As dynamic technologies continue to revolutionize the payments space, conferences have become a critical way for payments professionals to stay informed and share their expertise. One of the signature events of the payments space is Nacha’s Smarter Faster Payments 2026, which will take place in San Diego from April 26-29, 2026.
In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Stephanie Prebish, AAP, AFPP, APRP, CTP, Senior Managing Director of Association Services at Nacha, and Brian Riley, Director of Credit and Co-Head of Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research, discussed the wide range of educational tracks and networking opportunities available at the conference—and how attendees can accomplish months’ worth of business in just a few days at Smarter Faster Payments 2026.
The Four Pillars
Nacha’s conference has become one of the most recognized events in the industry, thanks in part to its educational offerings, which provide an in-depth look at the timeliest topics in financial services.
“Our Payments conference is known in the industry as one of the best conferences out there and we’re planning another excellent year of education and networking and fun,” Prebish said. “We’re really just looking forward to it.”
With such a full event calendar, it is essential for attendees to come prepared with a plan. That plan should make room not only for networking opportunities and keynote speakers, but also for conversations with vendors on the exhibitor floor.
Amid all the activity—and the splendors of San Diego—there is more than enough to keep payments professionals engaged. Still, it is critical for attendees to review the agenda in advance and prioritize the educational sessions that matter most to them.
“We just finished up our first-round selections, and the sessions next year are going to be fantastic,” Prebish said. “We are on top of all the big, new, exciting changes that are coming to payments. We’re going to be talking about stablecoins; we’re going to be talking about fraud monitoring; we’re going to be talking about everything that’s happening with ISO 20022. It’s going to be an amazing conference.”
Defining the Audience
The tracks were carefully curated to span the full spectrum of the payments industry, highlight emerging innovations, shifting regulations, and strategies for mitigating fraud and risk.
New next year is a track dedicated to one of the industry’s most talked-about technologies: stablecoins. This track provides a detailed exploration of the opportunities stablecoins present for financial institutions, along with strategies organizations can adopt to harness their potential.
There is also a dedicated legal track designed specifically for attorneys working in the payments space. Additional tracks focus on artificial intelligence, compliance and regulations, cybersecurity, and ACH.
With such a comprehensive agenda, it can be challenging for attendees to identify the sessions most relevant to their role. To help, Nacha has developed a system designed to guide participants in mapping out the sessions that will deliver the greatest impact.
“We’re going to have personas dedicated to who you are in the payments industry, and with every session it will be indicated which persona will be the best choice for you,” Prebish said. “This is going to be really exciting for us because it’s not something we’ve done before, where we’ve defined audiences by session. In addition to the tracks, you can also look at these persona maps and decide where you’re going to be best spending your time.”
“Everyone goes to the Payments conference and affectionately calls themselves the rules geek, but that is actually going to be one of our personas—and also payments innovators, payment strategists, and FI leaders,” she said. “We’re really excited about the opportunities that the persona development has given us.”
Finding Like-minded Audiences
Along with innovations in its educational offerings, Nacha has also enhanced the networking opportunities at Smarter Faster Payments, while keeping long-standing traditions such as the Sunday Social.
“We’re still going to have our tried-and-true events like our Tuesday Night Out, which is going to be held on the USS Midway,” Prebish said. “We’ll have our accreditation reception, which next year is going to be super exciting because we’re adding the celebration of our AFPPs (Accredited Faster Payments Professionals).”
One of the best ways to maximize these networking opportunities is through the event’s mobile app. Attendees can use the app to locate and join meeting pods on the exhibit floor, see who else will be attending, and connect with colleagues to schedule time for conversations.
Another major initiative at Smarter Faster Payments is the development of the next generation of payments professionals. Two years ago, the organizers introduced their next-gen initiative, a “15 Under 40” program designed both to highlight emerging leaders in the payments industry and to foster their continued growth.
Across all these events and initiatives, Smarter Faster Payments provides opportunities for payments professionals from every background to connect, collaborate, and build lasting relationships.
“We’re doing a lot more in the hall, so we’re going to be working with our Payments Associations and offering what we’re calling a community corner, which is going to be a place for industry groups of like-minded audiences to meet up,” Prebish said. “We’re also going to have Coastal Coffee service in the morning and then we’ll have Pacific Pints beer in our beer garden in the afternoon. There is lots of fun stuff going on in the hall as well as our evening activities.”
Hitting the Three Criteria
Although the event doesn’t take place until next spring, early registration is now open for exhibitors, and attendees can take advantage of early-bird rates—including discounts for first-time participants and those under 40.
As this event has become the industry “who’s who,” Smarter Faster Payments 2026 is now a must-attend for financial services professionals.
“When I’m selecting conferences, one of the first things I look at is the sponsor, and Nacha stands out at the top of many of the things offered for the payments community today,” Riley said. “Also, the tracks are important and those are really well applied, and then the networking opportunities. From what I’ve seen at Nacha, this hits all those three criteria for me.”
