ELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS ASSOCIATION
2025 Year in Review
At ETA, we continued to serve as a strategic partner to the payments industry — driving opportunity, accelerating innovation, and reinforcing the systems that keep commerce moving. In 2025, we successfully navigated rapid technological change and major policy debates that tested our industry’s direction — and showcased its resilience and growing momentum.
JODIE KELLEY
CEO, ETA
A Message From Our CEO
When I think about 2025, I see a year defined by direction. At a time when the payments ecosystem is evolving faster than ever, ETA helped provide a clear sense of where we are going and why it matters. We didn’t simply respond to new challenges; we led with intention, advancing a vision of payments that fuels opportunity, earns trust, and strengthens the global economy.
Jodie Kelley, CEO, ETA
Advancing the Business of Payments
In 2025, ETA’s events delivered focused learning, practical insights, and connections that strengthened the business of payments across the continent. The breadth of participation reflects the industry’s continued need for credible content and spaces where members can move their work forward.
Across all formats, ETA events delivered what members value most: relevant content, trusted expertise, and conversations that directly support their business goals.
LEADERSHIP & LEARNING
State of Payments
ETA London
Four Central Banks Talk
Strengthening Compliance & Policy Readiness
Nov 5-6 • Pentagon City, VA
ETA’s compliance and policy programming — spanning TCPA, FTC Junk Fee, Threat Vectors, and two Payments Compliance Conferences — helped members navigate regulatory developments with clarity. Policy engagements, including Fintech Policy Forum, ETAU Spotlight Sessions, and multiple fly-ins, kept members connected to the issues shaping their operating environment.
“You get everything in one place — peer perspectives on regulation and compliance, how we’ll operate for the next year, the trends we’ll look at, the people we’ll engage with, the regulations we’ll watch, and the regulators we’ll talk to.”
— Tom Bloodworth, Director of Regulatory Compliance, Global Payments
Shaping the Direction of Payments
Driving the Issues That Matter
ETA set the pace in Washington in 2025. Our work focused on protecting innovation, strengthening regulatory understanding, and reinforcing how payments support millions of small businesses.
ETA advanced 15 major federal priorities, including AI, digital assets, open banking, fraud, cybersecurity, business tax incentives, and small business support — ensuring policymakers understood the economic stakes of payments innovation.
We supported key legislation such as STABLE, GENIUS, TRAPS, WIMWIG, CISA 2025 Reauthorization, and the Unleashing AI Innovation in Financial Services Act (UAIFSA), reinforcing the need for regulatory pathways that enable innovation rather than restrict it.
On the regulatory front, ETA engaged directly with Treasury, DOJ, and the Administration to support efforts such as reducing check usage, addressing restrictive state laws, and shaping digital asset frameworks.
Key Legislation
Congratulations!
ETA EVP, ETA CPP, Scott Talbott was recognized for the 17th year in a row as one of The Hill’s Top Lobbyists of 2025. Congratulations to Scott on this well-deserved honor!
Read More »
Strengthening Understanding in Washington
To ensure policymakers had firsthand insight into how payments drive small business success, ETA hosted an Executive Board Fly In with eight targeted bipartisan meetings, emphasizing how electronic payments help businesses “get business, grow, and succeed.”
ETA continued educating lawmakers and stakeholders through ETAU programs, Spotlight briefings, and the Fintech Policy Forum — providing timely guidance on evolving regulations and emerging technologies.
Spotlight Calls
Fintech Summit
ETA Roundtable Lunch on SMB and Payments
BRIEFINGS FOR MOC AND STAFF
COMMENT LETTERS
1:1 MEMBER MEETINGS
Spotlight on Small Business
To ground these conversations in data, ETA published the Small Business White Paper: How Electronic Payments Drive Small Business Success (2025), documenting the critical role of payments on Main Street.
Strengthening a Modern, Innovation-Ready Payments Ecosystem In Canada
In 2025, ETA deepened its leadership role in Canada by engaging directly in the development of national frameworks that will shape the future of payments. Our work focused on ensuring a regulatory environment that supports innovation, protects consumers, and strengthens competition across the Canadian market.
Advancing Key Policy Frameworks
ETA played a pivotal role in shaping the Retail Payment Activities Act, helping define expectations for operational risk management and oversight of payment service providers. We also advanced Canada’s consumer-driven banking framework, reinforcing the importance of choice, secure data access, and open market innovation.
