EMV standards body to host annual user meeting

Forum to provide update on technical advances of the EMV standard and future developments.

EMVCo, the standards body responsible for developing and maintaining the globally recognised EMV payment specifications – the technology behind ‘Chip and PIN’ – is hosting its annual User Meeting at the Singapore Marriott, Singapore on 29-30 June 2010. All users of the EMV Specifications are invited to attend the event which will educate delegates on the most recent technical advances of the EMV standard, as well as provide a forum to discuss future developments to meet emerging market requirements.

EMVCo, which is jointly owned by American Express, JCB, MasterCard and Visa, encourages all merchants, vendors, consultants, payments systems, mobile operators, laboratories, regional associations, and any other party using its technology to attend the two-day event. In line with EMVCo's role as a technical standards body, the meeting will provide an update on technical EMV issues and developments, inform on the organisation's strategic vision to meet market advancements, as well as provide an interactive forum for delegates to share valuable ‘grass roots’ feedback to the standards body on its current and future activities.

The 2010 EMV User Meeting will incorporate four sessions: building the infrastructure for EMV contactless; expanding the EMV community through the EMVCo Associates Programme; exploring the contactless mobile ecosystem; and the depth of EMV security. Each track will include insightful presentations from keynote speakers and EMVCo's key personnel, as well as a questions and answers session.

The annual meeting is part of a number of initiatives that have been launched by EMVCo to increase industry engagement in the ongoing development of the EMV payment specifications. This includes the introduction of the EMVCo Associates Programme earlier this year, which offers Business and Technical Associate participation categories and enables EMV stakeholders to play a more active role in guiding the organisation's strategic and technical direction. EMVCo also launched a website subscription programme in 2009, which entitles individuals and organisations to access advance information regarding revisions to EMV Specifications, draft documents and upcoming meetings.

As the EMV User Meeting is one element of its engagement activities to broaden industry participation and promote greater transparency, organisations wishing to have representation at the event must already be an EMVCo Business Associate, EMVCo Technical Associate, or a company website subscriber. Individual website subscribers are also eligible to attend.

An early bird rate – $249 – will be applied to all meeting registrations confirmed before 31 May 2010. After this date, the full meeting registration fee - $495- will be applied. EMVCo Business Associates and EMVCo Technical Associates are entitled to complimentary meeting registration for one and three passes respectively.

For further information on EMVCo participation opportunities, and to register for the EMV User Meeting, visit www.emvco.com.