NEW ORLEANS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) begins its 6th Annual Underbanked Financial Services Forum today with Michael Joseph, the former CEO of Safaricom, delivering the keynote address.
Joseph spearheaded the development of M-PESA—the only mobile payments system in the world to achieve scale. His keynote address, “Innovation Abroad: An International Mobile Payment Success Story,” shares lessons and insights on providing financial services to the underserved through mobile. Joseph also examines mobile strategies he thinks will ultimately be the most successful in the U.S. marketplace and worldwide.
Prior to the start of The Forum today, CFSI’s Underbanked Solutions Exchange, generously sponsored by Meta Payment Systems and New Market Partners, will meet to discuss external forces at play in the financial services marketplace and contemplate the meaning of “quality” financial services. The meeting features David Reiling, CEO of Sunrise Community Banks, a small bank innovator serving the underbanked in inner city Minneapolis and Saint Paul as a prepaid issuer.
The Underbanked Solutions Exchange is a collaborative group of mid-size banks and credit unions engaged in action-oriented discussions to share thoughts, ideas, questions, and experiences with other institutions all with the ultimate goal of profitably and responsibly serving the underbanked. Underbanked Solutions Exchange participants include: Centris Federal Credit Union, Comerica Bank, Dollar Bank, El Banco de Nuestra Comunidad, ESL Federal Credit Union, Guaranty Bank, Kinecta Federal Credit Union, Old National Bank, Redstone Federal Credit Union, and Self-Help Credit Union.
The Exchange welcomes New Market Partners as a new Supporting Sponsor, and Sunrise Community Banks, Principal Bank, Southern Commerce Bank, and First Interstate Bank as guest participants. Meta Payment Systems returns for a third year as a Founding Sponsor.
The Underbanked Financial Services Forum is the premier event for players across the financial services spectrum. Attendees get the latest information from industry experts and on-the-ground case studies, offering the best strategies and solutions to achieve profitable growth and long-term success. The Forum also offers an exhibit hall focused on underbanked solutions and a variety of networking formats. As awareness of the potential value and demographic diversity of the underbanked market continues to grow, the Underbanked Financial Services Forum remains the single best place to learn from and connect with industry leaders transforming the financial services landscape.
The Forum continues through Friday, June 10 and features a wide variety of guest speakers that reflect the forum’s theme: Invest, Innovate, Inspire. Featured speakers include: Chris McWilton, President of U.S. Markets, MasterCard WorldWide; J.C. Max Pedro, Vice President of International Financial Services, Wal-Mart International; Steven Streit, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Green Dot Corporation; Jane Thompson, President of Financial Services, Walmart Stores, Inc.
For more on the Underbanked Financial Services Forum, visit http://www.americanbanker.com/conferences/cfsi/.
About CFSI
The Center for Financial Services Innovation is the nation’s leading authority on financial services for underbanked consumers. Since 2004, its programs have focused on informing, connecting, and investing – gathering enhanced intelligence, brokering and supporting productive industry relationships, and fostering best-in-class products and strategies. CFSI works with leaders and innovators in the business, government and nonprofit sectors to transform the financial services landscape. For more on CFSI, go to www.cfsinnovation.com.