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Agenda |
The IPA Innovative Payments Conference is an inclusive opportunity for all current and future IPA members in the payments industry to engage in exceptional formal and informal learning experiences that help to advance career and professional development, individual productivity, and organizational effectiveness. The 2026 Innovative Payments Conference offers the payments community a chance to gather and reflect on the collective associations’ potential influence on society to shape a better future for the payments industry.
Stay tuned as we build out the agenda and speaking faculty. In the meantime, have a look at some confirmed agenda items and speakers to get an idea of what to expect in 2026. We’re looking forward to putting on another great event for you.
Stay tuned as we build out the agenda and speaking faculty. In the meantime, have a look at some confirmed agenda items and speakers to get an idea of what to expect in 2026. We’re looking forward to putting on another great event for you.
2026 IPC: Exclusive Pre-Conference CLE Sessions
Enhance your professional credentials with our first-ever Pre-Conference CLE Sessions on April 29, 2026. Earn valuable continuing legal education credits while gaining deep insights into payments technology law. These specialized workshops require a separate registration and offer attorneys and compliance professionals a targeted learning experience before the main conference kicks off.
To register for both of these sessions: click over to the IPC registration page and select the Pre-Conference CLE Sessions add-on as you register for the IPC. You must be registered for the IPC to attend the Pre-Conference CLE sessions.
To register for both of these sessions: click over to the IPC registration page and select the Pre-Conference CLE Sessions add-on as you register for the IPC. You must be registered for the IPC to attend the Pre-Conference CLE sessions.
Meet Our 2026 Speakers
Our 2026 Agenda
Wednesday, April 29, 2026
12pm - IPA Board Meeting
1pm - Registration Desk Opens
2pm - Payments at a Crossroads – How AI and Crypto Intersect with Payments*
Speaker: Tim Butler and Matt White
Description: Join Tim Butler and Matt White from Greenberg Traurig for an essential briefing on the landmark GENIUS Act, signed into law in July 2025. This session provides a comprehensive overview of how stablecoin regulation is reshaping digital payments.Learn what stablecoins are and why they matter. Understand the regulatory journey from the 2021 Presidential Working Group through congressional debate to bipartisan passage. Navigate key provisions including licensing requirements for Permitted Payment Stablecoin Issuers (PPSIs), reserve backing standards, and compliance obligations. Explore what comes next with upcoming rulemaking and the intersection of AI and cryptocurrency in payments.
* Requires separate registration
3:00pm - Break
3:15pm – Un-Chartered Waters*
Speaker: Kevin Leitão
Description: There is a surge of interest among fintechs in having their own bank charter. Understanding the options and navigating the process can be challenging. Although many fintechs have chosen to acquire banks with full-service charters, there are other options.
This session will focus on three state bank charters that offer something different: the Utah Industrial Bank, the Connecticut Innovation Bank and the Georgia Merchant Acquirer Limited Purpose Bank. Each of these charters can provide specific bank powers that a non-bank financial services company may be looking for without all of the requirements and supervision that traditional banks must address and manage.
We will discuss what these state charters offer (and don’t offer), what these states are expecting from applicants and why these states support these charters.
* Requires separate registration
2pm - Payments at a Crossroads – How AI and Crypto Intersect with Payments*
Speaker: Tim Butler and Matt White
Description: Join Tim Butler and Matt White from Greenberg Traurig for an essential briefing on the landmark GENIUS Act, signed into law in July 2025. This session provides a comprehensive overview of how stablecoin regulation is reshaping digital payments.Learn what stablecoins are and why they matter. Understand the regulatory journey from the 2021 Presidential Working Group through congressional debate to bipartisan passage. Navigate key provisions including licensing requirements for Permitted Payment Stablecoin Issuers (PPSIs), reserve backing standards, and compliance obligations. Explore what comes next with upcoming rulemaking and the intersection of AI and cryptocurrency in payments.
