Our first conference of 2025, BPFI’s National Payments Conference 2025 took place on Thursday 13th March in The Convention Centre Dublin. The theme, ‘Shaping the future of payments: Navigating innovation and change’, focused on the transformative forces reshaping the payments industry.
This sellout event was chaired by Barry Manning, Chair, Irish Payments Council and Head of Transaction Banking, Danske Bank Ireland, with a welcome address given by Susan Russell, President, BPFI and Chief Executive, Retail Ireland Division, Bank of Ireland Group plc. Vasileios Madouros, Deputy Governor, Monetary and Financial Stability, Central Bank of Ireland gave the keynote address and Brian Hayes, Chief Executive, BPFI gave the closing remarks.
The first panel Perspectives on account-to-account evolution: Reimagining the future of money movement explored the transformative potential of A2A payments in reshaping the future of money movement with moderator Paul Mortby, Head of EMEA Policy, Block and panellists Mikela Trigilio, Payments Policy and Oversight Manager, Central Bank of Ireland; Malcolm Craig, Country Manager, Revolut Bank; Cormac Dinan, Country Director, Coinbase; and Leah Donnelly, Manager, Payment Schemes, BPFI.
This was followed by a Fireside Chat: Seamless transactions – Senior leaders’ insights into the next wave of global payments which focused on the future of payments in an increasingly interconnected world sharing insights on transformative technologies reshaping payment experiences, from real-time payments to next-generation platforms. The session was moderated by Ruth McCarthy, Head of Compliance, Risk and Policy, Fexco who was joined by John O’Beirne, CEO and Executive Director, Square International Ltd, Nasir Ahmed, Chief Executive, Americas, UK & Ireland, Swift and John Walsh, Managing Director, Global Head of Payment Services, Citi.
Natalie Kelly, Chief Risk Officer, VISA Europe gave a fascinating and though provoking presentation on the future of payments and fraud. The panel discussion ‘Fraud in Focus – Fast threats, smart defences’ was moderated by Niamh Davenport, Head of Financial Crime, BPFI with panellists Sébastien de Brouwer, Deputy CEO, European Banking Federation; Charlotte Pardou, BD Head of Financial Crime Compliance and Fraud (EU, AM & UK), Swift; Natalie Kelly, Chief Risk Officer, VISA Europe; and Frank Kelly, Founder, Okerkorn and Chair, European Payments Council Legal Services Group. Here the panel examined the critical elements of fraud prevention in the payments ecosystem, including the regulatory challenges posed by the draft Payments Services Regulation (PSR), the rise of real-time payment fraud, and social engineering scams
The final panel Insights into the future of finance: Innovating payments with digital services and embedded solutions delved into the evolving role of payments, digital wallets and embedded payment solutions in reshaping the financial landscape. This discussion was moderated by Leigh-Anne Cotter, Senior Payment Consultant with panellist Matt Phillips, Head of Banking – UK and Ireland, Diebold Nixdorf; Fidelma Clarke, Partner, Finance Services, EY Ireland; Gijs Boudewijn, General Manager, Dutch Payments Association and Incoming Chair, European Payments Council; and Emilio Meyer Pellegrini, European Payments Specialist.
We would also like to thank our conference sponsors Diebold Nixdorf, Square, Swift, EY, VISA and IOB for all their support.
