Highlights from the American Express Inside Edge Conference 2016
Last week I was lucky enough to attend the American Express Inside Edge Conference in Sydney. The gathering brought together Amex's top customers from the JAPA region to discuss key trends in the payments industry and gain insights into what was in store for the region in the coming year.
The Conference theme was "The Changing World at Work" and featured a mix of renowned Keynote Speakers, American Express Executives and of course plenty of time for formal and informal networking.
I'm extremely grateful to the American Express team for their support of our Corporate Card program and the invite to the event.
My highlights from the 3 days were:
Influential Keynote Speakers
The pulling power of American Express was evident as they were able to attract high profile influencers to speak intimately with the small group.
The lineup featured Dr Adrian Blundell-Wignall, Directorate for Financial Affairs, OECD, Charles Ross, Senior Editor, The Economist Intelligence Unit, Chris Riddell, Nowist and Naomi Simson, Founding Director Red Balloon and the Red Shark from Channel 10's Shark Tank.
Each gave their unique perspective on leadership, the digital future and cross border commerce. However my highlight was Dr Blundell-Wignall drawing on the separation of Singapore from Malaysia in 1965 (Singapore was previously a State of Malaysia from 1963 to 1965) to propose options for the Brexit.
The audience was treated to this touching vision of Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew weeping at the separation (1 minute mark), with this poignant historical event preceding a steady path to the economic prosperity that Singapore enjoys today.
American Express product suite
The three day event was punctuated by workshops and product fairs that allowed customers to explore the full range of American Express' products on offer.
As a novice in the payments world, I took great value from being introduced to products such as Business Transaction Accounts, Cross Border Payments, Virtual Cards and others as well as learning from Global customers as to how they are pushing the envelopes of what was possible in payments and reconciliations.
Despite all of the great payment products, I would have to say that the Vicinity app grabbed my attention the most. Non acceptance of Amex cards by merchants is one of Amex's top perception challenges and the Vicinity app overcomes this by displaying nearby restaurants, hotels, ATMs and petrol stations that accept Amex. Each company profile also incorporates Trip Advisor reviews and ratings.
Vicinity is a great tool for travelling executives and can be found at www.amexvicinity.com.au
Networking Opportunities
One of the great things about attending a Conference held by a major Global corporation like American Express is the opportunity to mix with Senior professionals from some of the worlds largest companies and find out how they structure Finance and Payments in their teams.
While the group was intimate, I was able to meet executives from around the region including employees from Microsoft, Yatra.com, Marsh, CSC and World Travel among others.
Understanding how major players are using the Amex product suite and the challenges they are facing gave me some valuable insights that I was able to bring back to my team.
Of course there was plenty of time for fun as well, with the picturesque surroundings of the opening night sundowner and the Cheeky Foods cooking event (which my team won of course!) particularly memorable.
Thanks again to American Express and all who attended the conference. Events such as this are only as successful as the efforts of the attendees and I found everyone to be welcoming and happy to engage.
If you have an Amex Enterprise Manager, I recommend you put in a request for next years event, its sure to be in a more exotic location than Sydney!