* Requires separate registration
3:00pm - Break
3:15pm – Un-Chartered Waters*
Speaker: Kevin Leitão
Description: There is a surge of interest among fintechs in having their own bank charter. Understanding the options and navigating the process can be challenging. Although many fintechs have chosen to acquire banks with full-service charters, there are other options.
This session will focus on three state bank charters that offer something different: the Utah Industrial Bank, the Connecticut Innovation Bank and the Georgia Merchant Acquirer Limited Purpose Bank. Each of these charters can provide specific bank powers that a non-bank financial services company may be looking for without all of the requirements and supervision that traditional banks must address and manage.
We will discuss what these state charters offer (and don’t offer), what these states are expecting from applicants and why these states support these charters.
* Requires separate registration
4:00 - 4:45pm - IPA's 20th Anniversary
Speakers: Karen Garrett, Steve Middlebrook, Judie Rinearson
Description: Join us for a special session celebrating two decades of the Innovative Payments Association. Leaders and members from the past 20 years will come together to reflect on the association’s growth, milestones, and impact on the payments industry. Through shared stories and insights, this conversation will highlight the people and moments that shaped the IPA while also looking ahead to the opportunities and innovations that will define the association’s future.
Speakers: Karen Garrett, Steve Middlebrook, Judie Rinearson
Description: Join us for a special session celebrating two decades of the Innovative Payments Association. Leaders and members from the past 20 years will come together to reflect on the association’s growth, milestones, and impact on the payments industry. Through shared stories and insights, this conversation will highlight the people and moments that shaped the IPA while also looking ahead to the opportunities and innovations that will define the association’s future.
5:00pm - 6:30pm - IPC Attendee Reception Sponsored by The Bancorp
Thursday, April 30, 2026
7:30am - Breakfast
9am - IPC Welcome: 20th Anniversary
9:15am - AI Beyond the Hype: History, Reality, and the Future of Work
Speakers: John Walsh, Bob Cofod
Description: Artificial Intelligence may feel new, but it isn’t. In this session, John Walsh and Bob Cofod will ground today’s AI conversation in history—tracing its roots back to the 1970s and the early advancements in natural language programming. By understanding where AI truly comes from, we can better separate reality from hype.
From there, Walsh and Cofod will take an honest look at how the U.S. education system has struggled to prepare people for a technology-driven future, particularly through limited exposure to AI and modern technical skills. This gap has contributed to fear, misinformation, and uncertainty about what AI really means for careers and society.
The session will then shift to why embracing technology is not optional—but that we can be intentional with its use. We’ll discuss AI as a powerful tool that can amplify human capability, not replace it outright. While AI systems often function as “black boxes,” with opaque decision-making processes, understanding their inputs, limitations, and risks is essential for using them responsibly and ethically.
Walsh and Cofod close with a forward-looking conversation focused on careers and the future of work. Not all jobs will disappear—but many will change. Just as past technological revolutions created new roles and industries, AI will drive a significant shift in how work is done and what skills are valued. Attendees will leave with practical perspectives on how to plan careers, adapt to change, and move forward with confidence—approaching AI with curiosity and caution rather than fear.
Ultimately, this session challenges attendees to base their decisions on reality, not sales pitches or sensational headlines, and to recognize that AI is not inherently bad.
Speakers: John Walsh, Bob Cofod
Description: Artificial Intelligence may feel new, but it isn’t. In this session, John Walsh and Bob Cofod will ground today’s AI conversation in history—tracing its roots back to the 1970s and the early advancements in natural language programming. By understanding where AI truly comes from, we can better separate reality from hype.
From there, Walsh and Cofod will take an honest look at how the U.S. education system has struggled to prepare people for a technology-driven future, particularly through limited exposure to AI and modern technical skills. This gap has contributed to fear, misinformation, and uncertainty about what AI really means for careers and society.
The session will then shift to why embracing technology is not optional—but that we can be intentional with its use. We’ll discuss AI as a powerful tool that can amplify human capability, not replace it outright. While AI systems often function as “black boxes,” with opaque decision-making processes, understanding their inputs, limitations, and risks is essential for using them responsibly and ethically.
