Over the summer, I asked you all whether we are finally headed toward a cashless society. Since then the battle for the digital wallet has certainly heated up. Well today, I am thrilled to announce the newest addition to Forrester's Consumer Product Strategy practice. Her name is Denée Carrington, and she will be joining us as a Senior Analyst, covering consumer payments, starting January 3, 2012. 

To provide more specifics, here's a sneak peek at some of the coverage areas where Denée will be able to help Forrester clients with consumer payment strategy in the new year:

• Defining the future of consumer payments
• Managing a portfolio of payment products (e.g. credit, debit, prepaid, contactless, mobile, person-to-person (P2P), etc.)
• The business models and profitability of these payment systems
• Understanding the dynamics of customer (consumer and merchant) payment behavior
• Understanding the payments needs of different markets
• Sizing the different payments market opportunities
• Driving customer (consumer and merchant) adoption of payments systems
• Building and developing new payment systems
• Optimizing existing payment products to improve security and increase convenience

Denée joins us from American Express, where she has held several senior-level positions spanning product development, mobile strategy, and digital strategy for payment products and member rewards over the past seven years.  Her 20-year career also spans management consulting and senior marketing roles for major consumer brands like Starbucks and AT&T. 

So, please join me in welcoming Denée to the team, and keep an eye out for her first stream of research in the coming months!