We are moving forward, addressing areas where we encounter challenges that we can solve collectively. Our esteemed member Strawberry graciously hosted us at our partner hotel, At Six, in Stockholm. We extend our gratitude to Håvard Hovdahl and Mie Skau Vedeler.
Inspiration abounded with insightful speeches from esteemed speakers such as Martina Weimert, CEO of European Payment Initiative; Alejandro Mondragon, Industry Lead Retail and Consumer Goods at Microsoft Western Europe; and Philip Konopik, Regional Managing Director Nordics & Baltics at Visa.
A highlight of our event was a lively panel debate featuring Arena Fernandez, Senior Product Manager at Amazon, and Birgitta Søderlund Rietz, Global Product Owner - Payments at H&M. They delved into topics like the digital Euro, ongoing legislative changes, and their impacts on merchants. Johan Schmalholz from Sveriges Riksbank expertly moderated the discussion.
Another engaging panel discussion explored strategies for enhancing the competitiveness of local Nordic schemes against global cards and alternative payment methods. Tessa Roetzmeier, Head of Product - Customer Solutions Payments & Authorized Signatory of Payments at Zalando; Urban Höglund, CEO of Swish; Bård Slaattelid, Director Strategic Payment Partnerships at Vipps MobilePay; William Olgiati, GM EU Payment Acceptance & Experience at Amazon; Erik Marcus Torkildsen, Manager Identification and Payments at Rema 1000; Jonas Lund, Senior Product Development Manager at Dankort; and Maria Huhtaniska Montiel from the Bank of Finland offered valuable insights. Kai Lindström from S Group skillfully moderated this session.
As always, we commenced our gathering with a delightful dinner and concluded with a social wrap-up, eagerly anticipating our next meeting on September 19th in Helsinki, graciously hosted by our eminent member S Group and Kai Lindström