2.30pm – 3.00pm

Welcome Coffee & Registration

3.00pm – 3.30pm

Chairman:

– Michael Smith, Board Advisor, Ai Connects

How to enter the US Co-brand market with a different proposition to miles

– Jonathan Rossman, Head of Co-brand Credit Card, Booking.com in conversation with
–  Darren Gillmor, Head of Co-brand Business Development, Visa

3.30pm – 4.00pm

State of the Union Address 2026:   Where are co-brands and travel reward cards heading to?

– Bill Hanifin, CEO, Wise Marketer Group (invited)

4.00pm – 5.00pm

The Famous Ai Events Lions’ Den:  Innovative product pitches

Back by popular demand the Lions’ Den new products and service pitching contest returns to the Co-brand and Travel Rewards conference.  The sessions is for innovative start-ups (or brand new products from estasblished players) pitch for 5 minutes each, and then take 5 minutes of questions from our experienced judges. Judges will choose a Best Product, while the audience will choose Best Pitch.

We will also have John Ventura, Chief Development Officer of Skeps and a previous Lions’ Den winner sharing an update on business progress!

Ringmaster and Lions (Judges)

– Michael Smith, Board Director, Ai Events (Ringmaster)

– Steve Mathwig, Senior Manager Loyalty Program Engagement, Best Western Hotels (invited)

Pitchers

Please drop Michael Smith an email if you would like to pitch your product/service in the 2026 event!

5.00pm – 7.00pm

8.30am – 8.50am

Registration and Networking

8.50am – 9.00am

Welcome from the Chair – Opening Remarks

– Michael Smith, Board Advisor, Ai Connects

9.00am – 9.25am

The Flying Blue Story – how KLM/Air France launched their co-brand outside their home market

– Peter Schinasi, Loyalty Director USA Canada Mexico, Air France KLM  in conversation with
– Ian Young, Head of Loyalty Account Management, Comarch

>Download Presentation Here

9.25am – 9.50am

>Download Presentation Here

9.50am – 10.15am

10.15am – 10.45am

Networking and Coffee Break

10.45am – 11.15am

Getting more cards in to more wallets:  How to break the Credit Barrier

– Pedro Silva, CEO & Co-founder, Alviere

>Download Presentation Here

11.15am – 11.40am

Managing Mileage Profitability

– Manolis Bardis, Head of Loyalty Team, WTW

>Download Presentation Here

11.40am – 12.30pm

Panel Session: The Loyalty Gap – is it really debit versus credit or cardholders versus non cardholders?

Moderator
– Michael Pool, Consultant & former International Co-brand at Marriott (invited)

Panellists

– Amyn Jivani, SVP Partnerships & Business Development, Netspend (invited)

Others to be announced

12.30pm – 2.00pm

Lunch & Networking

2.00pm – 2.30pm

Fireside Chat: How to build fraud free promotions and why loyalty Account Take Over should be on your radar screen

– Ben Davey, Co-Founder & Head of Products, Darwinium
– Chris Staab, Co-Founder, Loyalty Security Alliance

>Download Presentation Here

2.30pm – 3.00pm

Personalised marketing – how using data and AI can actually deliver real results

– Katya Nieburg-Wheeler, Executive Director, deluxe

>Download Presentation Here

3.00pm – 3.30pm

How A Neobank/Fintech Is Helping Take Co-Brand Card Partnership To The Next Level

– Katlin Mathison, Strategic Partnerships Director, Neo Financial

>Download Presentation Here

3.30pm – 4.00pm

Coffee Break & Networking

4.00pm – 5.00pm

Panel Session: Digital and Account to Account Payments, Open Banking and Wallets:  Threat or Opportunity for Co-brands?

Moderator
– Michael Smith, Board Director, Ai Events

Speakers & Panellists

To be announced

5.00pm – 6.00pm

Networking Reception