Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Atlanta, GA (Apri1 23, 2014) Today, ACI Worldwide and NACHA - The Electronic Payments Association announced sponsorship and co-chairing of the first annual Women In Payments™ USA Symposium. The Women In Payments USA Symposium will gather women in payments in Atlanta, GA on November 19, 2014 to celebrate women's accomplishments, innovation and leadership in the payments industry. The conference is being modeled after the Women in Payments Canada Symposium that gathers women from banking, retail and corporate payments roles to network, celebrate accomplishments and learn from one another yearly in Toronto.

With a majority of purchasing decisions being driven by female consumers in the U.S., women bring natural instinct and insights into how payments are made," said Carolyn Homberger, Group President at ACI Worldwide and Co-Chair of the Women in Payments USA Symposium.  "As the Universal Payments Company, ACI is proud to encourage this perspective in the payments industry by sponsoring the first-ever Women in Payments USA Symposium."  In conjunction with supporting the Women in Payments Symposium, on April 17, ACI officially launched its own ACI Women's Initiative (WIN), which seeks to encourage, educate, connect and recognize women at ACI and in the payments industry.  

Jan Estep, President and CEO of NACHA echoes her co-chair's enthusiasm by saying, "NACHA is excited to be part of the first Women in Payments Symposium in the U.S. Women have continued to make in-roads in many traditionally male-dominated fields over the last several decades, and the payments industry is no exception.  To have an event focused on supporting, educating, and growing women in this industry will help cultivate the dialogue across both aspiring and leading women in payments, and ultimately strengthen the payments industry as a whole."

Kristy Duncan, Founder of Women in Payments and Principal of Duncan Consulting started the Women in Payments Symposium in Toronto after realizing the potential for a learning and networking opportunity specifically for women in the payments industry.  "There is such a positive energy to Women in Payments as we learn about key industry trends and identify opportunities for growth," said Duncan.  "We're excited to bring this dynamic learning and networking opportunity to the United States."

The Women in Payments Symposium takes place on November 19, 2014 at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta, GA and promises top-notch caliber keynote speakers, panelists and breakout session leaders who will focus on retail payments, commercial payments and leadership.  In addition to ACI Worldwide as a lead sponsor and NACHA as luncheon sponsor, HSBC is a silver sponsor and Bank of America, Deutsche Bank and hyperWALLET are bronze sponsors.  Additional sponsorship and speaking opportunities are still available.

ACI Worldwide, the Universal Payments Company powers electronic payments and banking for more than 5,000 financial institutions, retailers, billers and processors around the world.  ACI software processes $13 trillion in payments and securities transactions for more than 250 of the leading global retailers, and 21 of the world's 25 largest banks.  NACHA - the Electronic Payments Association manages the development, administration and governance of the ACH Network, the backbone for the electronic movement of money and data.  The ACH Network provides a safe, secure and reliable network for direct account-to-account consumer, business, and government payments, and annually facilitates billions of Direct Deposit via ACH and Direct Payment via ACH transactions.

For more information on the upcoming Women in Payments USA Symposium, including speaking opportunities, for which applications are being accepted until noon, Friday May 2, 2014, as well as sponsorship opportunities, please visit www.womeninpayments.org.

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