By securing expanded membership eligibility in Payments Canada, ETA expanded industry participation.
Top Issues
Building Knowledge and Community Across the Market
Through high-impact events — including the Payments Compliance Conference and TRANSACT Tech Toronto — ETA convened leaders from across the financial and technology sectors to discuss emerging risks, compliance expectations, and market opportunities. These forums reinforced ETA’s position as the authoritative voice for payments in Canada.
Key Events
Informing the Public Conversation
In a year marked by economic uncertainty and rapid policy shifts, ETA served as a consistent source of clarity for policymakers, businesses, and consumers. Through 44 media stories, ETA helped frame national conversations around payments innovation, regulation, and the infrastructure that keeps commerce running.
Driving Insight Through Collaboration
ETA’s Industry Affairs committees remained a core engine of industry collaboration in 2025. They brought together experts across the ecosystem to examine emerging trends, operational realities, and regulatory shifts shaping the future of payments. These insights directly informed ETA’s policy development, education priorities, and broader strategic direction — ensuring association initiatives stay grounded in the lived experience of operators across the payments chain.
Two new committees — AI and LATAM — reflected the industry’s emerging needs. The AI Committee examines how artificial intelligence is advancing security and efficiency across payments, while the LATAM Committee focuses on digital adoption and fraud mitigation trends in major regional markets such as Mexico and Brazil.
Learn More About Committees »
Guest Speakers
Thank you to our Industry Affairs guest speakers who shared their expertise across our various committees on a range of topics including banking, risk management, fraud prevention, payment facilitation, and mobile payments. Their diverse perspectives and insights have enhanced our understanding of emerging challenges and opportunities across the payments ecosystem.
Adam Sommer, Mastercard• Al Pascual, Scamnetic • Andrew Bigart, Partner • Anush Amiryants, Visa • Brian Butts, CardFlight • Ciaran Cassidy, Global Payments •
Clint Minnear, Product Management • Denise Collins Lee, Payabli • Georgina Mejia Solorzano, Visa • Gilbert Bailey, Retail POS • Jay Sykes, Bead • Kate Griffin, Aspen Institute Financial Security Program • Ken Westbrook, Stop Scams Alliance • Kolin Whitley, Visa • Nicole Meisner, Taft Law • Rasha Lashin, Visa • Rick Lynch, DisputeHelp • Rishi Patel, SVB/ First Citizens Bank • Rob Johnson, Visa • Rob Johnson, Visa • Russell Moore, amotivv • Sarah Adams, ISV Pay • Theresa Kananen, Arnall Golden Gregory • Tiffany Johnson, NMI • Timothy Butler, Greenberg Traurig
Building a Prepared Payments Workforce
In 2025, ETA’s education and certification programs worked together to create a unified pathway for developing a skilled, informed, and future-ready payments workforce. Participation grew significantly as professionals from more than 200 organizations sought unbiased learning amid rapid regulatory, technological, and operational change.
A Unified Career Pathway
Together, ETA’s education and certification offerings form a cohesive development path that supports skill building, raises industry standards, and prepares professionals for what’s next. ETA will continue investing in the curriculum and capabilities needed to keep the industry aligned and future-ready.
Strengthening Compliance Readiness
With regulatory expectations shifting quickly, ETA expanded its compliance-focused learning. A steady cadence of compliance webinars and policy-driven sessions at conferences helped leaders and frontline teams stay aligned and operate with a compliance-first mindset.
Enterprise Ready Learning Infrastructure
The introduction of enterprise-ready course delivery allowed larger organizations to integrate ETA learning directly into internal systems. This created a more consistent, scalable approach to building workforce capability at a time when standardized training is essential.
Preview any course by clicking its video below.
Certifications
The ETA Certified Payments Professional (CPP) program added 129 new certified professionals in 2025, representing a wide range of functional roles, including sales, operations, underwriting, risk, legal, and executive leadership.
The program also modernized its core components — introducing a new exam, updating the study guide, offering targeted study sessions, and preparing a revised online review course for early 2026 — ensuring the certification continues to reflect current industry practices and expectations.
Expanding Representation Across the Ecosystem
In 2025, ETA welcomed new member companies across the payments ecosystem, strengthening the association’s reach and reinforcing its role as the industry’s central hub for collaboration and insight.
