Last week, 357 payments professionals flocked to Overland Park, Kansas to join us at EPCOR Payments Conference – Fall 2019. Together, we toured the Road to Faster Payments and explored the latest in new and emerging payments. Along the way, we also made pit stops to learn and discuss other relevant topics such as the FedNow, faster payments, marijuana banking and more!

Many attendees took advantage of the opportunity to participate in one of two optional pre-conference workshops, The Faster Payments Road Trip: Designing Your Roadmap with EPCOR’s Brian Laverdure and Positive and Professional Communication Skills with Dr. Susan Harrison. Later, everyone gathered for the opening general session, The ACH Network is Positioned for a Bright Future with Peter Hohenstein of Nacha. Here, Peter shared interesting insights and statistics related to topics such as the volume growth of direct deposit, business-to-business (B2B), internet and person-to-person (P2P) payments.

Officially off to the races, conference attendees were free to map out their journeys choosing from ten sessions throughout the first day. Sessions available to choose from on day one included Gone in 60 Seconds – The Brave New World of Faster Payments with Kevin Olsen, AAP, APRP, NCP, VSoft, Top 10 Ways to Quantify & Manage Financial Crime Risk with Dave Richardson, FNB Omaha and Andrew Davies, Fiserv and more.

Attendees gathered at the end of the first day to party with Hoot-E at our Anniversary Party Gala Reception, enjoying plenty of board games for entertainment. Folks were encouraged to mingle and play a few rounds of games like Apples to Apples, Yahtzee, cornhole, Jenga, Dominoes and more. In celebration of EPCOR’s 10th Anniversary, everyone received special glasses and koozies to drink from (and take home), which featured our anniversary logo and Hoot-E. Party-goers agreed that the day was a success, and compared notes on their quest to complete challenges as part of the Click game in the Conference app.

The opening general session on Tuesday, RTP & Zelle… Is Now the Right Time for Your Organization? with Peter McVey, AAP, APRP, NCP, Lead Bank and panelists Ralph J. Leno, Small Business Bank; Cheryl Kendrick, AAP, NCP, Central Bank; Tim Mills, AAP, The Clearing House Payments Company; and Ryan Riveland, Zelle. This session featured dialogue regarding The Clearing House and Zelle, and the business opportunities, strategies and implementation considerations associated with these two major players in the real-time payments space.

Day two of the conference featured our Recognition Luncheon. During the Luncheon, EPCOR CEO Ann-Marie Bartels, AAP, presented the 2019 Marquis Award to Blue Ridge Bank & Trust of Independence, MO and the 2019 Payments Innovation Award to nbkc bank. In addition to these awards, we acknowledged 171 AAPs, 21 APRPs and 27 NCPs in attendance and conducted drawings for several special frames to honor each accreditation.

Day two’s sessions continued to bring insights from experts at the forefront of the payments industry. In addition to vendor showcases, our sessions included The Top Five Check Frauds You Need on Your Radar, Third-Party Senders and the ACH Audit Changes, ISO 20022 for Fedwire® Funds & CHIPS®, Defining Success – What Four Words Move YOU Forward? and more.

To conclude the day, our closing general session Don’t Be a Legal Target - Advice From Two Payments Attorneys with Paul Carrubba, Esq. and Scott Jones, Esq., Adams & Reese LLP discussed how to avoid being a target by making sure your operational and security procedures fit the criteria of “commercially reasonable” from the court’s perspective. Attendees learned how their financial institutions can increase the potential for success in the event they are ever sued.

Some attendees opted to continue networking and conversing with EPCOR staff and other attendees at our Dining with Strangers event. For this event, conference attendees and staff visited local establishments for dinner. This allowed for networking, payments discussion and a whole lot of fun! Many locations had to add additional reservations due to an overwhelming response from attendees. Everyone truly had a blast!

Although the shortest of the conference, day three was still packed full of awesome sessions! Sessions included Not Your Typical B&B: Blockchain and Bitcoin, Does "Presumption of Alteration" Affect My Institution?, Is Your Core System Ready for Faster Payments? and more!

Keeping attendees engaged up to the very last second of the conference, Erik Van Bramer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Atlanta facilitated FedNow℠ and the Future of Faster Payments. In August, the Federal Reserve announced its decision to develop a new 24x7x365 RTGS service to support the payment and settlement of faster payments in the United States after assessing hundreds of comments from the industry. Erik shared the Federal Reserve's next steps for establishing FedNow℠, and how attendee’s organizations can prepare for faster payments.

Our popular Passport to Prizes contest challenged attendees to tour the vibrant exhibit hall throughout the conference, receiving passport punches from each exhibitor so that they could be entered into drawings for many generous prizes. Along with the many gift cards awarded, prizes were also presented to participants of the Click game on EPCOR’s Event App, which sent attendees on a scavenger hunt to find EPCOR mascot, Hoot-E, around the event as well as many other fun challenges. The top point earner won a $50 gift card and a stuffed Hoot-E!

Upon the conclusion of the conference, attendees then parted company, returning to their payments professions armed with the newfound knowledge and connections they formed during their time in Overland Park.
Our sincere thanks go to the sponsors, exhibitors, speakers and attendees of EPCOR Payments Conference – Fall 2019, as well as the conference planning committee – our conference wouldn’t be such a huge success without their contributions.

Please come back and see us next year in Overland Park! Or, if you can’t join us then, join us in the Spring in Columbus, Ohio. We look forward to exploring the latest payments industry trends and challenges together again!

Stay tuned to our Facebook page and the Knowledge Community for pictures from the conference! Also, if you got your headshot taken in Overland Park, don’t forget to update your profile photo on the knowledge community!

Also, special thank you to our sponsors and exhibitors: