The Retail Prophet will Keynote at APEX

Doug Stephens, one of the world's foremost retail futurists, has influenced some of retail's most recognizable brands, including Target, Home Depot, Disney, Crayola, Citibank and more.

Otherwise known as The Retail Prophet, Doug's keynote at APEX will explain how consumers' evolving expectations, desires and shopping behaviors should reinvent how retailers think, from bricks to clicks.

• How can brick & mortar stores evolve to be as responsive as websites?
• How will channel fragmentation affect your current strategy, and how should you think ahead?
• What strategies work best to increase conversion, brand awareness and loyalty?
• How you should completely re-think your current gift card model

Don't miss his keynote on Tuesday, February 24 at 11 a.m. Register here to secure your spot. Remember, you can save $100 with the code XU2848BLOG.

RETAILERS: Doug is hosting a special retail-only lunch following his keynote. To request an invite, e-mail Diana Middleton at dmiddleton@iirusa.com

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This Year, Fraudsters are on the Prowl

 
"In the wake of recent security breaches, 63% of organizations have either adopted additional security measures or are planning to do so in the near future." -- AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey



It's been a year since some of the nation's largest retailers were targeted by fraudsters during the crush of holiday shopping. And from data breaches to account takeovers to e-commerce fraud, there's still trouble percolating.

Dissect the Latest Strategies for Fraud Prevention at APEX

At APEX, you'll take actionable steps to drill into the latest fraudster tactics, prevention strategies and technology aimed at protecting customers, retailers and banking & payment institutions alike.

Some of the strategies being dissected in February:

• Preventing gift card fraud from employee and external forces, direct from loss prevention retail executives
• Analysis on the migration from brick and mortar fraud to e-commerce, including the latest schemes
• Technology that can avoid false positives and avert negative customer experiences
• The impact of tokenization and ApplePay in fraud reduction
• Latest info on EMV integration
• Need-to-know information from the FBI, National Cyber-Forensics & Training Alliance and National Anti-ORC Association

Download the full agenda here.

By attending APEX, you'll take critical steps to protect your customers and your reputation - and stay ahead of fraudsters' evolving efforts to compromise the safety of your institution. Save up to $200 if you register by January 23rd! Use the code: XU2848BLOG | Register here.

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Line is Set to Enter the Mobile Payments Space with Line Pay

Line, a free messaging app, announced plans for a mobile payments service way back in October. Today, Line has 170 million monthly users and their new payments service has been branded "Line Pay" and will be released around the world very soon.

The significance of the Line Pay launch is not just surrounding the welcoming of a new competitor, Line is attempting to make their app become a complete "lifestyle platform". It will be interesting to see the adoption rate of Line Pay and whether or not it can become the all-in-one platform Line is hoping for.

As of now, Line Pay allows users to complete transactions through the app at affiliated online and brick-and-mortar stores once you have registered your credit cards. However, on the horizon there is a P2P update that will allow users to send money to other users.

At a time when messaging apps are slowing in growth, Line's entrance into the mobile payments space seems very timely.

Where do you see the future of mobile payments heading? Is Line's attempt to create a complete platform for users to seamlessly handle both conversations and payments the future? Join us in Las Vegas, February 23-25 for All Payments Expo 2015 to learn and explore the ever changing landscape of the payments space.

Have any insight to add to this story? Leave it in the comments.

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All Payments Expo 2015 - Dates Announced

All Payments Expo is THE meeting place for the world's most successful merchants, payments companies, banks and technology firms. Industry leaders come together to create partnerships, launch new products, develop new business and explore innovations 

Download your APEX Sneak Peek here!

Top Reasons to Attend:

More Retailers

APEX attracts 300+ retailers annually to meet with vendors, re-sign contracts and scout out new potential vendors. Retailers also meet with peers for industry benchmarking, networking and to uncover tactics and challenges to grow programs across plastic and digital platforms.     

New Faces

You'll meet more executives who are relevant to all the areas of your business, with a flood of new participants. New attendees hail from retail's IT, Marketing and Corporate Strategy functions; new app developers (from wallets to loyalty); alternative financial services  CEOs, merchant acquirers; cyptocurrency players and more.

Secure Meetings

All APEX attendees will have access to the attendee list on our proprietary partneringONE platform, where you can vet potential partners and easily pre-arrange meetings. More than 5,000 meetings take place onsite annually.          

Growth Opportunities for Prepaid

With prepaid maturing, this is THE place to identify new customer segments, distribution opportunities and use cases that take your prepaid business into unsaturated territory.

Register now and you can save $400! Plus, as a blog reader you can receive an extra $100 off the standard rate, by using the code “XU2848BLOG”, a total savings of $500 - Register Now! 

See you in Las Vegas! 

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20% of U.S. Smartphone Owners Used a Mobile Wallet in 2013

One-fifth of U.S. smartphone owners – 40 million Americans – used a mobile wallet in 2013, according to Parks Associates. The firm goes deeper and forecasts that the number of mobile wallet users will continue to grow 183% to 113 million by 2017 – that is 43% of the U.S. smartphone owners.

The significant increase in mobile wallet adoption is projected due to the surge in new payment technologies. These new technologies have a much broader application than mobile wallet technologies of old – mobile loyalty programs along with in-store marketing, will give smartphone users and merchants a greater incentive to start using/accepting mobile wallets.

When thinking of mobile wallets, one often thinks NFC. However, the most used mobile wallet apps actually use barcodes/QR codes – for these apps there is no need for merchants to replace their POS hardware, a simple upgrade allows for adoption (unlike NFC wallets that require a new POS system).

At All Payments Expo this March, find partners to expand your commerce capabilities and determine how new devices are reshaping the payments business model. This is the only event that attracts the highest volume and caliber of decision makers from across the payments ecosystem. Attendees span every link of the value chain - allowing you to take your business to the next level, and solidify relationships with existing clients and customers.

Our mission is to catalyze the partnerships necessary to build the next generation of payments, from the mobile environment to the brick-and-mortar POS.

This is a MUST attend event – Register Today!

See you in Las Vegas!



Read the full article here.

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Register for APEX by Friday 1/31 to Save $200!

As a valued reader of our blog, you will receive an EXTRA 10% off the current conference rate! That is over $200 in extra savings – over $400 in total savings.

Register Here: http://bit.ly/1anEGNC

All Payments Expo is taking place March 3-5 at The Mirage in Las Vegas. All Payments Expo is the annual meeting place for payments professionals focused on areas of growth and convergence in payments. Our mission is to catalyze the partnerships necessary to build the next generation of payments, from the mobile environment to the brick-and-mortar POS.

It's a new year, and 2014 promises to be a big one for payments players. With new products being developed, competition intensifying and regulation and interchange rulings expected this year, partnerships are powering major moves in the next fiscal year.

Register now and lock in the lowest rate: http://bit.ly/1anEGNC

See you in Las Vegas!

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