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TOWARD mobile payments and A CASHLESS SOCIETY: what's taking so long?
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Register Online

The Mobile Payments topic is hot! The space is changing rapidly, and there is a lot to keep up with. For instance, Business Insider just released a special report that lays out the four kinds of mobile payment solutions that are leading the pack.

This Thursday, July 19th, the Wharton Club of Northern California will present a fireside discussion with a world expert on the topic who will walk us through how these solutions are working in other parts of the world that are currently ahead of the U.S. and what lessons we can learn from them.

Note: due to building security at the venue, day-of-event registrations for this event are not available.

P.S. If you haven't had the opportunity before to visit Bank of America Merrill Lynch's venue space in the TransAmerica Building, we have, and it's stunning. This is a special opportunity for our alumni to see a beautiful slice of San Francisco's financial/architectural history.

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Mobile money is transforming lives all over the planet from villages to cities in emerging and frontier markets. Creating a mobile payments system that actually gets used, though, requires the alignment of a complex ecosystem that includes telecom service operators, payment service providers, banks, public policy makers, and other stakeholders. It's by no means a trivial task.

Join an exclusive Wharton Club discussion with the World Bank on the promise for a cashless society.

During this forum, we will:

• Analyze disruptive trends in emerging markets based on The World Bank's first hand experiences . . . and how applicable those trends may be to the U.S.
• Review country-specific case studies
  
• Form a consolidated view for the global mobile payments industry
• Discuss implications of these global trends for the US market
• Debate how Silicon Valley investors and businesspeople can capitalize on these changes

 
SPEAKER:

Zaid Safdar, Practice Leader of Mobile Money, The World Bank

Zaid Safdar is a Practice Leader of Mobile Money in the Telecom, Media and Technology (TMT) Division of the World Bank in Washington, DC.

Zaid has advised financial service providers, mobile operators and governments globally, in Americas, Asia, Middle East and Africa, on scaling up mobile money, and has financed and supervised the development of national payment systems and electronic money in emerging markets. Zaid has worked with financial institutions and governments to help modernize the microfinance market, and use electronic financial transactions to deliver new financial products and services. Zaid is working with the World Bank Group’s Board of Directors in crafting the corporate strategy for the TMT industry, and for the use of the mobile platform in financial services and payments industries.

Zaid has an MBA in corporate finance from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business; an MA in government and international affairs from the Johns Hopkins University, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies; an MS in engineering from the University of Pennsylvania; and a BS in engineering from the University of Rochester.

MODERATOR:

Sajjad Jaffer, WG '01

An Officer of the Wharton Club of Northern California, Sajjad Jaffer has worked in global private equity. His recent  experiences include developing a data center and technology innovation hub in his native country of Tanzania. A White House Fellows finalist, Sajjad holds an MBA from The Wharton School and a BA from Bowdoin College.