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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.
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.
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 Anniverary
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 Governance
Speakers: Coming Soon
Description: Coming Soon
Speakers: Coming Soon
Description: Coming Soon
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 - Faster Payments and the Future
Speakers:
Description:
Speakers:
Description:
12pm - Networking Lunch
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: Coming Soon
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: Coming Soon
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: Hunting Cyber Criminals – Protecting America’s Payments Infrastructure
Speakers: FBI
Description: Coming Soon
Speakers: FBI
Description: Coming Soon
4pm - 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.
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
Friday, May 1, 2026
8:00am - Breakfast
9:00am - Was it All a Dream? The Future of the CFPB
Speakers: Coming Soon
Description: Coming Soon
Speakers: Coming Soon
Description: Coming Soon
9:45am - Changes to Prepaid Rule – Reaching Your Wallet’s Full Potential
Speakers: Coming Soon
Description: Coming Soon
Speakers: Coming Soon
Description: Coming Soon
10:15am - Networking Coffee Break
10:30am - Stablecoin Roundtable
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
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.
2:30pm - Closing Reception