ETA’s Oxman Says San Francisco Office Is Indicative of Payments-Industry Change

The Electronic Transactions Association, a trade group based in Washington, D.C., that represents the merchant-services industry, has opened an office in San Francisco, its first outside of the nation’s capital.

The move is indicative of Silicon Valley’s growing presence within the payments industry and, specifically, within merchant services, says Jason Oxman, chief executive of the association.

“Like the payments industry, the ETA is changing,” Oxman tells Digital Transactions News. “We are growing and expanding to include technology companies in the payments space.”

Members of the 26-year-old ETA, which began as the Bankcard Services Association in 1990, now include the likes of Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., and Intel Corp. Oxman says more ETA member companies are based in California than in any other state, including New York and Georgia, two major hubs for payments firms. Also, both Atlanta and New York City are easier commutes from Washington than is Silicon Valley.

“Having an office in San Francisco allows us to better engage current members and future member companies,” Oxman says. He travels to California about once every 60 days. The ETA’s San Francisco Transact Tech event is the group’s third most popular one following its annual Transact conference in Las Vegas and the Strategic Leadership Forum, Oxman says.

The rise of technology companies within acquiring is manifested by changes in the sales channel and the technology being sold, Oxman says. Traditional independent sales organizations now sell merchant services alongside independent software vendors, value-added resellers, and payment facilitators, he says. And the products they sell now include more than a point-of-sale terminal. “ETA has expanded its own purview to include these companies as members,” he adds, and so-called legacy companies are embracing a technology focus.

The office is a shared space at Commerce Lab, 604 Mission St. ETA members Commerce Ventures and The Bancorp also use the space, Oxman says. No ETA employees staff the space; it is used on an as-needed basis. But Oxman’s hope is that the ETA will be able to staff the office at some point.