Walsh and Cofod close with a forward-looking conversation focused on careers and the future of work. Not all jobs will disappear—but many will change. Just as past technological revolutions created new roles and industries, AI will drive a significant shift in how work is done and what skills are valued. Attendees will leave with practical perspectives on how to plan careers, adapt to change, and move forward with confidence—approaching AI with curiosity and caution rather than fear.
Ultimately, this session challenges attendees to base their decisions on reality, not sales pitches or sensational headlines, and to recognize that AI is not inherently bad.
10:00am - Road Map to the 2026 & 2028 Elections
Speakers: David Wasserman, Senior Editor & Election Analyst for the nonpartisan newsletter, The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter
Description: The 2024 elections ushered in full GOP control of the White House and Congress, but will there be a backlash in 2026 or 2028? In an engaging and strictly nonpartisan presentation, David Wasserman takes audiences on a tour of key Senate, House and gubernatorial contests that will shape policymaking in Washington and politics for years to come. How will Democrats survive the wilderness, and what's next for Republicans after Trump? Drawing on his extensive interactions with candidates and strategists on both sides of the aisle, David previews the road ahead and identifies the campaign trends and electoral mood swings that will define the next chapter of American politics.
Speakers: David Wasserman, Senior Editor & Election Analyst for the nonpartisan newsletter, The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter
Description: The 2024 elections ushered in full GOP control of the White House and Congress, but will there be a backlash in 2026 or 2028? In an engaging and strictly nonpartisan presentation, David Wasserman takes audiences on a tour of key Senate, House and gubernatorial contests that will shape policymaking in Washington and politics for years to come. How will Democrats survive the wilderness, and what's next for Republicans after Trump? Drawing on his extensive interactions with candidates and strategists on both sides of the aisle, David previews the road ahead and identifies the campaign trends and electoral mood swings that will define the next chapter of American politics.
11:00am - Networking Break
11:15am - A Session by InComm
12pm - Networking Lunch Sponsored by Cardaq
1:15pm - Unsettled: Crypto, Stablecoins, and the Future of Value Transfer
Speakers: Gerry O'Shea
Description: Bitcoin’s creation over 16 years ago introduced a fundamentally different payment architecture: instant, borderless, and completely disintermediated. Today, digital asset networks are quietly building a parallel system that is faster, cheaper, and increasingly hard for traditional institutions to ignore, creating many questions about what the future of value transfer will look like. This presentation offers a grounded, forward-looking view of how these technologies will reshape the competitive landscape of payments and what incumbents should consider when evaluating how to embrace this innovation.
Speakers: Gerry O'Shea
Description: Bitcoin’s creation over 16 years ago introduced a fundamentally different payment architecture: instant, borderless, and completely disintermediated. Today, digital asset networks are quietly building a parallel system that is faster, cheaper, and increasingly hard for traditional institutions to ignore, creating many questions about what the future of value transfer will look like. This presentation offers a grounded, forward-looking view of how these technologies will reshape the competitive landscape of payments and what incumbents should consider when evaluating how to embrace this innovation.
2pm - All Eyes on EWA
Speakers: Heather Heebner, Claudia Flores, Kevin Lefton, Mona Jabour
Description: EWA has garnered a lot of attention recently. States continue to review and debate legislation on the product, litigation is making it way through the courts, and in late 2025, the CFPB released its most recent Advisory Opinion on EWA. Now, there is talk of federal legislation that may settle once and for all the question of whether EWA is credit. This panel will cover where EWA is headed and when we might see a final decision on the credit question that covers the entire EWA market.
Speakers: Heather Heebner, Claudia Flores, Kevin Lefton, Mona Jabour
Description: EWA has garnered a lot of attention recently. States continue to review and debate legislation on the product, litigation is making it way through the courts, and in late 2025, the CFPB released its most recent Advisory Opinion on EWA. Now, there is talk of federal legislation that may settle once and for all the question of whether EWA is credit. This panel will cover where EWA is headed and when we might see a final decision on the credit question that covers the entire EWA market.
