Things that caught our eye in the last week

A payments twist on a classic game

To ring in the New Year, the team a BHMI created Payments Squares, their own take on the popular television show that aired for decades in different versions, starting in 1966. In this "exciting and educational rendition," we're diving into the world of payments with six industry experts that share their knowledge and insights, BHMI stated.

Participating "payments celebs" include the following:

• Joe Casali, executive vice president at NEACH and host of Wrestling Payments Podcast 

• Lou Carlozo, creator and host of Bankadelic Podcast

• Laura Gibson-Lamothe, executive director of Georgia Fintech Academy

• Reed Luhtanen, executive director & CEO of U.S. Faster Payments Council and host of Off the Rails Podcast

• Angela Murphy, Ph.D., The “Payments Elsa” and vice president of marketing and solutions at Pidgin

• Kevin Olsen, The “Payments Professor” and host of Payments Podium Podcast

To watch the show, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUzjhgT693I

ETA presents 2025 Industry Affairs Committee leadership

The Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) revealed its 2025 Industry Affairs Committee leadership, underscoring the association's commitment to advancing payments technology through collaboration and expert guidance. The committees will address critical topics for today's evolving payments sphere, including AI, crypto, compliance, and security.

Jodie Kelley, CEO of the ETA, highlighted the transformative role of payments technology, stating, "ETA's committees bring together the brightest minds to tackle challenges and opportunities, from AI to crypto and security."

The 2025 committees and their leadership include:

• Artificial Intelligence: Russell Moore (Global Payments), Kevin Shamoun (Fortis), Donald Riddick (Featurespace)
• B2B: Raghuram Adiraju (Mastercard), Perryn Holtrop (PayNation), Abhishek Abhishek (Visa)
• Bank: Adrienne Gray (Commercial Bank of California), Mary Meade-Koslen (Synovus)
• Compliance: Tom Bloodworth (Global Payments), Gina Gioia (North American Bancard), Rob Johnson (Visa)
• Crypto: Eric Brown (BlockWyre), Elly Aiala (Boost Payment Solutions), Hitesh Bajaj (TD Bank)
• Investment Community: Tim Chiodo (UBS)
• ISV: Jeff Marshall (TouchBistro), Nerino Mayer (PayFactory), Gordana Hrnjez (TouchBistro)
• LATAM: Leon Vega(J.P. Morgan), Ivan Szabo (NMI)
• Mobile: Olivia Tomares (Stripe), Craig Ross (EWS), Georgia Kyprianou (Global Payments), Natalia Leonardis (CardFlight)
• Payment Sales and Strategy: George Smith (Clerkie), Naomi Mastera (NMI)
• PCI/Cybersecurity: Emily Baxter (RPY Innovations)
• PayFac: Deana Rich (Infinicept), Caroline Hometh (RPY Innovations), Amy Schultz (Key Bank)
• Retail Technology: Ryan Aumann (Global Payments), Greg Aamoth (PoPcodes)
• Risk Fraud & Security: Melissa Sutherland (EverC)

The committees aim to foster innovation and address key industry issues in payments technology.

Alkami leaders share 2025 outlook perspectives

Following is 2025 outlook commentary from senior executives at Alkami:

• Deep Varma, chief technology officer: "2025 will be about further defining the role of AI in financial services. According to research my company conducted, today, RCFIs are seeing benefits from AI through operational efficiency and cost reduction, customer experience and personalization, risk management and fraud detection, and regulatory compliance. AI is proving to be a catalyst for uncovering new business opportunities, with optimism growing around AI’s future in banking and digital banking.

  "In parallel, 2025 will also be about capturing the value of open banking, particularly in light of the CFPB’s Personal Financial Data Rights Final Rule. This rule puts the U.S. on parity with other countries, enabling it to drive innovation. The shift will demand financial institutions adopt a consumer-led approach, educate staff, ensure their organizations are ready with an action plan from the front, middle, and back offices, and confirm that their technology platforms can address this ruling." 

• Brad Cranford, director of product management: "Despite seeming outdated, check fraud has emerged as a significant threat that is likely to persist in 2025, with high-profile incidents highlighting the need for financial institutions to stay vigilant. Fraudsters are constantly finding new ways to exploit vulnerabilities, especially through traditional checks, which lack the security of digital banking and digital payment methods.

  "To combat this, financial institutions must adopt a multi-layered approach, combining tools like Payee Positive Pay, teller validation of on-us checks, and real-time transaction monitoring. Equipping staff and account holders with knowledge on fraud prevention, along with strategic technology investments, will be critical to safeguarding account holders and reinforcing trust in an increasingly challenging landscape."

• Jeff Bucher, senior product strategy manager: "Banks and credit unions must prioritize engaging with faster payments now, as transaction volumes continue to grow rapidly and the future of payments increasingly revolves around these systems. Getting an earlier start will allow financial institutions to build expertise in faster payments, avoiding the need to play catch-up later.

  "In particular, financial institutions should focus on both enabling ‘receive’ functionality and understanding varying account holder needs for ‘send’ use cases with FedNow and RTP—especially as FedNow adoption is expected to accelerate, opening up new use cases for 'send.' A good first step is implementing A2A Instant External Transfers for both payment rails. Partnering with experienced digital banking and payments providers will also ease the integration process for financial institutions and support a smooth rollout.

  >In 2025, fraud prevention will continue to be a pressing need for banks and credit unions, and will demand continuous monitoring and a strong emphasis on account holder education to combat social engineering scams and account takeovers"

• Allison Cerra, chief marketing officer: "In 2025, AI is poised to bring marketers closer to achieving the holy grail of intercepting customers at the exact moment of need with hyper-targeted, personalized content. Financial marketers, for instance, will see advancements that allow account holders to receive even more precisely tailored offers through digital banking channels, delivered in real time.

  "While technology stacks have enabled ever-greater personalization, most campaigns still rely on trickle-based, one-to-many messaging. The combination of predictive and generative AI can create a future of marketing where both the offer and the asset are dynamically created and delivered just when customers need them, regardless of where the interaction occurs. This is because predictive AI can provide marketers with the insight on what message will most resonate with a particular account holder, while generative AI can create the content to convey the offer. 

  "However, to get closer to this reality, in 2025, CMOs must take deliberate strides to get their data house in order. This will require an even tighter partnership with the Chief Data Officer, Chief Risk Officer, and/or Chief Information Officer (as CMOs will need to understand not only what data is available but how it can be accessed and used responsibly). At the same time, CMOs must align with their Chief People Officer to assess the data skills of the marketing organization and co-create training and recruitment plans that will serve the needs of the organization and company over the short- and long-term horizons."

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