Guest Post: Industry Affairs Committee Meetings — Where Payments & Thought Leadership Converge
By Sarah Brown-Campello, Manager, Industry Affairs, ETA
ETA Industry Affairs committee meetings are unique and impactful. Led by industry experts, these committees engage senior leaders in passionate debate on a range of topics key to our industry. The knowledge they generate benefits ETA members as well as the fintech and payments industry at large. Each month, participants discuss the latest trends and best practices that affect the vertical in which they work.
All ETA committees also have working groups, which hold smaller, more intimate meetings that dive deeper into specific subjects related to their committees. For instance, the ETA Payment Facilitator Committee has several working groups that delve into specific questions: How do we define different payment facilitator terms and relationship? What are the risks associated with money transmitter licenses? Should your company be a payment facilitator or marketplace? And what new proposed regulations do payment facilitators and marketplaces need to be tracking?
As we move full steam ahead with the many issues facing our industry, we would like to share with you some highlights of the ETA Industry Affairs committees.
The Mobile Payments Committee has finalized a mobile security framework white paper that will be published in the coming weeks.
The Payment Facilitator Committee has been holding monthly roundtables featuring SMEs to discuss issues specific to PFs and potential PFs. Topics have included PCI, revenue recognition, and oversight.
The Payment Sales & Strategy Committee is conducting in-depth research and writing about leveraging interchange optimization.
The Retail Technology Committee is putting together tips for small businesses, specifically for retail and restaurants. Members are looking at payment-parallel resources and marketing techniques that businesses can use to reach new customers, such as making sure a business’ Yelp page is up-to-date, that inventory is updated simultaneously online and in-store, and that multiple methods of payment can be accepted.
The Risk, Fraud & Security Committee recently welcomed Chris Novak of Verizon Business to discuss cybersecurity and the rise in ransomware attacks. Chris left the committee with the following three takeaways:
- Practice cyber-hygiene — It might not be exciting, but it is prudent and necessary to cover the basics and make sure your team does not skip or skimp on fundamentals of cybersecurity for your business.
- Plug into threat intelligence — Connect with like-minded companies and colleagues to scan cybersecurity threats in your industry. Relatedly, determine what tasks you can automate to allow employees to concentrate on targeting larger potential threats.
- Absolutely plan, prepare, practice — Perform ransomware and cybersecurity breach simulations and exercises. Ensure that everyone from the executive team on down knows what to do and follows policy and company recommendations.
The Technology Committee is developing a webinar series called Crypto for Payments, which will launch this fall. Sign up on our webinar page.
These updates represent just a sampling of what the ETA Industry Affairs committees have been working on, and we are always looking for new committee members to help shape our industry. Employees of all ETA members are welcome and encouraged to join an ETA Industry Affairs committee. For more information, contact Sarah Brown-Campello, Manager of Industry Affairs, at [email protected].
To ensure that you’re hearing about the latest committee activities, bookmark Transaction Trends and subscribe to the weekly ETA newsletter. For more information about these publications, contact Laura Hubbard, Director of Communications, at [email protected].