATM transactions

Day four sessions

Day four begins with keynote speeches — including an address by Marla Blow, assistant director for card markets at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Then a second day of sessions gets underway.

The ATM track sessions for the final day of the forum include:

• a case study from Cardtronics and Scotiabank about CRM at the ATM
• a look at the potential future of ATM functionalities and product/service delivery possibilities
• an in-depth view of video banking

Breaking out of the track

ATM industry members will also have the opportunity to jump tracks and attend sessions covering prepaid, mobile and debit segments. Some of the highlights from these tracks include:

• "What Can Prepaid Do for You?"
• "EMV Implementation Challenges in the Debit Environment"
• "How Mobile Banking Will Evolve Into the Payment Wallet"
• "Marketing Prepaid Based on Distinct Customer Needs"
• "Innovative Collboration"

Then, of course, there's the exhibition center, where, on days three and four, forum attendees will be able to see what's new in the payments industry and network with vendors and peers. Or as Rob Evans, product manager for Nautilus Hyosung America Inc., put it in a statement about the forum, "We learn what need to learn and talk to people we need to speak with."

More in-depth information about the ATM, Debit & Prepaid Forum is available at the event website.

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