General Session

Outpacing the Threat: Fraud Scams and Mitigation Strategies

Christy Lillie, Northbridge Advisory Group; Amanda Compton, Federal Reserve Financial Services

Financial criminals are operating with unprecedented sophistication, leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), automated synthetic identity theft and deepfakes to outsmart traditional security perimeters. In an era where fraud has shifted from simple system compromises to highly orchestrated social engineering, financial institutions must continuously evolve their defense playbooks. This session dives deep into the anatomy of today's most pervasive fraud schemes and provides a roadmap for deploying resilient mitigation techniques. Hear from leading fraud industry experts as they unpack the latest attack methodologies and mitigation strategies.

Breakout Session

Decoding Reg E and Debit Card Disputes

Diana Kern, AAP, SHAZAM

Regulation E is a straightforward concept, yet the language can be complicated. Applying the regulation to each situation often falls into a gray area. We'll cut to the chase and discuss best practices for resolving errors and simplify the ways to determine liability. This session will cover what actions you might take to investigate, why "unauthorized" is more complicated than ever, how to manage claims outside of the regulation's stated timeframe and when it's okay to question the consumer's claim.

Breakout Session

A New Frontier: Emerging Payments and Their Possibilities

Jessica Washington, AAP, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

Let's explore the evolving role of digital payments, such as stablecoins and tokenized products. This session will discuss their impact on the financial system and how they are being adopted for transactions. We'll also cover the risks and regulatory challenges and share insights into their potential to transform the future of payments.

Breakout Session

Piecing Together the Check Breach of Warranty Puzzle

Marcy Cauthon, AAP, NCP, AFPP, APRP, EPCOR

With the continued rise in check fraud comes the increase in breach of warranty claims filed for checks. As the check-processing workforce starts to fade away, many financial institutions are plagued by higher rates of check fraud, with new staff members puzzled by the entire check breach of warranty process. This session will help attendees piece together the complex puzzle of not only filing a check breach of warranty claim but how to respond to one they receive.

Breakout Session

2026 Faster Payments Outlook: Trends, Adoption and What's Next

Reed Luhtanen, U.S. Faster Payments Counsel; Kristina Wickersham, Federal Reserve Financial Services

The 2026 U.S. Instant Payments Adoption Quantitative Study, a collaboration between the U.S. Faster Payments Council and Federal Reserve Financial Services, provides an in-depth look at how instant payments are evolving across the industry and reflects input from third-party enablers that collectively serve more than 90% of U.S. financial institutions. The 2026 Faster Payments Barometer Study, sponsored by Volante Technologies, adds broader industry perspectives on adoption drivers, implementation challenges, emerging opportunities and evolving priorities. Together, these studies offer a comprehensive view of the current faster payments landscape and the factors shaping growth through 2028. In this session, we will explore the use cases delivering value for financial institutions, where consumer demand is accelerating, and how technology is improving accessibility, efficiency, and the overall payments experience for FIs and their clients.

General Session

The Future of Payments: Fast Money, Smart Defense

Reed Luhtanen, Peter Tapling, Kevin Miyamoto

Payments are becoming increasingly instant, intelligent and programmable, but fraud is accelerating just as fast. As real-time payments and stablecoins remove friction and eliminate recovery windows, trust and identity move to the center of the payments experience. This session explores how AI, real-time decisioning and client-centric design are redefining fraud prevention, shifting it from reactive controls to proactive protection. The future of payments isn't just about moving money faster; it's about knowing who is moving it, why and stopping fraud before it happens.

ACH Rules Enforcement in Action

Liz Cone, AFPP, AAP, APRP, EPCOR

Understanding the ACH Rules is one thing; seeing them enforced in the real world is another. This session provides an in-depth look at the ACH Rules violation process through the lens of actual Nacha case studies. We will move beyond theory to examine real-world scenarios in which financial institutions faced significant fines and reputational risk. Join us for this practical, case-based session to strengthen your institution's compliance framework and learn how to avoid the costly pitfalls of ACH Rules non-compliance.

Instant Payments Risk and Fraud Mitigation

Sharon Hallmark, AAP, APRP, AFPP, EPCOR

As the popularity of RTP® and the FedNow® Service grows, people are thinking about how to address fraud in the credit-push fraud era. This session will examine the unique challenges of instant payments, fraud reporting requirements and strategies to minimize credit fraud.

Frictionless vs. Fraudulent: Mitigating New Account Synthetic Identity Check Fraud

Marcy Cauthon, AAP, AFPP, APRP, NCP, EPCOR

Account opening risk is the entry point for check fraud. This session will cover modern strategies to combat this by combining identity verification, behavioral biometrics and transaction risk scoring. These multi-layered defenses mitigate the creation of synthetic identities and the use of fraudulent checks to fund new accounts while preserving a frictionless experience for legitimate new accountholders.