Americans will spend nearly $640 billion this holiday season. More than 37 percent of purchases will be made with credit cards. Seventy percent of consumers plan to give gift cards, bringing gift card spending to nearly $30 billion. Astonishingly, 70 percent of each credit swipe is processed in Georgia, and gift cards are mostly powered by local companies.
The Financial Transaction Processing (FTP) industry provides infrastructure for, and processing of, financial transactions that take place every time a debit card is used for groceries, calls are made with a prepaid card or gas is bought on a credit card. Atlanta’s National Data Corp. created the industry during the 1960s with groundbreaking developments in payment systems, followed closely by First Data. Payment processing, which will reach $65 billion by 2015, is the industry core, and Georgia is its hub, with nearly 60 percent of the 135 billion global payments processed here last year.
Georgia companies are positioned to remain pioneers as merchant point-of-sale devices and management of big financial data evolve and as mobile commerce transactions balloon to $600 billion in 2013. Georgia is home to more than 70 FTP companies including merchant acquirers and card processors WorldPay, Elavon, First Data and Global Payments; prepaid card leader InComm; point-of-sale device manufacturer NCR; retail banking solution providers Fiserv and Intuit; identity, analytics and risk firm Equifax, and countless support entities.
U.S. innovation will drive future global growth, especially where credit card penetration is low. More than 40,000 employees and another 105,000 working for Georgia companies around the world already manage financial transactions for 15 million global card-enabled merchants.
The FTP industry is vital yet unknown in the state, especially compared to other sectors. Nineteen federal agencies regulate FTP companies, creating laws and administrative requirements with the potential to cripple innovation and make us less globally competitive. As a result, Georgia’s congressional delegation and state leaders have the unique opportunity to protect, nourish and grow “Transaction Alley,” which is poised to become a renowned cornerstone of our economy.
That’s why WorldPay and several leading companies recently launched the American Transaction Processors Coalition. We will tell our story to elected leaders and try to ensure their legislation does not harm industry growth. At the same time, we plan to seek university partnerships to train necessary IT workers, especially as places like Silicon Valley, New York and Denver invest in infrastructure and graduate retention programs.
This season, consumers can make purchases confident that their data is secure, and give gift cards that never need returning, all because of Georgia’s best-kept economic secret. Elected officials work hard recruiting new companies to Georgia but can rest easy knowing the transaction processing industry and its high-paying, stable jobs are already here, wrapped neatly with a bow under ourholiday tree waiting, to be opened.
Tony Catalfano, CEO of WorldPay, is a founding member of the American Transaction Processors Coalition.
