Aug 20, 2003
WASHINGTON, DC — August 20, 2003 — Emerging and innovative payment technologies, encryption and an update on the Visa/MasterCard settlement will highlight the 2003 Retail Electronic Payment Systems Conference (EPS). Sponsored by the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), the conference will be held October 13-15 at the Hotel Monaco in Washington, DC.

Lloyd Constantine, managing partner of Constantine & Partners and lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the recently settled Visa/MasterCard antitrust lawsuit, will deliver the keynote address. He will update attendees on the landmark case, which resulted in a $3.05 billion settlement and historic injunctive relief on behalf of U.S. merchants. The lawsuit, filed in 1996 by a group of retailers, including FMI, alleged that Visa and MasterCard violated antitrust laws by illegally tying the acceptance of debit cards to their credit cards, and by attempting to monopolize the debit-card service market.

The conference program will examine how four separate business functions — information technology, operations, finance and marketing — overlap and work together to manage electronic payments. Various forms of retail electronic payments, as well as new technologies are replacing the use of credit cards, will also be explored.   

“In order to take full advantage of emerging payment technologies, many issues must first be resolved such as cost, standardization and integration,” said Ted Mason, director, EPS network services and emerging technologies, FMI. “The EPS Conference will examine today's operational issues along with how evolving forms of payment can deliver improved efficiency and lower costs for retailers and convenience for consumers.”

Specific topics to be addressed include:

  • Emerging Payment Methods — A Look at Biometrics and RFID

  • Outsourcing Payments

  • Encryption

  • The Total Cost of Payments Model

  • European Litigation and Interchange Structure

  • Retailer Driven Payments

  • Financial Services in YOUR Store

  • Stored Value Cards

  • Woman, Infants and Children (WIC) / Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT)

Jerry Grundhofer, chairman, president and CEO of U.S. Bancorp, will keynote the conference opening dinner. U.S. Bankcorp is a multi-state financial services holding company with more than 2,200 full-service banking offices and 4,582 ATMs in 24 states.

The 2003 EPS Conference planning committee members are Kathy Hanna, The Kroger Company; Bryan Croteau, Hannford Bros., Co.; Joe Garbarino, Wegmans Food Markets; and Jacki Snyder, SUPERVALU INC.

The conference is sponsored by Epson, Fifth Third Bank, First Data/Western Union and Solutran.

For more information on the 2003 Retail Electronic Payment Systems Conference, please contact Ted Mason (202-220-0735, tmason@fmi.org) or through http://www.fmi.org/events/.