From artificial intelligence and advanced recycling to identity protection, premium card experiences and next-generation materials, ICMA’s CardTREX 2026 will bring the global card ecosystem together for two days of education, technology exploration, networking and business development.

Taking place 27–28 October at the Lohmann TEC Center in Neuwied, Germany, CardTREX is designed for card manufacturers, personalizers, suppliers, issuers, technology providers and other professionals working across payments, identity and access, security and related markets. This year’s program combines expert presentations with interactive demonstrations, a behind-the-scenes facility tour and numerous opportunities to connect with industry colleagues.

ICMA Chair Joël Besnier of BG INGENIERIE will open the event before host Lohmann welcomes attendees to its TEC Center. From there, CardTREX will move quickly into a program examining both the technologies affecting the card industry today and the developments likely to shape its future.

Visualizing Innovation Before Production

Note: All headshots for highlighted are located here: Headshots

Aubrey Collins, Senior Production Graphic Designer, CPI Card Group

Visualizing Innovation: Card & Packaging Trends

CardTREX’s first educational session will explore how new card and packaging concepts can be brought to life before they reach production. Aubrey Collins will examine developments in card and packaging design, including premium materials, specialty finishes, interactive packaging and more sustainable solutions.

The presentation will also demonstrate how 3D visualization using Vzual can help designers, manufacturers and issuers realistically visualize concepts, accelerate customer approvals, improve collaboration and shorten development cycles.

Putting Innovation on the Fast Track

Following the opening presentation, CardTREX will shift from the traditional conference format to its interactive Speed Share session. Tabletop exhibitors will take the stage for brief introductions to a featured product, service or technology before attendees rotate through the Networking & Exhibit Area to learn more directly from participating companies.

Attendees will vote for the Speed Share presentation they consider the most outstanding, with the winner announced at the conclusion of CardTREX. The format is designed to give participants an efficient way to discover multiple technologies while creating opportunities for direct conversations with the experts behind them.

The experience will also include the partly live production and personalization of the official CardTREX event card. Attendees will be able to see card manufacturing and personalization technologies in action while creating a unique takeaway from the event.

Preparing Businesses for an AI-Driven Future

Rico Kerstan, Managing Partner, KR Krisensicher Risikoberatung GmbH

Artificial Intelligence and Business Model Uncertainty: Building the Digital Twin of Your Organization

Artificial intelligence is increasingly influencing more than individual tasks and productivity. It also has the potential to reshape workflows, competitive dynamics and entire business models.

Rico Kerstan will examine AI and agentic systems from a management perspective, exploring how organizations can identify areas of vulnerability and develop the agility needed to respond. The session will challenge attendees to consider AI readiness as an organizational capability and look at how creating a digital twin of an organization can help businesses better understand and prepare for disruption.

Seeing Card Technology in Action at Lohmann

Following lunch, attendees will get a behind-the-scenes look at the technologies and capabilities of CardTREX host Lohmann during an extensive tour of the company’s facility.

The tour will explore bonding and lamination technologies used in card and passport manufacturing, including demonstrations of pick-and-place bonding, lamination and simulation tools. Participants will also learn about sustainable manufacturing and smart adhesive systems for cards and identity documents.

A highlight will be Lohmann’s Bonding Arena®, an interactive innovation lab where attendees can explore real-world bonding applications and examine how adhesive technologies can contribute to durability, security and sustainability in card production.

Bringing Advanced Recycling to High-Performance Cards

Thomas Steinbrecher, Group Leader Technical Services, Eastman Chemical Company

High-Performance Polymers Enabled by Advanced Recycling Processes

Sustainability continues to challenge the card industry to find materials that can deliver both environmental benefits and the performance required for demanding card applications.

Thomas Steinbrecher will explore how advanced molecular recycling can transform difficult-to-recycle plastic waste into virgin-quality materials and support more circular approaches to card production. His presentation will examine Eastman’s methanolysis technology and the role of Eastman Renew copolyesters in addressing considerations surrounding recycled content, performance and sustainability.

Expanding the Possibilities for Card Customization

Uwe Adamczyk, Global Key Account Director, Linxens

Advanced Card Customization and Integrated Features

As issuers seek new ways to differentiate physical cards, advances in materials, components and production techniques are creating opportunities to combine premium aesthetics with functionality.

Uwe Adamczyk will highlight emerging customization techniques including logo etching, metallization color options, transparent windows in PVC cards and Heavylam solutions for payment and other high-end applications. He will also introduce OneDI, an all-in-one dual-interface module designed to help streamline card production while supporting performance.

Exploring Composite Card Construction

Edith Dangeard, Director of Business Development, Lux Group, IDentification Technologies, HID Global

Composite Card Constructions in the Smart Card Industry

Day One’s educational program will conclude with a look at the materials and composite constructions helping advance smart card durability and performance.

