Recap: Pace of Innovation in Payments Industry Takes Center Stage as Hundreds of Payments Leaders Gather at ETA SLF

ETA’s Strategic Leadership Forum brought the industry’s top executives, thought leaders and entrepreneurs together for an agenda packed with thought provoking discussions, oceanside networking, and a bit of golf, too.

ETA SLF attendees took the Monarch Beach Golf Links to compete in the 2018 SLF Golf Tournament, sponsored by Paya, on Tuesday morning.

Programming kicked off Tuesday afternoon, with a keynote panel discussion before a scenic networking reception, sponsored White & Case, capping the first day of action. The panel discussion examined the ways partnerships between legacy payments players and new FinTech entrants are shaping payments. Attendees heard from Bill Clerico, Co-Founder and CEO, WePay, and Kim Fitzsimmons, President, Merchant Services’ Corporate & Investment Bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co. as they detailed the two organizations’ recent, impactful acquisition deal and the ways Chase and WePay are working together to reach merchants with ease, speed and flexibility.

The second day of ETA SLF began on a historical and impactful note – eight payments visionaries were inducted into the ETA Hall of Fame in a special breakfast ceremony presented by ETA Member Visa. Click here to read about the inductees and the ceremony.

At the ceremony, ETA announced the establishment of a new scholarship program in honor of Joe Kaplan – a ETA Hall of Fame inductee and payments industry entrepreneur who passed away unexpectedly in July. The scholarship, supported by a generous endowment from Global Payments Inc., North American Bancard and Paya.

Following the induction ceremony, Worldpay CEO and Executive Chairman Charles Drucker gave the morning keynote. Drucker offered his vision of the industry and how he sought to leverage partnership opportunities and gave his strategic vision for the new Worldpay.

“[Worldpay’s] success is only a proof point of the industry’s success. When everyone in the ecosystem contributes, then the rising tide lifts all boats,” Drucker said during his keynote. “All of us play a key role in protecting the integrity of each transaction, and it is part of our responsibility to keep bad actors out…ETA’s Self-Regulatory program – which the ETA Board was critical in developing – is a good place to start for those that want to do the right thing.”

After a networking break, TSYS Senior EVP & President of Merchant Solutions Phillip McHugh moderated a discussion on payments security as a strategic driver with Moneris CEO Angela Brown, BlueSnap CEO Ralph Dangelmaier and Kount CEO Bradley Wiskirchen.

Rounding out the morning programming was an address from Olabisi Boyle, Senior Director, Internet of Things (IoT) Connected Car at Visa on the opportunities for payments industry to enable commerce through the IoT, particularly regarding connected commerce via automobile. Jon Ziglar, CEO of ParkMobile, and ETA CEO Jason Oxman joined Boyle on stage for a discussion following her address. In the foyer at ETA SLF, attendees were able to participate in demos of Visa’s Connected Car technology.

The focus on the trends and opportunities in payments continued when Greg Cohen, President, Paya, moderated a panel on private equity that offered insight from both those sitting in the private equity realm and organizations that have successful worked in partnership to expand their organizations and align strategic focus. Speakers included Christopher Cruz, Managing Director, Searchlight Capital Partners; Kevin Jones, Founder, Anovia Payments; KJ McConnell, Vice President, GTCR.

The final afternoon panel discussed the growing presence of software and the evolving partnerships with hardware companies to offer integrated solutions.Panelists included Dan Chandre, Vice President Strategic Development, MINDBODY, Inc., Jared Isaacman, CEO of Shift4 Payments, and Rushi Patel, Co-Founder, Homebase. The discussion was moderated by Derek Webster, Founder & CEO of CardFlight.

SLF attendees wrapped up day two with a premier networking reception, sponsored by ETA Member Worldpay. SLF attendees made connections as the sun set in a beautiful display of color over Dana Point.

The final day – now underway – began with a networking breakfast, sponsored by ETA member Mastercard, before the morning keynote address by Kim Crawford Goodman, President of Card Services at Fiserv. Crawford Goodman brought her rich experience as she offered ETA SLF attendees insights on the ever-present challenges of leadership and changes in card processing.

The final panel of the day focused on the growth and innovation surrounding contactless payments in the U.S. Liz Ryan, EVP & Wholesale Segment Executive at Wells Fargo and Chair of the ETA Contactless Payments Task Force, moderated a discussion between Subway Director of Payments Kaylie Cohen, Mastercard VP of Solutions Sales, Tokenization Melanie Gluck, and Samsung Pay Head of Merchant Solutions Bjorn Ovick.

Any SLF attendee will tell you that the opportunity to connect with high-level executive peers – without interruptions or distractions – is what makes this gathering unrivaled in the industry. ETA is thrilled with energy and engagement experienced over the past three days, and we encourage everyone to register early to make the cut for ETA SLF 2019 — another event sure to bring an engaging, informative and connection-driving experience to payments’ top leaders.

Thank you to our attendees, presenters and sponsors who have made this year’s ETA SLF an amazing success. We look forward to seeing the partnerships cemented at ETA SLF 2018 grow and thrive!