This year’s new members reflect the depth and diversity of the modern payments ecosystem, bringing perspectives from merchant services, software-driven commerce, digital infrastructure, fraud mitigation, and financial services.
Advannova Inc. • Alliance Bancard Systems • amotivv • AppFolio • Basis Theory • Benji Pays • BlytzPay • BVNK • Card Payment Solutions • Catapulta Payment Systems • Chime • Clear ACH • CLOSEKNIT CONNECTIONS • Community Commerce • Computop Inc. • ePayData, Inc. • Fastboy Payments • Fees No More powered by Fullpay • Fexco • Flex Payment Solutions • Florida Merchant Services • FMK Agency • Galaxy Business Solutions • GrailPay • Gratify Pay • Greenings • HighWire Payments • Idem Club Inc. • Integrity Payments Inc. • Inter & Co • JIM.com • linked2pay • Maxix Technology • Media Payments Group • Mojave Payment Technologies • MVB Bank • NuvoLinQ Inc. • PayCompass • Paymentree Inc. • Payments and Partnerships Inc. • PaymentVision • PayNetWorx • Paynuity • Payrillium • Peoples Group • Pi-xcels • PlexyPay • Receive • Red Bear Advisory LLC • RegTech Group LLC • Rome LLP • SafetyKit • Small Business Growth Alliance • Sola • Splitit • SUNMI Technology US Inc. • Swipe Payment Solutions • Sync Payments • TapifyGo • Tekcard Payments • Tender Retail • Thredd • Toucan Payments LLC • Transaction Validation Inc. • True Payment Solution • TrueBiz • Unity FI Solutions • Velocity Transactions • Verifone • Veroogle LLC • VizyPay • Vyapay • Weave • WizarPOS • YourMenu
“Being part of ETA is a great opportunity for us to engage with peers and industry leaders and to get an idea of what they're seeing and where they're headed and how we fit into that story.”
Watch Video »
— Michael Reed, CEO, Sola
Awards
Recognized individuals or companies that made a significant difference in the payments industry through innovation, business practices, and contributions to the association.
Distinguished
Payments Professional
CAMERON BREADY
CEO, Global Payments
Pay It
Forward
ROBERT MARTIN
Chief Technology Officer, BridgePay
Committee Volunteer
of the Year
KEVIN SHAMOUN
SVP Product & Innovation, Fortis
ISO of the Year
Most Innovative
Product or Solution
Business Partner
of the Year
Recognizing an ETA CPP who has dedicated extra time and effort to contributing to the growth of the program.
KATIE HACKNEY
Senior Trainer (Learning & Development), North
Awarded ISVs that disrupted the status-quo to redefine a better payments experience.
ETA honored sales representatives from member companies who have demonstrated commitment and passion for achieving excellence.
Program Sponsored By
The ETA YPP program honored rising stars in the industry and provided them with mentorship and learning opportunities.
Program Sponsored By
Honored game changers in the industry.
Powering ETA
2025 Board of Directors
This broad representation ensured ETA remains the central forum where technology, policy, and commerce converge.
The diversity of business models and capabilities strengthens our ability to identify emerging trends, anticipate operational needs, and advocate for policies that reflect the realities of a modern, interconnected payments landscape.
Executive Officers
Derek Webster, President
President & CEO, CardFlight
Jamie Walker, President-Elect
CEO, Elavon
Bruce Lowthers, Treasurer
CEO, Paysafe
Christopher Sweetland, Secretary
Global Head of Payments Markets & Partnerships, PayPal
Cameron Bready, Immediate Past-President
President & CEO, Global Payments
Directors
Todd Ablowitz
Co-CEO / Co-Founder, Infinicept
Chiro Aikat
Head of U.S. Market Development, Mastercard
Jim Allen
Managing Director, Head of Business Transformation, Wells Fargo Merchant Services
Rehman Baig
Chief Payments Officer, FlexFactor
June Chen
General Manager, China UnionPay USA
Kathryn Cleary
Head of Merchant Solutions, PNC Bank
Bill Dobbins
Head of Acquiring and Enablement, Visa
Jason Hanson
President, Global Payment Network, Capital One
James Hicks
President & CEO, Moneris
Jim Johnson
Co-President, Banking Solutions, FIS
Jodie Kelley
CEO, Electronic Transactions Association
Kimiko Kokka
Director of Merchant Business Development and Partnerships, Apple
Michael Lozanoff
Managing Director, Global Head of Merchant Acquiring Product and Engineering, JP Morgan
Barry McCarthy
CEO, Deluxe
Philip McHugh
EVP & Group President, Worldpay
Laura Miller
Chief Revenue Officer & Head of Global E‑Commerce, Nuvei
Wally Mlynarski
Head of Merchant Solutions, Bank of America
Colleen J. Taylor
President, U.S. Merchant Services, American Express
Christopher Ward
EVP, Head of Wholesale Payments, Truist
Erika Wool
Head of Product Partnerships, Stripe
Samir Zabaneh
CEO, TouchBistro
ETA Staff Members
At ETA, our team is dedicated to championing and nurturing the most innovative and dynamic industry. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us with any questions, comments, or concerns. Your goals and aspirations are our top priority and our team is committed to helping you achieve them.
