Intermarc Consulting Limited has just concluded engagement with NIBSS and CBN to host the 15th edition of Africa’s most anticipated Conference and Exhibition with special focus on Card, Mobile, Identification and Payment, which is now called CBN Cashless CardExpo the event will hold at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island Lagos, from June 23-25, 2015.

You will remember that the momentum of using cards started a few years ago when people started getting used to ATMs. Well, the story is changing very fast these days. Since the Central Bank of Nigeria effectively introduced the cashless policy in 2012, we have seen more usage of cards not just on ATMs but on POS. Needless to say that the bullion vans and sirens have disappeared and people are now transferring money electronically through NIBSS Instant Payment and NIBSS Electronic Funds Transfer. The volume of transactions per day under these different electronic payment systems is very encouraging, at least it proves that it works and Nigerians are getting value in terms of convenience, security and speed of concluding financial transactions.

The theme for this year is “INNOVATION: THE FUTURE OF ePAYMENT”. This will focus greatly on the future payment vision, the assumption that underlines the vision and how innovation will drive the process. The conference and exhibition will also focus on new users as well as the service delivery strategy that will deliver the future of payment.
While the payment landscape has evolved rapidly over the past decade, due to flurry of innovation and regulation, expansive growth in electronic payments and the inclusion of new market entrants, industry research indicates that the next decade will yield a period of even faster changes.

At this Conference and Exhibition, top card and epayment experts will be sharing inside strategies on positioning and enhancing your card business to ensure your spot in the rapidly evolving Card Ecosystem. Merchants, Issuers, Financial Institutions, and Solution Providers will hear first-hand, in insightful panel debates, a holistic idea exchange around the industry's and most pressing issues on Cards, Mobile payment, MPOS, NFC, BVN, Square Me, ATM, EFT, eGovernment payments at federal and state levels, Utility payments etc.
CBN and NIBSS will also be rewarding bank customers that frequently use their cards on POS. Merchants and sales persons who promote and encourage the use of card on POS will also be rewarded with various cash prizes under the CBN Electronic Payment Incentive Scheme (EPIS).

The organisers have also put together Demo Sessions for pitches by young developers of brilliant “out of the box” payment technologies who will have the opportunity to present and demonstrate their innovative solutions during the conference. N250, 000 will be won by each of the best four epayment demo pitchers. Only solutions that has not been launched or in the market will qualify to be presented at our pitches which is sponsored by Diamond Bank and MasterCard.

The ‘Double A Payment Innovation Prize’ provides catalytic funding for projects in their early stages of development; whether a pilot project, a new organization, or a nascent initiative, work supported by the fund must involve a certain level of measured risk that ultimately lead to large-scale, transformative results.

The burgeoning field of payment innovation has become a recognized area in philanthropy. The demand for funding of this type, however, has increased so rapidly as many worthwhile ideas fail to find backing from established funders. The Double A Payment Innovation Prize will fill a gap in this marketplace, not only by providing critical capital to the payment innovation field, but also by taking risks on projects that may be seen by others as underdeveloped or too small.

Another difference is that the ‘Double A Payment Innovation Prize’ will build on the CardExpo’s longstanding areas of interest while remaining flexible enough to allow for fresh and unexpected thinking. Prize recipients will ideally innovate across at least two of the Fund’s three traditional disciplinary boundaries:
• Person to person payment ( P2P)
• Person to Business( P2B)
• Business to Business (B2B)
The ‘Double A Payment Innovation Prize’ will be awarded to projects or ideas that: represent a game-changing answer to a clearly identified payment need; demonstrate an interdisciplinary or hybridized approach, ideally involving at least two of the three areas of interest to the Fund demonstrate the potential to develop an actionable pilot or prototype with Prize funding; show scalable impact or impact beyond the initial pilot or prototype hold out the promise to benefit multiple individuals, communities or sectors through a clearly articulated theory of change.

Interested individuals or teams may apply for the ‘Double A Payment Innovation Prize’ from February 15th through 15th May, 2015. A short application will be made accessible via the conference website: www.cardatmandmobilexpo.com and click on the Innovation Pitches tab or http://cardatmandmobilexpo.com/pitch-application-form/ beginning from February 15.

A review of these applications will take place on 15th May 2015. Finalists will be advised on 15th May and will be invited to present their demos at the Payment Innovation Pitches at CardExpo Africa 2015. The Prize’s awardees will be publicly announced at the event on 25th June 2015, and prize money awarded at the Gala Dinner same day Nigerian Central Bank Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele will be leading other Nigerian financial institutions’ chiefs to speak at the opening ceremony of this event while the CBN Deputy Governor, Mr Sulaiman Barau will speak at the closing dinner.

Banks and card companies have the opportunity to win in different award categories in the 2015 cardexpo awards. This is a fully automated award process incorporating online nomination and voting. The cardexpo awards are supported by NIBSS and CBN and the awards will be given out by the CBN deputy Governor at the closing dinner. To vote, please visit the conference website: www.cardatmandmobilexpo.comand click on the ‘Card Expo Awards’ tab or Visit: http://cardatmandmobilexpo.com/nomination/
CardExpo Africa Exhibition continues its tradition of showcasing the most exciting developments in the payment sector. With a variety of new innovative technologies,
it has never been more important to keep pace with industry developments. With banks, cards scheme and newer entrants all vying their place at the centre of the ecosystem. This must attend event will provide insightful takeaways from the industry.

Why attend:
• Hear about new technologies which could transform your business
• Meet with industry pioneers to discuss how they see the sector advancing
• Learn about how new entrants plan to grow their market share
• Network with major players and see what your competitors are working on

For further information visit: www.cardatmandmobilexpo.com

Nice move