From Bedrock to the 21st Century: A Wrap-up of ETA’s TRANSACT 2024

by Tom McCole

Having been in and around the card payments industry seemingly since Wilma and Betty shouted the first “Charge It” in Bedrock, I have attended and exhibited at numerous ETA events under various corporate flags. My first event was at the ETA’s predecessor organization, the Bankcard Services Association back in the ‘90s. I was exhibiting my PC MS-DOS-based card payment software to a very small group of ISOs. As my software evolved into Windows and one of the industry’s first payment gateways, the BSA morphed into what we now know and love today as the ETA.

Since then the ETA’s Transact event has evolved into the payments industry’s premier conference and expo. No other fintech conference comes close! Industry leaders from around the world attend Transact to display their technologies and services, learn about the latest technologies, and most importantly, network with their peers and prospects. In an age where we are all screen-cloaked by email, video conference calls, and never-ending text messages, Transact brings our ever-expanding industry colleagues together in the flesh to share, learn, and socialize. The relationships garnered at Transact often transcend business connections and create long-term connections.

Each year Transact showcases the latest in payment technologies. One of this year’s event highlights included SoftPOS, a payment technology enabling standard off-the-shelf devices such as cellphones and tablets to perform payments. It is designed to perform payment transactions for field services, drive-thru, pay-at-the-table, kiosks, EV charging stations, and other remote use cases. This technology is leading to a new method Tap 2 Own, where consumers can tap their payment card to their existing cellphone for payment transactions everywhere including at home for web purchases. It is already in use in some countries and awaiting approval from card brands here in North America.

At Transact, there were a host of educational sessions presented throughout the entire event. There were sessions for navigating the increasingly complex regulatory landscape/minefield. Non-compliance is not an option in today’s financial system and the ETA is there to educate their members. Other session topics included: embedded payments, AI and its role in payments, consumer biometric verification, open banking, blockchain payments and more. The countdown begins for next year’s Transact.

Historical Trivia:

Almost all of the attendees at the early Bankcard Services Association events could have qualified for the Forty Under 40 award!

Tom McCole is a veteran payment technology executive and business development consultant based in Atlanta. Tom@mmtmagonline.com