3pm - Networking Coffee Break
3:15pm - FBI: The Virtual Asset Threat Landscape
Speakers: Patrick Wyman
Description: Patrick Wyman, the Chief of the FBI’s Virtual Assets Unit will provide an overview of the current threat landscape relating to the illicit use of virtual assets, including stablecoins, and how this evolving technology is leveraged by criminal actors across all threats. Unit Chief Wyman will also explore the FBI’s focused efforts to disrupt and mitigate illicit activity and discuss how artificial intelligence can be a double-edged sword when it comes to investigating complex criminal activity.
Speakers: Patrick Wyman
Description: Patrick Wyman, the Chief of the FBI’s Virtual Assets Unit will provide an overview of the current threat landscape relating to the illicit use of virtual assets, including stablecoins, and how this evolving technology is leveraged by criminal actors across all threats. Unit Chief Wyman will also explore the FBI’s focused efforts to disrupt and mitigate illicit activity and discuss how artificial intelligence can be a double-edged sword when it comes to investigating complex criminal activity.
4pm - Future Proofing Community Banks
Speakers: Greg Cooper, Alicia Reid, Peggy O'Leary
Description: As technology advances, banks are facing new risks from all sides. In this session, we will talk with bankers from innovative community banks about how they are future proofing their institutions to adapt to a business landscape being reshaped by forces including cryptocurrencies, artificial intelligence, and open banking.
Speakers: Greg Cooper, Alicia Reid, Peggy O'Leary
Description: As technology advances, banks are facing new risks from all sides. In this session, we will talk with bankers from innovative community banks about how they are future proofing their institutions to adapt to a business landscape being reshaped by forces including cryptocurrencies, artificial intelligence, and open banking.
4:30pm - Understanding Agentic Commerce Adoption
Speakers: Jack Hilger
Description: As AI-assisted commerce begins to gain momentum, there is still uncertainty about market & consumer readiness for truly autonomous payments. This session will cover the latest insights into how the payments ecosystem is progressing to deliver secure and seamless agentic commerce.
Speakers: Jack Hilger
Description: As AI-assisted commerce begins to gain momentum, there is still uncertainty about market & consumer readiness for truly autonomous payments. This session will cover the latest insights into how the payments ecosystem is progressing to deliver secure and seamless agentic commerce.
5:30pm - Opening Night Reception Sponsored by Visa
9pm - Late Night Reception Sponsored by Cardaq
Friday, May 1, 2026
8:00am - Breakfast
9:00am - Fireside Chat with Comptroller Gould
Speaker: Comptroller Gould, Brian Tate
Description: Navigate the future of payments regulation with confidence. Hear from Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould in a fireside chat at IPC 2026. As the regulator of more than 1,000 national banks and federal savings associations, Comptroller Gould will share critical insights on regulatory priorities, compliance challenges, and the future of financial services.
Speaker: Comptroller Gould, Brian Tate
Description: Navigate the future of payments regulation with confidence. Hear from Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould in a fireside chat at IPC 2026. As the regulator of more than 1,000 national banks and federal savings associations, Comptroller Gould will share critical insights on regulatory priorities, compliance challenges, and the future of financial services.
9:30am - Fireside Chat with Adam Frankel
Speaker: Adam Frankel, Brian Tate
Description: Adam B. Frankel joined Chime in August 2023, bringing with him over 30 years of corporate law experience in highly regulated and diverse businesses, such as investment management, investment banking, and freight transportation. Adam’s unique background and insights to helping to lead one of the most well-known and cutting edge fintech companies in payments will be invaluable to attendees.
Speaker: Adam Frankel, Brian Tate
Description: Adam B. Frankel joined Chime in August 2023, bringing with him over 30 years of corporate law experience in highly regulated and diverse businesses, such as investment management, investment banking, and freight transportation. Adam’s unique background and insights to helping to lead one of the most well-known and cutting edge fintech companies in payments will be invaluable to attendees.
