MOBILE PAYMENT EXPERTS TAKE STAGE TODAY AT ANNUAL AFP CONFERENCE
Execs from Sony, IDC Financial Insights, and AP Technology Laud Transactions on Mobile Devices as ‘A Better Way to Pay’
DENVER—October 19, 2015— Sony Electronics’ Mark Pearson and IDC’s James Wester will join mobile payment experts Richard Love and Greg Wilfahrt from AP Technology on stage this afternoon at the Annual AFP Conference, providing attendees with an exclusive look into the future of mobile payments. Their session, titled “Mobile Payments: A Better Way to Pay,” will explore the meteoric rise of global payments made via phones, pads and tablets, along with ways that businesses can leverage mobile transactions to benefit their organizations.
Thousands of executives from leading companies and financial institutions are gathered in Denver this week for the annual conference powered by the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP). This four-day event, considered the most important event in treasury and finance circles, features former President George W. Bush as one of its opening day speakers. Today’s mobile payments session brings insights from innovators that are impacting tomorrow’s electronic and mobile payments spaces, today:
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Richard Love is CEO and founder of AP Technology. A pioneer in the field of payments for more than 25 years, Love is the holder of several patents, and his company’s software processes in excess of $30 billion annually for AP Technology’s 6,000+ customers. As part of this AFP show, Love’s AP Technology will be showcasing its “Payment Perfection” line of products, including APSecure, the leading enterprise and check issuance solution for banks and corporations.
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James Wester heads the Global Payments Practice for IDC Financial Insights, recognized as one of the business intelligence firm in the world, and with approximately 1,100 analysts in more than 100 countries. In addition to payment networks, technology, and regulatory issues, Mr. Wester’s research includes analysis of the ever-changing mobile payment ecosystem.
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Mark Pearson manages Strategic Sourcing of all procurement activities as the Director of Corporate Procurement at Sony Electronics. Mr. Pearson’s Strategic Sourcing Team is responsible for approximately $1 billion in average annual spend. Mark Pearson also directs RFPs for Sony’s Retail Experience.
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Greg Wilfahrt is Chief Mobility and Marketing Officer at AP Technology. Greg Wilfahrt will moderate the AFP mobile payments panel, as the assembled experts compare mobile payments with traditional methods and offer the latest insights into how mobile transactions can benefit every business. Immersed in mobile technology for more than 15 years, Greg Wilfahrt earlier co-founded a wireless company with nearly 60 million users, achieving mobile billing integration with wireless carriers in 180+ countries. His commentaries on mobility, marketing, social media and technology have appeared on/in CNBC Europe, FOX News, NY Times, Forbes, Businessweek, and more news outlets.
In a pre-conference interview, Richard Love referenced a 2014 International Telecommunications Union report stating that there are now more active mobile phones on the planet than there are people. The reason this is so significant, said Love, is that mobile phones, which were originally communications-only devices, are now mobile payment stations with built-in, anytime-anywhere transaction capabilities.
“Mobile payments represent a highly secure, low-cost, ubiquitous means of transacting,” declared Love. “Our message to AFP attendees will be that for everyone in the payment ecosystem, transactions need to be simple, fast, easy to use, and protected by multiple layers of security. This is crucial for the adoption and sustained growth of revenues generated on mobile devices.”
Mark Pearson of Sony Electronics agreed with Love that simplicity and security are critical elements to businesses, adding that transactions on mobile devices bring new conveniences and cost benefits to procurement processes. “The abilities to transact at reduced costs and effectively manage payment processes remotely are welcomed advancements,” Pearson said. “This new use of mobile technology to pay and get paid is positively transforming every business. Payments via mobile devices are a global phenomenon that is here to stay. I believe that this is a very necessary takeaway for attendees to our mobile payments panel.”
James Wester of IDC Financial Services has analyzed and reported on the mobile payment sector for several years. A strong advocate of transactional security, Wester echoed Love’s sentiments on protection, emphasizing that account information and transactor data must be secured in order for business and consumer confidence to grow, whether the protection be through encryption, tokenization, biometrics, or a combination of security protocols.
“Whereas tokenization was the buzz a few months ago as a necessary security step, the mobile ecosystem is now looking at tokenization as part of a bigger picture-- what needs to be a multi-tiered approach to securing transactions,” explained Wester. “That strategy is timely, as EMV chip technology in credit cards propagates and criminals shift their attention to online and on-device, card-not-present purchases. I am confident that businesses attending our panel will appreciate the forecasts and trends that we see developing for the growing mobile payments space.”
As moderator of the AFP panel that lauds mobile payments as “A Better Way to Pay,” Greg Wilfahrt says that he is looking forward to discussing user experiences, data protection, and data use with his assembled panel of payment experts. AP Technology recently unveiled the “Mobile Payments Bill of Rights” it authored at last month’s 2015 Mobile payments Conference. Wilfahrt traveled to Washington, D.C. and presented the Bill of Rights to members of Congress on Capitol Hill as a “best practices” document that he says is designed to help guide businesses toward adopting mobile payment standards that promote growth, confidence, and accountability in wireless transactions.
“Some of the brightest minds in the payments industry will be sharing the stage at our AFP session,” Wilfahrt stated. "This will be a tremendous opportunity for treasury and finance professionals to learn first-hand the latest developments in mobile payments, presented from very different perspectives. For anyone involved in, or planning to enter the mobile payments space, this is a must-attend panel discussion.”
For AP Technology:
Nicole Arthur
+1 760 602 5405
About AP Technology
AP Technology is a Carlsbad, California-based company that processes $30 billion in payments annually for a growing base of 6,000 customers that includes financial institutions, government organizations, universities, and an array of businesses. After more than 25 years, AP Technology continues to define and evolve the payments industry with disruptive software products providing next-generation security, efficiency, speed, mobility, and data management. AP Technology’s Payment Perfection® line of products includes APSecure, SecureCheck Cloud 9, SecurePay, and APeChecks. For more information on AP Technology products, please visit www.aptechnology.com.
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