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2006 symposium rides the rising wave of adoption into the future |
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Event focuses on keeping the industry's promises to its customers |
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On September 6 through 8, more than 170 electronic bill payment stakeholders gathered at the Intercontinental Chicago, located in the heart of the Magnificent Mile, for Promises Matter, the 2006 MasterCard RPPS Customer
Conference and Industry Symposium. The success of this year's industry conference was punctuated by a keynote presentation delivered by W. Roy Dunbar, president, Global Operations and Technology, MasterCard Worldwide. "MasterCard is committed to speed, flexibility, and quality because we know that consumers want their bills paid quickly, and billers want to receive the funds rapidly. The MasterCard RPPS network, the central hub, deploys sophisticated technology that is built for velocity," said Dunbar. In addition, keynote speaker Beth Robertson, research director, TowerGroup, also gave attendees a wake-up call regarding the overall cost of exception items across the industry. Robertson and her team approximated the cost of these items at more than $533 million annually, further underscoring the importance of error elimination. Attendees heard from a variety of experts on the state of the industry and its still-vast potential, learned about exciting enhancements planned for the MasterCard RPPS network, and discussed operational solutions with colleagues on both sides of the payment sender/receiver connection. In short, they shared laughs, insights, and expertise from breakfast till late. As promised in opening remarks by Tom Carey, senior business leader, Sales and New Business Development, the 2006 event offered "deeper levels of conversation" and a stellar lineup of industry experts. For three days, attendees immersed themselves in the recurring themes of industry-wide optimization, payment velocity, the ongoing war on checks, premium services, error elimination, and as noted by Ed McLaughlin, group head, MasterCard Bill Payment, the industry's "moral obligation to get it right" and keep the promises made to mutual customers. Day one: customer working groups The first day of the event, reserved for MasterCard RPPS customers only, featured a productive afternoon of presentations and working group sessions that got attendees talking with one another. "Some of the best discoveries for attendees come from talking with one another, over lunch, between presentations, in a working group," said Mike Foye, business leader, Sales and New Business Development, and symposium emcee. "As a biller, you can ask an originator, 'Why does an originator always do this?'—and vice versa. It's an excellent opportunity to learn more about the business and your colleagues." Three afternoon presentations outlined prime topics of interest:
Day two: keynote speakers, industry panels, and case studies The second day widened the focus across the electronic payments industry, where the mass adoption already achieved is merely the doorway to even greater business opportunities. Ed McLaughlin opened the day by speaking about the era of optimization that faces the industry, and the tools that are coming to facilitate that optimization. In summary, he asked, "What do we need to do as an industry? How can we coordinate to make sure we are all serving customers better, and what are the responsibilities we have around that?" Under that umbrella, three lively and informative panel discussions followed, featuring, respectively, prominent bankers, billers, and processors in the electronic payments industry. Roy Dunbar next spoke about the robust MasterCard technology that supports the MasterCard RPPS network. "Together we can continue to transform how consumers make payments and help them to gain greater control over their financial lives," he said. "What we are doing is more than moving money and data—we are changing consumers' relationship with their money . . . and with your organization." Beth Robertson emphasized the need for error elimination with a presentation that delivered some astonishing annual costs related to exception items:
Day two closed with comments from Sandra F. Braunstein, director, Division of Consumer and Community Affairs, Federal Reserve Board, who spoke about how consumer education benefits the industry, and the role of her office in providing that education. Day three: industry research and breakout sessions Fred Brothers, eCom Advisors, opened the final day with incisive remarks on electronic bill payment trends and on strategies for a changing and growing industry. His remarks were complemented by Janet Smith's presentation on MasterCard RPPS product updates, with particular emphasis on the new Payments Center and Same Day Payments Service, as well as the soon-to-be-introduced portfolio account change management system and an end-to-end trouble ticket solution. Breakout sessions on the MasterCard Advisors Commerce Intelligence Practice, current payments industry research, best practices in biller directory data utilization, and the MasterCard RPPS Payments Center closed the public symposium events. For several hours, Ed McLaughlin met privately with customers. "I want to thank everyone for your time, your participation, for your input," McLaughlin said in his closing remarks. "If one theme really came out of the event, it's that this is a very complex industry with multiple players with their own business goals and business desires. We really want to fulfill that role of providing the systems infrastructure to allow everyone to effectively serve their customers better and—just to get back to the theme—ensure we can all keep that promise we made to our mutual customers." 
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