GSMA Announces Speakers for NFC & Mobile Money Summit 2012 in Milan

- Industry Executives Highlight the Expanding Power of Mobile Money

LONDON, Aug. 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The GSMA today announced speakers for the GSMA NFC & Mobile Money Summit 2012, which will be held 22-25 October, in Milan, at the Milano Congressi. The Summit features two days of conference sessions that will cover the latest trends and strategies for both the mobile money industry and the wider ecosystem. It will address the latest innovations and developments within the NFC and mobile money arenas through sessions such as 'Exploiting Opportunities for Mobile Money in Untapped Markets'; 'Navigating the Mobile Payments Landscape'; 'The New Mobile Money Horizon'; 'Innovation in Mobile Payments: What's Hot?' and 'Partnerships & Joint Ventures: The Future of Mobile Money?'.

The Summit will include stimulating presentations and visionary speeches from leaders in the mobile money industry. Confirmed keynote speakers include:

• Tomasz J. Smilowicz, MD, Head of Global Mobile Solutions, Citi
• Philippe  Vallee, EVP, Telecom Business Unit, Gemalto
• Jung Hee Song, Senior EVP, Service Innovation Group, KT
• Dr. Hoojong Kim, SVP, Head of Global Technology Research Institute SK Planet
• Bill Gajda, Global Head of Visa Mobile, Visa
• Michael Joseph, MD, Mobile Money, Vodafone

The conference programme will feature presentations from many other prominent speakers including:

• Frederic Schepens, SVP of Mobile Financial Services, BICS
• Arianna Azzolini, Head of Cards & Daily Banking, BNL
• Bruno Prexl, Payments Innovation Manager, BNP Paribas
• Jon Prideaux, Chief Business Officer, BOKU
• Jean Prevost, Innovations Director, Casino Group
• Abhishek Sinha, Co-Founder & CEO, Eko India Financial Services Private Limited
• George Held, VP Commerce, Etisalat Group
• Valerio Zingarelli, CTO, Expo 2015
• Delwar Hossain Azad, Deputy Director & Head, Financial Services, Grameenphone
• Arnaud Ventura, Co-Founder, mBank Group
• Francesco Prato, Director, Sales & Business Development, Siemens Austria
• Tricia V. Dizon, Head of Financial Services, Smart Communications
• Paresh Rajde, Founder, MD & CEO, Suvidhaa Infoserve Private Limited
• Joaquin Mata Atance, Director of Financial Services, Telefonica Digital
• Rene Batsford, CIO, The Coffee Mob
• Alan Moss, VP, Marketing, Western Europe, Middle East & Africa, VeriFone

In addition to the conference programme, the NFC & Mobile Money Summit includes two days of exhibition showcase, as well as two days of invitation-only industry meetings designed to create dialogue around the opportunities and progress for the broad mobile money ecosystem. The GSMA will utilise its central role in the mobile industry to provide a unique opportunity for delegates and exhibitors from all parts of the ecosystem to network, interact and share experiences in a world-class environment.

"The rapid growth of Near Field Communications (NFC) is driving the development of new technologies and applications by ecosystem players around the globe," said Reed Peterson, Head of NFC, GSMA. "For the past four years, the NFC & Mobile Money Summit has been the premier event for the leaders and players in the mobile and financial industries to network and showcase the latest developments and solutions in this rapidly evolving and dynamic marketplace."

The hugely popular complimentary 'Mobile Money Accelerator Classes' will be held each morning before the main conference sessions, with content tailored to that day's conference topics. Accelerator classes are intended for those who wish to understand the roadmap to commercial launch, the required partnerships, investment estimates and the business case for successful mobile money services. This year the accelerator classes are 'A Focus on Emerging Markets' and 'Emphasis on Growing Maturity of NFC solutions'.

Bankable Frontier Associates will again be hosting the 'Executive Regulatory Training for Mobile Operators' event, a one-day, invitation-only workshop, which explores the link between regulation and strategy and explains the most important regulatory concepts of mobile money. On the last day of the NFC & Mobile Money Summit, the GSMA's exclusive Leadership Forum will bring together a large number of decision makers from mobile operators and central banks to discuss how to promote dialogue between financial regulators and the operator community.

Visa is the Platinum Event Sponsor for the NFC & Mobile Money Summit 2012. Visa is also sponsoring the event's social networking portal – My MMS - and the networking reception that is open to all attendees on 23rd October. For more information on the NFC & Mobile Money Summit, including details on how to attend, exhibit or sponsor, please visit www.nfcmobilemoneysummit.com.

About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world's mobile operators with more than 230 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in industry sectors such as financial services, healthcare, media, transport and utilities. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo. 

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com