Brave New Frontiers in Electronic Payments
October 24–25, 2006
Grand Hyatt Hotel
D/FW Airport
Irving,Texas

Sponsored by SWACHA – The Electronic Payments Resource® and The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

Almost 14 billion automated clearinghouse (ACH) payments were made in 2005, a 16.2 percent increase over 2004, according to NACHA – The Electronic Payments Association. Annual ACH payment volume has doubled in the past five years, as a result of continued growth across all transaction types, but particularly newer applications used primarily to collect consumers’ bill payments. ACH volume is expected to continue to grow at double-digit rates for at least the next five years.

Now, more than ever, financial institutions and companies need to be aware of numerous aspects of the electronic payments industry—current and new product opportunities, risk, regulatory environment, compliance and more. Please join SWACHA—The Electronic Payments Resource and the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas for “Brave New Frontiers in Electronic Payments.” This two-day conference will cover the most important topics in the electronic payments industry today and explore their impacts on financial institutions.

Agenda

Tuesday, October 24

7:00 a.m.		Early Bird Workshop
		ACH Basics for the Beginner Pam Cerny, AAP, SWACHA – The Electronic Payments Resource Susan Tiller, AAP, SWACHA – The Electronic Payments Resource During the conference you will be hearing from industry experts on a broad range of topics. If you are an ACH novice or would like a refresher course, this workshop is for you. Get a good foundation of how the ACH network works and make the most of your conference experience by attending this workshop.
8:00 a.m.		Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:30 a.m.		Opening Comments Dennis Simmons, AAP, SWACHA – The Electronic Payments Resource
		Keynote Address: State of the Payments Industry Larry DePalma, CCM, EFC Systems Inc. The payments industry has seen much change within the past few years. Were these changes good for the industry? Find out what challenges the industry has faced and what these changes mean for you.
9:45 a.m.		Refreshment Break
10:00 a.m.		Regulatory Panel
		Anthony Lowe, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Harold Feeney, Texas Credit Union Department Bob Hankins, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Randall James, Texas Department of Banking Janice McQuary, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
		Keeping up with the demands of the current regulatory environment can be a challenge. Some feel that expending resources to meet government compliance and paperwork requirements takes away time and effort from serving customers and communities. Will the regulatory agencies streamline requirements in the face of the growing administrative burden? This session provides insight from regulatory leaders into the current issues as well as what can be expected in the next year.
11:15 a.m.		Breakout Sessions
		Directo a México Matt Davies, AAP, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas This session will discuss the FedACH International Mexico Service, Directo a México, which offers financial institutions and their customers secure, low-cost transfers and a highly competitive foreign exchange rate. Card System Compliance Issues Kelly Klenda, MPX Over the past decade, the card industry has experienced tremendous growth, resulting in increased risk. Learn about the card associations security standards and the role your third-party processor and merchant members need to take to protect your customers’ data. Take a look at ways to mitigate risk related to chargebacks and implement a solid card risk management strategy. Multifactor Authentication Fred Laing, II AAP, CCM, UMACHA Recently released guidelines from the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) recommended that by the end of 2006, financial institutions be able to assess risk to their online systems and strengthen authentication measures for high-risk transactions. The challenge is how to obtain strong security as efficiently as possible while making these measures invisible to the consumer. Organizations are facing increased regulatory and legal pressure to truly identify their counterparties and protect confidential customer information. Understand what this development means to your institution in terms of online banking and payments.
12:15 p.m.		Lunch
		Presentation of Second Annual Electronic Payments Excellence Award
		Entertainment
1:45 p.m.		Breakout Sessions
		ACH Audit Marge Simmons, AAP, CCM, Electronic Payments Advisory Service In the ACH network, financial institutions and third parties are required to perform an annual ACH audit. This session provides the necessary information and insights to perform the ACH audit and to monitor compliance with the NACHA Operating Rules and other regulations. Disaster Recovery: Lessons Learned TIB – The Independent Bankers Bank Does your financial institution have a disaster recovery plan in place? How confident are you that the plan will work if you are faced with a disaster? This session will discuss what needs to be covered in a contingency plan. Twelve Keys to E-Business Project Management Success Wes Balakian, True Solutions Inc. (TSI) Proper project management is the key to successfully implementing any new project or product. Balakian will discuss the project management key processes as they apply to e-business.
2:30 p.m.		Refreshment Break and Dedicated Time with Exhibitors
3:00 p.m.		Breakout Sessions
		Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Steve Gibbs, Texas Credit Union League This session will include an overview of significant elements and updates of the OFAC regulations. Make plans to attend this session to ensure your organization is staying in compliance. Payment System Risk Management Dennis Simmons, AAP, SWACHA The continued growth of electronic payments has sparked increasing awareness of risk in the payments industry. Simmons will discuss payments system areas that have seen the most fraud and will provide some best business practices on how to prevent fraud. EBIDS Mike Taipale, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Electronic Billing Information Delivery Service (EBIDS) is conducting a pilot program to test the technical and economic conditions for using the ACH network as a bill information delivery and payment remittance option for business-to-consumer (B2C) electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP). In the pilot, companies will deliver billing information and receive payments from consumer customers electronically using the ACH network.
4:00 p.m.		Breakout Sessions
		Directo a México (Repeat) Matt Davies, AAP, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Remote Capture versus ACH Check Conversion Ben McAnally, First Financial Bank Remote image capture is creating excitement among financial professionals and merchants alike. With the birth of yet another check conversion application, many professionals are wondering which option is best for their organization. McAnally will discuss these options, including important lessons learned and best practices. Hot Topics Mary Gilmeister, AAP, WACHA This session will take a look at current hot topics and how they will impact your operations.
5 p.m.		Reception with Exhibitors