Edith Dangeard will explore how innovative materials and construction approaches are opening new possibilities within the smart card industry, providing attendees with another perspective on how card construction continues to evolve alongside changing performance and market requirements.

Connections Continue After the Conference Day

Networking will extend well beyond the formal presentations. Throughout Day One, coffee breaks and lunch will give attendees time to meet exhibitors, reconnect with colleagues and continue discussions sparked by the educational sessions.

After the program concludes, attendees can join an optional guided walk through Andernach on the way to the evening networking dinner. Dinner at Casino Ahsenmacher will feature a sensory seminar with live cooking, along with food and wine, providing a relaxed setting for attendees to continue conversations and build relationships outside the conference environment.

Turning Collaboration Into Business Impact

Cornelia Hoss, Head of Innovation Management & New Business Development, and Tom Schümchen, Innovation Manager, Lohmann GmbH & Co. KG

Co-Creating Innovation: Transforming Ideas into Business Impact

Day Two will begin with a session focused on one of the principles at the heart of CardTREX: bringing together different perspectives and areas of expertise to advance innovation.

Cornelia Hoss and Tom Schümchen will share how Lohmann works with customers, partners and innovation networks to move ideas from concept toward commercial success. Their presentation will feature best-practice examples demonstrating how collaborative innovation can translate ideas into meaningful business impact.

Taking Identity and Document Protection to the Molecular Level

Alessandro Vidale, CEO, and Samuele Scozzai, Lead Software Developer, Enigma S.r.l.

Nanotech Inks: The New Frontier in Document and Identity Protection

As counterfeiters and fraudsters become increasingly sophisticated, the technologies protecting physical credentials must continue to advance.

Alessandro Vidale and Samuele Scozzai will introduce Project Keeper, an anti-counterfeiting system that uses nanotechnology to create unique chemical fingerprints capable of authentication at the molecular level. The presentation will examine how nanotech markers, specialized reading hardware and secure software can work together to add another layer of protection to physical cards and documents.

Finding New Value in Physical Experiences

Ashwini Pandey, CEO, Copecto GmbH, and Florian Reithmeir, CEO, Raiffeisendruckerei GmbH

The More Invisible Banking Becomes, the More Valuable Physical Experiences Become

As banking becomes increasingly digital, the physical interactions that remain may take on greater importance.

Ashwini Pandey and Florian Reithmeir will examine how consumer expectations surrounding premium experiences, sustainability, trust and authenticity are influencing the payment card. Their presentation will explore why materials, design and tangible experiences continue to matter even as more of the overall banking experience moves into digital channels.

Making More Informed Sustainable Material Choices

Hal Panabaker, Global Industry Manager, and Ethel Bermejo, Sustainability Innovation Manager, Bixby International

Choosing Sustainable Materials for Payment Card Bodies: A Data-Driven, Performance-Based, Material-Agnostic Approach

Sustainability decisions are rarely as simple as selecting the material with the strongest environmental claim. Performance, durability, recyclability and carbon impact can all factor into determining the most appropriate solution for a particular card application.

Hal Panabaker and Ethel Bermejo will present a data-driven approach to comparing sustainable materials and evaluating those tradeoffs. The session will introduce Bixby’s sustainability decision matrix and demonstrate how evidence-based comparisons can support more informed material decisions throughout the industry.

Looking at the Next Generation of Metal Cards

Ursula Schilling, Director of Business Development, Infineon Technologies

How to Deliver a Premium Card Experience for Issuers and Customers

CardTREX’s final educational presentation will focus on a segment that continues to combine premium design with evolving technical capabilities.

Ursula Schilling will trace the evolution of metal cards and explore innovations influencing their next generation, providing attendees with insight into how this distinctive segment of the payment card market continues to develop.

Where Education and Networking Come Together

While the speaker program anchors CardTREX, the event is intentionally structured to create conversations throughout the two days. Morning coffee, lunches, dedicated breaks in the Exhibit & Networking Area, Speed Share, live demonstrations, the Lohmann facility tour and the evening dinner give attendees multiple ways to meet the people behind the technologies and continue discussions beyond individual presentations.

Day Two begins with morning coffee and live innovation demonstrations in the Exhibit & Networking Area, and another dedicated networking break follows the morning presentations. Even after the formal program concludes, attendees will be invited to an optional light lunch at Lohmann, offering one final opportunity to exchange ideas and spend time with new and longtime industry connections.

That combination of education, firsthand technology experiences and relationship building reflects the larger purpose of CardTREX. Over two days in Neuwied, attendees will have the opportunity not only to hear what is changing across the global card ecosystem, but also to discuss those changes with the people developing technologies, manufacturing products and helping determine where the industry goes next.

For more information, visit icma.com/cardtrex.