When the European Card Acquiring Forum first met in 2008, just 18 merchants were among its 189 delegates. The event, now known as Merchant Payments Ecosystem (MPE), is preparing for its 20th edition, with more than 500 merchants expected to attend in Berlin next March.
Taking place from 9 to 11 March 2027 at the InterContinental Berlin, the conference is expected to attract more than 1,600 payments professionals. Its programme will cover artificial intelligence (AI), agentic commerce, stablecoins, payment orchestration and cross-border payments.
MPE has grown from a conference focused on card acquiring to one covering a much wider range of payments topics. The 2027 event will feature more than 170 speakers and 100 sponsors and partners.
“Twenty years ago, we started MPE with a simple idea: put the people shaping European merchant payments in one room, ask the questions that matter, and give them a platform to exchange ideas,” said Natalia Ivanis, co-founder and chief marketing officer of MPE.
“That room has grown into a strategic meeting place for senior leaders from merchants and the companies that serve them, but some of the questions never went away. Our 20th edition is about looking back at them and asking where merchant payments go next. The questions changed. The need for clarity didn’t.”
Marking 20 years
MPE is also publishing a series of articles and interviews about the history of European merchant payments. Its 20 Voices series includes contributions from Omnipay founder Hubert O’Donoghue. Neira Jones, chair of the MPE Awards judging panel, is also putting together a five-chapter history of the industry, which is due to be published in full in January 2027.
O’Donoghue, founder of Omnipay, says: “Over a decade on, the ubiquity of payment channels across almost every facet of human activity, coupled with the arrival of AI, presents new challenges for audit, control, authentication, and verification.”
The MPE 2027 conference will also include the annual MPE Awards, with entries for the 2027 awards opening in November. Early-bird passes are available at 20% off until 11 November, followed by 10% off until 16 December.
.
The post Merchant Payments Conference MPE to Mark 20th Edition in Berlin appeared first on The Fintech Times.
