Insight on ETA Mission

Dear Paul,

As one of the 12 founders of ETA's forerunner, the Bankcard Services Association (BSA), and as a long-time participant in the association, serving on its board at various times, I want to respond to Robert Mohon's letter [posted in the Forum section] in the Sept 8, 2003 issue of The Green Sheet.

Let me make it emphatically clear that I do NOT speak for the ETA but rather as a 25-year industry veteran with significant historical perspective.

It's important to step back in time to the summer of 1988, in the United Airlines Club meeting room at the Chicago O'Hare Airport where 12 ISO/MSP owners, who shared a common purpose, came together to create an association for the benefit of their industry. This was the inception of BSA that later became the ETA.

In response to Mr. Mohon and a number of individuals who have a misconception of ETA's core constituency as well as it's mission, BSA was founded by and for the benefit of service providers-the ISO/MSP companies. Neither has the BSA nor the ETA professed to be an organization for "the feet on the street." In addition, ETA's dues structure is set on a graduated scale so that every company, large and small, can afford to join.

ETA's members recognize that the success of their companies is due largely to the feet on the street. As Bill Higgins, President of Retriever Payment Systems once noted, "Nothing happens in this industry until a sale is made." While the purpose of ETA is to benefit its member companies, of critical importance to the members are competent salespeople who are knowledgeable and who operate in a legal and ethical manner. So helping the ETA's "customer's customer" is of utmost importance.

The difficulty, though, is determining how to accomplish this without compromising its primary mission-service to the ISO/MSP companies. The ETA is striving to address some of the needs of the salesperson while constrained by the fact that there are specific areas that ETA must avoid and others areas into which it should not venture.

Next, regarding Mr. Mohon's specific comment on the expense of ETA's meetings. I can only paraphrase a comment made by a BSA board member during a discussion on dues and the price for our conferences. The board member noted that there is a large number of people in the industry who are making a great deal of money and who therefore should be willing to invest in their business and themselves by attending BSA-sponsored functions.

Also, the Strategic Leadership and Networking Forum was an experiment and as such targeted a specific audience although no one was excluded. With the exception of a few bumps, the general opinion is that it was a real success.

I applaud Mr. Mohon for providing his suggestions. Rather than having the ETA use a scattergun approach in hopes of just hitting the target, help it focus on the bull's eye so that it can begin to find ways to meet the needs of the feet on the street. I encourage all salespeople to communicate with the ETA through its members, the companies for whom you work and what it is that you specifically want and need. In other words... communicate, communicate.

As my wife frequently informs me, "My mind-reading course didn't come in today."

Thank you for allowing me to respond to Mr. Mohon's sincere letter.

Cordially,

Biff Matthews

President, Cardware International

Correction

The article, "Insider's Report on Payments: Intuit Buys Way Into POS Business" in The Green Sheet, October 27, 2003, issue 03:10:02, included an inaccurate statement about NPC. Page 16 of the article referenced 2002 revenue for NPC at "a little more than $118 million." The correct figure for 2002 revenue was in excess of $455 million. GS staff regrets the error.