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people did not return after the lunch break and did not I will not waiver in my commitment to putting a stop to
become members of the BSA. the criminal behaviors that have become all too common
in our industry. I call for collaboration with the FTC to stop
Later, in 1990 in Denver, Jay and I presented the report these criminal practices. In addition, I call for the networks
of the BSA's Ethics Committee of which we were both to do a much better job of enforcing all of their rules. If we
members. I made a formal motion that convicted felons are going to have rules that are not enforced, let's remove
not be allowed to be members of the BSA. In my early the resulting double standard that is created by allowing
days as an officer of the Bank of Illinois, I learned that a the rule breakers to have a competitive advantage over
convicted felon could not be a bank officer in Illinois and, those who follow the rules.
to me, it was logical that our industry should be held to the
same standards as bank officers. The motion was defeated There is absolutely no reason for our industry to be
and I immediately resigned publicly as the founding vice tarnished as it is today. We should be trusted partners who
president of the organization. can help merchants succeed — not hinder them. It is long
past time to do this and I call upon an honorable leader in
The ETA has certainly become a strong industry our industry, Jason Oxman, the CEO of the ETA, to lead
organization and today I am proud to be a member and this mission. He is a capable leader, but he'll need all of
to have Heartland's Vice-Chairman serve on its Board of our support.
Directors.

Robert O. Carr is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
However, to date, no one in our industry has championed
the eradication of the bad practices that have gone on for Heartland Payment Systems Inc. To reach him by email, please
decades. But, after my talk, many, many industry leaders send a message to bob.carr@e-hps.com.
expressed their support and acknowledged that "It is
about time someone said this publicly," urging me not to This letter was originally published by Heartland Payment Systems
give up the good fight. on Oct. 22, 2013 . Copyright © 2013 by Robert O. Carr. All
rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.

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