WorldPay US CEO Tony Catalfano, who chairs the American Transaction Processors Coalition , will lead a new financial technology task force.
A new task force has been created to promote and grow Georgia’s finanial technology sector, an industry that tends to fly under-the-radar, but that employs more than 40,000 in the metro Atlanta area.
The Metro Atlanta Chamber and American Transaction Processors Coalition said Thursday the FinTech Task Force will help create more high-tech jobs, attract talent and recruit companies.
Payments processing is one of metro Atlanta’s leading industries, with about 70 companies generating $30 billion in annual revenue based or fielding substantial operations here, the release said. About 85 billion credit, debit and gift card payments are processed through Georgia companies, totaling about 70 percent of all U.S. transactions.
The task force will be led by ATPC Chairman Tony Catalfano, who is also president and CEO of WorldPay US, a major electronic payment processor that recently moved its U.S. hub from Sandy Springs to Midtown Atlanta.
“I’m honored to accept this role and responsibility to make sure Atlanta remains the center of financial technology and service innovation,” Catalfano said in a news release. “I look forward to teaming with other business leaders to develop strategies that spur development, attract investment and grow the most capable FinTech workforce in the country.”
The new partnership is based on a model similar to the chamber’s Mobility Task Force, which launched in 2012, and has been involved in the recruitment and expansion of wireless technology firms.
“Growing jobs and attracting talent is central to our mission, and metro Atlanta is a natural hub for FinTech,” said chamber President and CEO Hala Moddelmog. She said the new team will serve as “a powerful catalyst for growing and sustaining the region’s financial technology ecosystem.”
ATPC, founded in 2013, has already made in-roads in Congress and been involved in recruitment and promotional efforts within the industry. ATPC executives were recently part of a trade mission to Brazil with Gov. Nathan Deal. H. West Richards, executive director of the coalition, said the mission is to keep what the organization has dubbed “Transaction Alley” as the financial technology capital of the world.
“I believe one day we make look back on this initiative as the spark that helped to shape Georgia’s future as the next financial industry powerhouse to arrive on the world stage,” Richards said.