At its core, ETA is its people. We could not drive the results we do on behalf of this dynamic industry without the dedicated, talented team we are lucky to have. I'm excited to introduce you to them.
— Jodie Kelley, CEO, ETA
“I enjoy helping keep membership operations organized and reliable, building a foundation that helps ETA support its members quickly and effectively across the payments ecosystem.”
— Caleb Brown, Membership Coordinator
“In the payments world, there are two sides: you are either paying or getting paid. ETA being in the nucleus of this unique ecosystem excites me. Let’s go!”
— Desmond Bull, Business Systems Manager
“Working in an industry that relentlessly innovates and is in a constant state of change is thrilling. I enjoy driving new members and fresh thinking to ETA and expanding what ETA can do for the industry.”
— Alexis Byrne, Chief Revenue Officer
I am filled with pride and gratitude for the opportunity to work alongside such an incredible and forward-thinking team. Together, we are driving meaningful change and making a lasting impact on the payments industry, and I couldn’t be more excited to continue this journey!
— Amanda Cline, VP Operations
"I am passionate about creating events that bring industry leaders together to share insights, collaborate, and drive innovation. The payments industry is dynamic and ever evolving, and I'm honored to be part of fostering these meaningful connections."
— Jennifer Desjardins, Senior Director of Events
"State policy is where payments companies most often feel the impact of regulatory decisions firsthand. The work that excites me at ETA is engaging directly with policymakers to ensure those decisions reflect how the industry operates in practice—and protect innovation, small businesses, and consumers at the state level."
— Christy Ellerbee, VP of State Government Affairs
“Being part of a team with such a strong mission and promoting the transformative work of our members during the pandemic has been extremely rewarding. It’s been inspiring to share how our members are enabling new payment experiences for businesses and consumers.”
— Ali Furlong, Chief of Staff & Board Relations
"Coming from government and industry, I’ve seen how much policy outcomes depend on real‑world perspective. At ETA, I’m able to work directly with the companies shaping payments to help translate complex innovation into policy that is practical, durable, and grounded in how the ecosystem actually operates."
— Dong Hong, SVP, Public Policy and General Counsel
"I enjoy making sure the financial side of the organization runs smoothly so the rest of the team can do their work effectively."
— May Kwan, Controller
“Payments is the x-factor that empowers economies, people, and the imagination. To represent an industry that fuels the world and makes diversity, equity, and inclusion a priority, is both exciting and a privilege.”
— Seemin Qadiri, VP Marketing & Sales
— Patrick Russell, VP of Government Affairs
“I enjoy telling the story of the innovative products and services ETA members are deploying to help shape public policy. Good public policy in turn helps ETA members continue to innovate to serve their customers.”
— Scott Talbott, EVP, ETA CPP
“The payments industry is always in a state of continuous innovation, and to be at the forefront of the industry with the ETA team is an honor and a privilege. I’m excited to work with such a strong team that advocates, educates, and supports the growth of the payments industry.”
— Carl Wegner, Marketing Manager
“I am happy to be part of the leading association in payments. Working in the ETA Industry Affairs team has helped me to learn and hear from leaders in the industry about payments and technology.”
— Kevin Wilson, VP of Product Development
"I love helping create a workplace where people feel comfortable and supported. When the office feels welcoming, it makes a real difference in how we work together every day."
— Melat Wondimu, Office Manager
ELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS ASSOCIATION
Stay in the Loop
We look forward to our continued partnership and leveraging our expertise to further your business and the industry in 2025.