Trust at Scale: How Marketplaces Can Build a Safer, Faster Onboarding Experience

VIP Dinner - New York City, NY (NRF)

Jan 13, 2026 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM EDT

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Here's what we talked about

Activating merchants fast, without opening the door to fraud
- How to get sellers live quickly while still feeling confident they are who they say they are.
What breaks when onboarding moves too fast
- The unintended consequences teams see when speed becomes the primary KPI.
First payout is the moment trust is earned, or lost
Why onboarding decisions matter most when money moves for the first time.
Faster payouts change the rules of onboarding
- How expectations for same-day and instant payouts raise the bar for confidence during onboarding.
Breaking down silos between marketplace, risk, and payments teams
- How teams share ownership of onboarding speed, fraud outcomes, and payout reliability.

Event Partners

Plaid

Plaid is a leading financial technology company that enables secure connections between consumer bank accounts and the apps people use every day. Its API-driven platform powers payments, lending, personal finance, and identity verification by allowing businesses to access financial data with user permission. Plaid is trusted by thousands of fintech and enterprise companies to streamline onboarding, reduce fraud, and improve conversion. By focusing on security, compliance, and scale, Plaid plays a critical role in modern digital financial infrastructure.

Guest Speakers

Anahita Walia LinkedIn

Product Marketing Manager, Platforms & Marketplaces at Plaid

Aaron Conant LinkedIn

Co-Founder & Managing Director at BWG Connect

Aaron Conant is Co-Founder and Chief Digital Strategist at BWG Connect, a networking and knowledge sharing group of thousands of brands who collectively grow their digital knowledge base and collaborate on partner selection. Speaking 1x1 with over 1200 brands a year and hosting over 250 in-person and virtual events, he has a real time pulse on the newest trends, strategies and partners shaping growth in the digital space.

Shaffer Bond LinkedIn

Product Lead, Payments at Plaid

Tom Donovan LinkedIn

Sales Engineer, Enterprise at Plaid

Event Moderator

Anahita Walia LinkedIn

Product Marketing Manager, Platforms & Marketplaces at Plaid

Aaron Conant LinkedIn

Co-Founder & Managing Director at BWG Connect

Aaron Conant is Co-Founder and Chief Digital Strategist at BWG Connect, a networking and knowledge sharing group of thousands of brands who collectively grow their digital knowledge base and collaborate on partner selection. Speaking 1x1 with over 1200 brands a year and hosting over 250 in-person and virtual events, he has a real time pulse on the newest trends, strategies and partners shaping growth in the digital space.

Shaffer Bond LinkedIn

Product Lead, Payments at Plaid

Tom Donovan LinkedIn

Sales Engineer, Enterprise at Plaid

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What is BWG Connect?

BWG Connect provides executive strategy & networking sessions that help brands from any industry with their overall business planning and execution. BWG has built an exclusive network of 125,000+ senior professionals and hosts over 2,000 virtual and in-person networking events on an annual basis.

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