A curated lineup of 2026 conferences and summits for payments leaders, with show personas, target industries, and key details.
2026 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for payment leaders, with a focus on AI, regulatory pressures, and the growing complexity of global commerce. From flagship industry conferences to intimate executive dinners, the upcoming event calendar reflects where innovation, strategy, and real decision-making are happening.
At VGS, we view events not just as moments to show up, but as opportunities to learn, connect, and help shape the future of secure, scalable payments. Below is a look at the key conferences, summits, and hosted experiences on our 2026 radar and why they matter to payment leaders.
Payments Over Plates is an intimate dinner series hosted by Arthur Bedel of Connecting the Dots in Payments. These dinners bring payment leaders together to network and engage in thoughtful discussions on industry trends and technology. Check the VGS events calendar for our next dinner!
NRF is a large trade show featuring expos from hundreds if not thousands of retailers and solution providers. It hasn't been historically focused on payments, but more innovative retail solutions as a whole. Increasingly, especially with the development of agentic commerce, payments leaders are attending the show.
ICE Gaming is a flagship global event for the gaming, betting, and regulated commerce ecosystem. Payment leaders attending ICE gain exposure to the latest trends in payments orchestration, compliance, and cross-border transaction management. A must-attend for executives operating in high-growth, regulation-heavy markets.
MAGnified brings together enterprise retail and payments leaders to explore operational challenges and scale innovation. For payment executives, it's a strong forum for learning how peers are addressing fraud, optimizing authorization, and improving the customer experience across large merchant environments.
Hosted by VGS and Airwallex, this private dinner is designed to be informal and collaborative, bringing together a curated group of top payments minds for honest conversation about payments innovation, trends, and technology. No pitches—just thoughtful dialogue and great company. Register to attend here.
The Women in Payments Annual Symposium is a cornerstone event focused on leadership, inclusion, and professional growth within the payments industry. It attracts senior payment leaders and rising executives alike, making it a valuable space for networking and thought leadership.
The Identity and Payments Summit will bring together leaders from the payments, identity, and access communities to tackle industry challenges head-on, share firsthand how those challenges impact each stakeholder, and provide a platform for all parties to learn and benefit from a more robust ecosystem.
VGS hosts the first annual Agent Connect, a one-day in-person event focused on agentic commerce and connecting the humans behind the agents. With panel discussions and networking opportunities, attendees will connect on the emerging systems and infrastructure around AI agents that transact, interact, and drive commerce workflows.
GDC is the premier event for game developers and platform builders, with growing relevance for payment leaders supporting digital content and in-game commerce. The conference highlights challenges around global payments, fraud, and compliance in high-volume digital environments.
MoneyLive brings together senior leaders from banks, fintechs, and payment providers to discuss the future of financial services. Payment executives attend to gain insight into real-time payments, embedded finance, and regulatory change across Europe and beyond.
One to One Monaco is a highly curated event connecting enterprise retail and payments leaders through pre-scheduled meetings. It's particularly valuable for executives focused on strategic partnerships and long-term platform decisions.
MRC Vegas is a key event for fraud and risk professionals across ecommerce and payments. Payment leaders attend to stay ahead of emerging fraud patterns, regulatory pressures, and data security strategies.
Hosted at the ARIA's Lobby Bar, this mixer offers a casual networking opportunity for payment and fintech leaders attending MRC. It's designed to spark informal conversations that often lead to deeper collaboration. Register to attend here.
MPE is one of Europe's leading merchant-focused payments conferences, attracting senior payment leaders responsible for global expansion, PSP strategy, and payments optimization across enterprise retail.
ETA Transact is a marquee event for payment service providers and technology platforms. It's especially relevant for payment executives focused on partnerships, distribution, and the evolving payments ecosystem in North America.
Merchant Transact 360 is designed for enterprise retailers and payment leaders navigating omnichannel commerce. Sessions focus on merchant pain points, payment performance, and operational efficiency.
HumanX explores the intersection of AI, data, and business transformation. Payment leaders attend to better understand how AI can enhance fraud prevention, decision-making, and secure data usage.
MRC London brings together fraud and risk experts from across Europe. For payment leaders, it's a critical forum for understanding regulatory shifts and for collaborating on fraud mitigation.
Payments Nomad blends thought leadership with immersive networking in a retreat-style setting. It attracts senior payment leaders seeking deeper conversations around strategy, leadership, and the future of payments.
Stripe Sessions showcases the latest in payments APIs, developer tools, and global commerce. Payments leaders attend to stay informed on platform innovation and developer-first approaches.
PLS UK is a focused event for payments leaders looking to connect 1:1 with peers and solution providers. It emphasizes practical insights into payment strategy and execution.
Safeguard brings together AI and security leaders to explore risk management and data protection. Payment executives benefit from its emphasis on safeguarding sensitive data and mitigating emerging threats.
GLS UK focuses on gaming, betting, and regulated industries. Payment leaders attend to better understand compliance, fraud, and payments innovation in these fast-moving sectors.
Money20/20 Europe is one of the most influential global payments conferences. It brings together fintechs, enterprises, and platforms shaping the future of payments.
SBC Americas focuses on sports betting and gaming, making it highly relevant for payments leaders operating in regulated, high-growth markets.
This summit brings together enterprise retail payment leaders to discuss performance, fraud, and operational excellence.
PLS USA is an ideal gathering for payment leaders across industries in North America. It features strong 1:1 meetings and networking events, offering merchant insight into the evolving payments landscape.
Focused on AI builders and engineers, this event offers payment leaders insight into how AI technologies will shape future payment systems.
PaymentsEd is an education-driven conference for payment leaders seeking actionable insights and peer learning.
Fintech Devcon, hosted by Moov, focuses on developers and engineers building the next generation of financial products, with growing relevance for payment platform leaders.
Ai4 brings AI innovation into focus for enterprise leaders, including those responsible for payments, risk, and data security.
Discover's Payments Summit brings together fintech and payments professionals to discuss innovation, partnerships, and the future of payments.
A flagship event for enterprise retail payment leaders focused on strategy, optimization, and scale.
The AMEX Payments Summit is invite-only, designed to bring together strategic partners to discuss innovation, technology, and the latest ecosystem trends.
Subscription Show is a business conference for executives and operators in the subscription economy, focused on practical strategies for growing, retaining, and scaling recurring-revenue businesses through expert-led sessions, workshops, and peer networking.
Money20/20 USA is the largest fintech event in North America, bringing together the entire ecosystem across payment providers, fintechs, banks, and enterprise merchants.
This fall edition of PLS UK offers continued opportunities for payment leaders to connect and share insights.
Epay Summit focuses on enterprise retail payments and attracts senior leaders responsible for complex payment operations.
AWS re:Invent is a major technology conference with growing relevance for payment leaders focused on cloud infrastructure, scalability, and security.