Wednesday, October 25

8:30 a.m.		Keynote Address: Field Examination Results Phil Hinkle, Texas Department of Banking Hinkle will discuss the most common audit issues banking examiners are seeing. Learn from others’ mistakes so your next audit goes more smoothly.
9:45 a.m.		Breakout Sessions
		ACH Returns versus Image Exchange Returns Dennis Simmons, AAP, SWACHA Glenn Wheeler, National Clearing House Association (NCHA) ACH returns are typically viewed as fast and consistent, with flexible and multiple redeposit options. Check returns traditionally have been regarded as slow and inconsistent, with only one redeposit option. Does ACH still hold the edge or has image processing enabled checks to close the gap? In this session, two industry experts compare returns from paper and ACH perspectives and explore the consequences to industry stakeholders. The Federal Reserve’s FedACH RiskSM Product Suite Matt Davies, AAP, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas This session will provide an overview of recent and future developments in the FedACH Risk suite of services. Beyond Credit Push—NACHA’s Online Payments Pilot Samantha Carrier, NACHA Research continues to show that privacy and security are the primary concerns of consumers who do not conduct transactions online. The NACHA board recently approved a pilot to test transactions in which consumers would be authenticated by their own financial institutions and initiate private, secure electronic payments via their financial institutions’ web sites for online purchases, bill payments and funds transfers. This session examines the significance of the pilot, what NACHA hopes to learn from this initiative, and the potential business opportunity for financial institutions that leverage their existing security and authentication investments.
10:30 a.m.		Refreshment Break and Dedicated Time with Exhibitors
11:00 a.m.		Breakout Sessions
		OFAC & AML (Repeat) Steve Gibbs, Texas Credit Union League ACH Audit (Repeat) Marge Simmons, AAP, CCM, Electronic Payments Advisory Service Becoming an AAP Pam Cerny, AAP, SWACHA Susan Tiller, AAP, SWACHA The Accredited ACH Professional (AAP) program provides benefits to individuals who earn the credentials. This session will explain these benefits as well as the AAP accreditation’s purpose and value, how to prepare for the exam and how to retain the accreditation once it has been earned.
Noon		Lunch and Closing Remarks