10:00am - The CFPB: Past, Present and Future
Speakers: Acting Director Russell Vought
Description: Acting Director Vought is a member of President Trump’s cabinet and is the highest-ranking government official to address our conference. He occupies a uniquely influential position at the intersection of the White House, the federal regulatory process, and financial services. It is hard to argue that any single regulator will make more consequential decisions impacting payments for years to come.
Speakers: Acting Director Russell Vought
Description: Acting Director Vought is a member of President Trump’s cabinet and is the highest-ranking government official to address our conference. He occupies a uniquely influential position at the intersection of the White House, the federal regulatory process, and financial services. It is hard to argue that any single regulator will make more consequential decisions impacting payments for years to come.
10:30am - Networking Coffee Break
10:45am - Following The Money: How Cross-Industry Intelligence Disrupts Child Exploitation Networks
Speaker: Ruth Dannehy
Description: Financially motivated child sexual abuse—from financial sextortion to the sale of child sexual abuse material (CSAM)—increasingly relies on digital payments. Tech platforms and financial institutions each see different pieces of these crimes, but neither can stop them alone.
This session explores how cross-industry collaboration can close those gaps. The Tech Coalition will share insights from Lantern, a signal-sharing program that enables tech companies and financial institutions to share intelligence and detect financially motivated online child exploitation faster. Case studies will demonstrate how platform signals can reveal motivations and interactions not visible through traditional transaction monitoring—helping financial institutions detect illicit activity sooner and disrupt child exploitation.
Speaker: Ruth Dannehy
Description: Financially motivated child sexual abuse—from financial sextortion to the sale of child sexual abuse material (CSAM)—increasingly relies on digital payments. Tech platforms and financial institutions each see different pieces of these crimes, but neither can stop them alone.
This session explores how cross-industry collaboration can close those gaps. The Tech Coalition will share insights from Lantern, a signal-sharing program that enables tech companies and financial institutions to share intelligence and detect financially motivated online child exploitation faster. Case studies will demonstrate how platform signals can reveal motivations and interactions not visible through traditional transaction monitoring—helping financial institutions detect illicit activity sooner and disrupt child exploitation.
11:15am - Innovation Fails Without Compliance
Speakers: Matt Mehlman, Brian Tate
Description: One year into the Trump Administration, the regulatory landscape feels strikingly different than any other time in recent memory. Stablecoins, digital assets, open banking, and new charters are just some of the products and policies that could upend the current state of play in payments and lead the industry into uncharted waters. Matt Mehlman and Brian Tate, discuss the changes and why compliance strategies matter even in a time when federal regulators seem less strict.
Speakers: Matt Mehlman, Brian Tate
Description: One year into the Trump Administration, the regulatory landscape feels strikingly different than any other time in recent memory. Stablecoins, digital assets, open banking, and new charters are just some of the products and policies that could upend the current state of play in payments and lead the industry into uncharted waters. Matt Mehlman and Brian Tate, discuss the changes and why compliance strategies matter even in a time when federal regulators seem less strict.
12:00pm - Networking Lunch Sponsored by Cardaq
1:20pm - Sources of Legal Authority: Statutes, Regulations, Guidance, and Case Law *
Speaker: Steve Middlebrook
Description: This presentation will examine a variety of types of legal authority including statutes, regulations, interpretive rules and other informal guidance, and court opinions and will discuss which authorities are binding on market participants and which are viewed as merely persuasive. We’ll also look at the interplay between state and federal rules and situations in which federal law may preempt the application of state law. We will illustrate our discussion with real world examples from regulatory frameworks currently applied to prepaid accounts and earned wage access products.
*This session is pending CLE credits. This session is open to all registered IPC attendees.
Speaker: Steve Middlebrook
Description: This presentation will examine a variety of types of legal authority including statutes, regulations, interpretive rules and other informal guidance, and court opinions and will discuss which authorities are binding on market participants and which are viewed as merely persuasive. We’ll also look at the interplay between state and federal rules and situations in which federal law may preempt the application of state law. We will illustrate our discussion with real world examples from regulatory frameworks currently applied to prepaid accounts and earned wage access products.
*This session is pending CLE credits. This session is open to all registered IPC attendees.