It’s been a little bit since Irfan Ahmad was a payments industry newbie, but he remembers the beginning like it was yesterday.

“My first day on the job was at Nacha Payments in Austin, Texas, back in 2011,” Ahmad recalled about starting a new position at The Clearing House. “What I gained the most out of it was being new to payments, Payments gave me a really good foundation” in the industry—not just ACH, but other rails, as well, he said. Not to mention risk, legal compliance, and other facets of payments—plus something else that’s very important.

“The network of people you get from going to Payments and really having a chance to interact with your peers and be able to talk to them about what’s topical,” said Ahmad. “Over the years, I kind of look at Payments as almost equivalent to my college reunion for my career.”

Fast forward 14 years and Ahmad is now Managing Director, Head of US Payments at Bank of America N.A., as well as the Conference Chair for Smarter Faster Payments 2025, April 27-30 in New Orleans.

Whether you’re new to the industry or a veteran, Ahmad said you’ll find great content to learn from and great people to meet. Attendees from his team include colleagues focused on ACH as well as legal issues. And for those who can’t make the trip, takeaway sessions are held later to share the knowledge.

Joining Ahmad on Nacha’s Payments SmartCast podcast was Stephanie Prebish, AAP, APRP, CTP, Nacha Senior Managing Director, Association Services, who promised Payments 2025 attendees “the strongest Executive Series” in a long time.

“We’re really excited about the Exec Series lineup,” with topics including AI, insights into consumer behavior, open banking worldwide, plus a guest speaker who Prebish said will focus on how to “keep attracting the next gen folks to your workforce.”

With some 130 sessions, Prebish recommended planning your strategy now, and taking a divide and conquer approach with colleagues. And if after all of that, there was something you wish was discussed but wasn’t, Ahmad has an idea.

“Get involved in next year’s Payments and submit a session,” said Ahmad. “The more you give to Payments, the more you get out of it.”

This 365 Podcast episode is brought to you by our sponsor Form3.

Much more was discussed, and you can listen to the complete podcast below.

For details on Smarter Faster Payments 2025, visit the conference website.