The Association for Financial Technology (AFT) today announced the conclusion of its Fall meeting in Banff, Alberta, which broke attendance records for the 53-year-old association. AFT is a premier resource for networking and professional development for those companies and executives serving U.S. financial institutions, including banks, credit unions, fintechs, lenders and payment companies.

Jarrett Puckett, vice president of customer experience of CSI, concluded his successful tenure as president of AFT and fintech veteran, Danny Payne, was installed as its new president. Payne, who is senior director of digital sales at Jack Henry, said, “I’m honored to step into this leadership role and guide AFT as we support the next generation of fintech progress. My priorities are to expand educational and networking opportunities for members; champion open dialogue among fintech providers; and promote innovation for the U.S. financial industry.”

AFT also elected three new board members, Kirsten Longnecker, CMO of Plinqit; Mary Beth Marchione, partner of Wipfli; and Tara Schultz, senior vice president of CSI.

The association provided five scholarships at the meeting to member companies' families. The recipients included:

• Andrea Edwards, Wichita State University (AFT member, DCI)
• Julia Childs, University of Utah (AFT member, BILLGO)
• Abigail James Arkansas State University (AFT member, HC3)
• Mark Yencik, Florida State University, (AFT member, ZSuite Tech)
• Drew Tiedt, University of Alabama (AFT member, Infusion)

The next AFT summit will be at the Conrad Hotel in Nashville, March 15-17, 2026. For more information about AFT and the summits, please visit https://www.aftweb.com/springsummit

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AFT, a financial technology association, concludes largest summit ever, elects 2026 officers and provides five scholarships