ETA Fall Meeting and Trade Show
If you are one of the organizations that attended the recent ETA meeting in Long Beach, then you can skip over this review of the meeting, however, two thousand ISOs did not make this meeting, and this piece is written for you.
The ETA (Electronic Transactions Association) fall meeting was held in Long Beach, California on September 19-21, 1997, and was titled Discovering New Worlds. According to ETA comments, the show was a great success with an unexpected number of walk-in registrations. This trade show continues to be dominated by large players, however, the association is open to all. We were pleased to see larger retailers and retail associations present along with a host of equipment and service providers. The exhibit area was very nicely laid out, and with food served in the exhibit hall, was clearly planned to draw attendees to the exhibitors.
The ETA golf tournament created a lot of fun conversation during Friday evening's reception, which was also held in the Exhibit hall. The Key Note speaker Saturday morning was Ronnie Lott who did his best to talk about association business, even though many present wanted to talk football.
We thought that the presentation by William J. Westervelt, Jr. of First Annapolis Consulting was the highlight of this particular meeting. Overall Mr. Westervelt believes that banks are getting back into the acquiring side of the bankcard business, and that this may be in a very big way in the not too distant future. Pointing to some history, he noted that the focus has always been on the issuing side of the business, since the income on card issuing has always been 25 times as large as the accepting side of the business. The change in thinking he believes comes from several sources not the least of which is the high multiple in the stock market for such businesses. Since "Acquiring" has become a stand alone business, due to the efforts of ISOs, banks are being attracted to the current opportunity.
Mr. Westervelt believes that another round of consolidation is coming on the acquiring side of the bankcard business, but it will come with banks acquiring bankcard portfolios or other banks. He asked the audience to consider: "With natural growth in the acquiring marketplace of say 10-12%, how will the large organizations who have principally an acquisition strategy, meet a 25-30% growth rate in their business plans?"
We felt another important comment by Mr. Westervelt was his advise to ISOs. Noting in the context of the fact that there may never be a better time to sell your portfolio, than today, he asked "can your portfolio survive your bank's purchase or sale?"
While the panel discussion on Saturday afternoon was fun, even humorous, it did not delivery much in the way of meat. Timing of speakers could have perhaps been better, as in the case of the presentation by Michael Killen, that should definitely not have been after lunch.
We strongly believe that the ETA can be even more than it currently is in the marketplace, with broader based support, and strongly encourage your participation. You should remember that big or small each vote counts, and your vote may be the one necessary to change the association in the direction you desire.
For information on joining the ETA and their next meeting contact Ken Bowman, Executive Director at (800) 695-5509.
