Transaction Trends

By Amy Zirkle, Vice President of Industry Affairs, Electronic Transactions Association

ETA works to address the most pressing business challenges facing our industry and keeps ETA stakeholders informed and engaged on our top priorities. Through the Industry Affairs department, we bring together subject matter experts and executive decisionmakers to collaborate on critical issues. We partner with organizations like EMVCo, the PCI Security Standards Council, the US Payments Forum, and other standards bodies, in addition to several think tanks and research organizations. ETA members come together in a host of different committees to advance the industry. Below, we review what our members have accomplished this year.

Committees drive ETA forward. Participating in an ETA committee is your ticket to exclusive industry discussion, curated information and updates, high-level networking, and the opportunity to shape the future of payments. And it’s exclusively for ETA members. To volunteer for a committee in 2018, apply online here before November 20th, 2017.

Payment Facilitator / ISV Committee

The Payment Facilitator / ISV Committee reflects the evolution of the sales channel. The committee monitors emerging issues tied to the business, technology, and security of the payment facilitator segment. The committee serves as a forum to consider matters that are unique to Payment Facilitators as well as identify points of common interest with the sales channel and payments industry as a whole. Areas of focus include industry rule changes, risk and compliance, the ongoing development and use of ETA’s Payment Facilitator Guidelines, emerging technologies and convergence, and opportunities for expansion of the Payment Facilitator market.

• 2017 achievements:
  • Resources for Payment Facilitators
  • Updated Payment Facilitators Guidelines (ETA members can log in to view first edition)
  • Glossary of commonly used terms in the Payment Facilitator space

Payment Sales and Strategy Committee

The ETA Payment Sales & Strategy Committee is the forum for the payments sales channel. This committee identifies, develops and promotes effective business practices pertaining to the distribution and/or sale of payments products and services. The committee also monitors emerging technologies as well as business and compliance issues and disseminates relevant information to the ETA membership.

• 2017 achievements:
  • Committee survey on EMV migration
  • Committee provided input and sourced speakers for ETA programming:
    • TRANSACT 17 Security Track & 22nd Century Payments Track & Globalization Track

Risk, Fraud & Security Committee

The ETA Risk, Fraud & Security Committee monitors risk, fraud, and related compliance issues in the industry and recommends related best practices and other risk mitigation strategies. The committee also assists with ETA’s outreach efforts to other organizations involved in risk and fraud management.

• 2017 achievements:
• Updated ETA Guidelines on Merchant and ISO Underwriting and Risk Monitoring (ETA members log in to view here)
• Produced Payments Secured Webinar Series 
  • Payments Secured: An Overview of the Security Landscape (Sam Pfanstiel, Coalfire)
  • Encryption & The Merchant Case for Devaluing Data at the Point of Entry (Ruston Miles, Bluefin; Matt Donnelly, FreedomPay; George Rice, MicroFocus)
  • New Frontiers in Identity and Authentication (Sunil Madhu, Socure)
• Provided input on and sourced speakers for ETA programming:
  • TRANSACT 17 Security Track & 22nd Century Payments Track
  • TRANSACT Tech event series
  • Strategic Leadership Forum

Technology Committee

The ETA Technology Committee identifies emerging payment technologies and helps communicate their implications to the membership. The committee sources and disseminates information on technology trends in support of ETA’s mission to educate its membership.

• 2017 achievements:
• Published Expert Insights column in Transaction Trends
  • EMV and the Payments Technology Ecosystem by Scott Goldthwaite, Aliaswire, and Jared Poulson, Payroc; with contributions from Allen Friedman, Ingenico, and Irv Henderson, talech
  • Improving the Customer Checkout Experience by Scott Goldthwaite, Aliaswire, and Jared Poulson, Payroc; with contributions from Allen Friedman, Ingenico, and Irv Henderson, talech
• Provided input on and sourced speakers for ETA programming:
  • TRANSACT 17 22nd Century Payments Track

Mobile Payments Committee

The ETA Mobile Payments Committee advances the growth of mobile payments and identifies the opportunities afforded by technology to transform the future of commerce, while ensuring that the lives of every consumer touched are enriched and improved. The committee works on ways to enhance business relationships and network interoperability among merchants, card brands, networks, equipment manufacturers and financial institutions to further the growth and utility of mobile payments.

• 2017 achievements: Published Expert Insights column in Transaction Trends
  • Mobile Payments On Consumer Devices – Driving Adoption by Derek Webster, CardFlight; with contributions from Steve Klebe, Google, and Jamie Uppenberg, Discover
  • ETA Expert Insights: Mobile Payment Acceptance – Perspectives from Leading Merchant Acquirers by Derek Webster, CardFlight; with contributions from Harry Hargens, Cayan, and Ryan Schneider, Integrity Payments

Retail Technology Committee

The Retail Technology Committee focuses on the intersection of traditional point of sale (POS) systems, integrated payments and software in the retail space. The committee collaborates with the retail community and related third-party organizations to address issues impacting the payments/POS market as well as the sales channel. The committee gathers and disseminates information about retail technology trends and applications to the ETA membership.

• 2017 achievements:
  • Resources for Small & Medium Businesses (SMBs)
  • Merchant Guide to Modernizing Your Payment System
  • Infographic: Six Tips for Modernizing Your Payments System 
  • Securing Retail Technologies for SMBs

International Committee

The ETA International Committee helps our member companies grow and support their businesses outside the US. The committee as a forum to address issues affecting payments in global markets including technology matters, market opportunities, and legal / regulatory challenges.

• 2017 achievements:
  • Produced a series of whitepapers exploring themes and developments within and across key markets:
    • Merchant Trends at the Point of Transaction by Kelley Knutson, TSYS; with contributions from Robin Gandhi, Adyen, James Hicks, Mastercard, and Parag Ladhawala, Google
    • The Evolution of Mobile Payments – by Kelley Knutson, TSYS

Venture Capital Committee

The ETA Venture Capital Committee provides a forum for venture capitalists, private equity, and FinTech investors to address their most pressing business issues and make the right industry connections.

• 2017 achievements:
  • Committee provided input and sourced speakers for ETA programming:
    • Payments Pitch-Off 2017 judging panel
    • Investing in Payments panel at TRANSACT 17, TRANSACT Tech Atlanta, Strategic Leadership Forum, and TRANSACT Tech San Francisco