Three days with the people who run payments for a living.
PaymentsEd 2026 is three days of merchant-led sessions, fraud and treasury roundtables, and the peer conversations you only get when the people doing the work are in the same room.
Merchant early-bird $895
through May 15. Standard $1,095 thereafter. Advisor and Service Provider seats by classification.
Practitioner-led, merchant-first
The 2026 Annual Forum is the 37th year the payments and fraud community has gathered for merchant-led education and working sessions. The program is built to help practitioners address today’s most pressing challenges and prepare for what’s next, from operational best practices to emerging technology and AI-driven work.
The Forum creates an environment for meaningful connection and candid discussion. Attendees consistently cite the practical takeaways, the speed at which they can implement new strategies, and the merchant-only rooms they can’t get anywhere else.
Advisor Board organizations and sponsors benefit from direct access to the practitioners and decision-makers actively moving the payments ecosystem forward.
Why it works
- No sponsored keynotes. The program committee picks every session.
- Merchant-only roundtables run under Chatham House rules.
- Capped attendance so the hallway conversations actually happen.
- 501(c)(3) non-profit, board-run.
Built for the people who actually run payments for their organizations.
PaymentsEd draws practitioners across the full payments stack: operations, fraud, treasury, product, engineering. The Forum is built for the people doing the work, not the people pitching to them.
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01
Payments Operations
Card-not-present, optimization, taxation, treasury.
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02
Fraud Prevention & Risk
First-party, account takeover, dispute strategy.
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03
Chargebacks & Disputes
Network rules, recovery, representment workflows.
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04
Billing & Subscription
Recurring, dunning, retention, lifetime value.
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05
Treasury & Cash Management
Liquidity, FX, settlement, reconciliation.
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06
Compliance, Governance, PCI
Regulation, audit, scope reduction, attestation.
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07
Data & Analytics
Authorization analytics, fraud signals, attribution.
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08
Product & Engineering
Platform, tokenization, payment orchestration.
Speakers doing the actual work in payments, not professional keynoters.
Every session is reviewed by the PaymentsEd program committee. Lineup grows as sessions confirm in the weeks before the Forum.
CMSPI
Discord
Automattic
Adobe
Optimized Payments
FOX
VGS
dLocal
Sticky.io
Worldpay
Sony PlayStation
CMSPI
The full agenda, built session by session by practitioners.
Sessions are selected through blind review by the program committee. Below is a rolling sample as the program firms up.
Built for the people who run payments.
Mainstage keynotes, concurrent sessions, fireside chats, and merchant-only roundtables. Designed for directors, VPs, and the technical leads they bring.
- When
- July 27–29, 2026 · Mon–Wed
- Where
- Westin Boston Seaport
- Sessions
- 67 · across 8 tracks
- Speakers
- 55 payments pros
- CTP credits
- Coming soon
Sample from the agenda
2026 Forum · Boston&
Payment
Optimization
Disputes
&
Chargebacks
&
Agentic
Commerce
Rates
&
Approval
Optimization
Three classifications, one room of payments practitioners.
All participants classify themselves by employer profile during registration. The PaymentsEd Board reserves the right to confirm classification and fee for every Forum registrant.
Merchant
For employees of merchant companies that conduct business directly with consumers in a card-not-present environment. Merchant attendees get exclusive access to merchant-only roundtables.
- Unlimited registrations from the same merchant company
- Includes merchant-only roundtables
- Eligible for early-bird pricing
Advisor
For representatives of organizations currently on the PaymentsEd Advisor Board: Adyen, American Express, Cardinal Commerce, Checkout.com, CMSPI, Discover, dLocal, Ethoca, JCB, IXOPAY, JPMorgan Chase, Mastercard, Optimized Payments, Pagos, Revaly, Sticky.io, Stripe, VGS, Vindicia, Visa, and Worldpay.
- Board organizations only
- Includes Advisor sessions and dinners
- No sales activity from the stage
Service Provider
For companies that market or sell payments products, transaction processing, billing, or invoicing services to merchants. The Forum is not a sales venue. Attendance is at the discretion of the PaymentsEd Board.
- Must be doing business with a PaymentsEd merchant in attendance, or invited to speak
- Limited spots, board-approved
- No sales pitches anywhere on the agenda
The Westin Boston Seaport, on the harbor in the Seaport District.
All Forum sessions, keynotes, and evening events run inside one hotel, so the hallway conversations actually happen.
The Westin Boston Seaport District
425 Summer Street, Boston, MA 02210
- Airport
- Logan International (BOS) · 4 miles
- Transit
- Silver Line SL1 from BOS · free from airport
- Parking
- Self-park available at the Westin · valet on request
- Room block
- PaymentsEd rate honored through June 26, 2026
Classifications, logistics, and everything in between.
The Forum runs on clear rules. If a detail isn't covered here, reach out. The board answers every inquiry.
01 Who qualifies as a Merchant attendee?
To attend as a Merchant member of the PaymentsEd Forum you must be employed by a merchant company that conducts its business directly with consumers in a card-not-present environment. There is no limit to the number of merchant members from within the same company who can attend.
02 Who qualifies as a Service Provider?
You are a Service Provider if you or your company markets or sells payments products or services directly to merchants, sells any transaction processing, billing, or invoicing services directly to a merchant, or facilitates payments between two or more parties. The Forum is not a place for sales, marketing, or business development. Service Providers participate at the discretion of the PaymentsEd Board, must be doing business with a PaymentsEd merchant in attendance, or be invited by the board to speak.
03 What is the PaymentsEd Advisor Organization?
Representatives from the following organizations are currently on the PaymentsEd Board: Adyen, American Express, Cardinal Commerce, Checkout.com, CMSPI, Capitol One / Discover Network, dLocal, Ethoca, JCB International Credit Card Co., Ltd., IXOPAY, JPMorgan Chase, Mastercard, Optimized Payments, Pagos Solutions, Revaly, Sticky.io, Stripe, VGS, Vindicia, Visa, and Worldpay.
04 What topics does the Forum cover?
The full spectrum of practitioner payments work: operations and optimization, taxation, analytics, treasury; international payment methods and domicile issues; domestic methods including credit, debit, ACH, and emerging rails; and risk across PCI, business continuity, chargebacks, legal and regulatory, and fraud prevention.
05 Are CTP credits available?
Yes. Certified Treasury Professional credits are issued per session attended. The 2026 credit schedule is being finalized and will be published here before early-bird pricing ends.
06 What is the cancellation policy?
Registrations cancelled before June 1, 2026 receive a full refund less a $50 processing fee. Cancellations between June 1 and July 1 receive a 50% refund. No refunds after July 1. Substitutions within the same company are permitted at any time at no charge.
See you in Boston this July.
Registration is open. Merchant early-bird runs through May 15. Advisor and Service Provider seats are limited.