An ETA teach-in at Capitol Hill

What is interchange? How can I differentiate between a signature debit card and a credit card? What's the difference between a card issuer and an acquirer? These are just a few of the questions the Electronic Transactions Association set out to answer for federal and congressional staffers at an Oct. 1, 2010, educational briefing on Capitol Hill.

Personnel from agencies as diverse as the National Parks Service and the Internal Revenue Service, along with congressional staffers, attended what the ETA billed as Electronic Payments Education Day.

"ETA takes self-regulation seriously," Carla Balakgie, the ETA's Chief Executive Officer, said in kicking off the event. It is the third such event presented by the association in recent years. And education is a critical component of regulation, she offered.

Presenting to the group, in addition to Balakgie, were Diana Mehochko, President of the acquirer First National Merchant Solutions LLC; Rick Plyant, Chairman of ISO CoCard Marketing Group LLC; and Robert McCullen, Chairman, CEO and President of Trustwave, which specializes in data security and PCI compliance.

These experts discussed the roles and responsibilities of the various players in card payments and then walked the group through the life of a card payment. McCullen wrapped things up with a concise explanation of how cardholder information gets compromised and what PCI and encryption do to address the specter of data breaches.

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