ayments Symposium 2003, the Western Payments Alliance event scheduled for September 28-30 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, will focus on strategies for payment exchange, security and cost reduction. The Green Sheet is a media sponsor.

The theme of the symposium is "Beyond Electronic Payments: Risk, Reinvention and ROI." There will be presentations by national and regional payments executives in the form of keynote addresses, panel discussions, a debate and breakout sessions. An agenda is available at www.wespay.org.

"Payments Symposium 2003 is the only executive-level conference that brings together the entire payments community in the western U.S. to exchange ideas and help shape the payments industry," said Gerard F. Milano, President and CEO of WesPay. "Building on the success of our first Symposium in 2002, we anticipate greater participation from both member financial institutions and corporate sponsors."

Payments Symposium 2003 features more than two dozen speakers, including three keynote speakers:

• Richard Hartnack, Vice Chair, Union Bank of California and Chairman, California Bankers Association. Hartnack's presentation is titled: "Who and What Is Driving Change in the Payments System?"
• Leonard Heckwolf, Senior Vice President, Bank One and Chairman, NACHA. Heckwolf's presentation is titled, "Keeping Pace: The Next Generation of ACH Processing."
• Paul Vessey, Executive Vice President of Sales and Integrated Solutions, Visa USA. Vessey's presentation is titled, "Debit Cards vs. Checks: Replacement or Peaceful Coexistence?"

They will be joined by:

• Danne Buchanan, Executive Vice President, Zions Bancorporation.
• J.D. "Denny" Carreker, Chairman and CEO, Carreker Corp.
• Josh Lee, Managing Director, Financial Services, Microsoft.
• Kathleen Milner, Senior Vice President, Union Bank of California.
• Richard Oliver, Senior Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
• Nathan Richardson, General Manager, Yahoo! Finance.
• Jonathan Rusch, Special Counsel for Fraud Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice.
• Keith Theisen, Senior Vice President, Wells Fargo.
• Ralph Thomas, Senior Vice President, Bank of Hawaii.

At Payments Symposium 2002, 62% of the attendees held the title of Manager, Vice President or higher, and 19% held the title of CEO, President, CFO, Director or Executive Vice President.

Tickets to Payments Symposium 2003 are $795 for non-members and $595 for Regular and Associate Members. For information about corporate sponsorships, contact Pete Yeatrakas, President Emeritus, 415-433-1230, ext 185.