EFTA members enjoy an host of advantages in an ever-increasingly competitive marketplace. These include:

Government Relations

EFTA serves as a “early warning” system, alerting its members to impending legislation or regulation that could affect their businesses. EFTA membership provides:

· Representation on Capitol Hill and before regulatory agencies

· Access to Congress through Hill visits, speakers, and correspondence

· Participation in industry coalitions that combine the strength of various industry segments

· Experienced Washington-based lobbying

· Participation in issue-specific task forces that work directly with agencies on important issues as they arise

Industry-Leading Forums

EFTA meetings and conferences are known for the quality of their speakers and high level of content. Each year EFTA stages more than a dozen meetings that feature more than 100 speakers—leading figures in government and industry. For three years EFTA has been proud to co-host a series of meetings with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and its Payment Card Center. These meetings have covered a wide range of topics, including data breach security, innovation in payment card technology, and the effect of government electronic payment systems on American communities.

Networking

EFTA members work collegially on many of the issues facing the payments industry. This provides an opportunity for them to build new business relationships, form strategic alliances and to interact with industry leaders.

Working Groups

EFTA provides a number of working groups, or Councils, [George, can you make this link over to the Councils page?] that focus on specific market segments or issues in the electronic payments business. These include the eFinancial Enablers Council, the Electronic Benefits Transfer Industry Council, and the Legal and Regulatory Council. These groups provide an opportunity to work directly on critical industry issues and in many case to interact with regulators and administrators responsible for those issues.

Active Participation

EFTA membership means more than just being current with dues. EFTA members are encouraged to take an active role in the Association and to interact directly with government and industry leaders who are shaping our business. Through meetings, conferences, and task forces EFTA members each year enjoy numerous opportunities to meet and interact with key members of Congress, the Treasury Department, the FDIC, the General Accountability Office, and the Federal Reserve.

The EBT Industry Council

· The EBT Industry Council (EBTIC) is the longest-standing group in the U.S. dedicated to the business and policy issues of EBT systems and technology. Its mission is to promote a policy environment and business practices favorable to expansion of EBT systems. Its members include financial institutions, government agencies, EBT processors, ATM networks, equipment manufacturers and technology companies.

 · The accomplishments of EBTIC are many and include:

· Helping Congress draft an exemption for EBT programs from Regulation E of the EFT Act, without which EBT could not have functioned

· Launching "EBT:The Next Generation"--the only national conference devoted exclusively to EBT technology and applications, now in its 7th year

· Developing the two-tiered concept for using electronic card technology to deliver both government payments and services to consumers

· Guiding the Federal EBT Task Force that created the vision of a national EBT network

· Assisting federal agencies in the development of universally recognized standards that today allow commercial networks to process EBT transactions

· Promoting the use of EBT technology for subsidized childcare payments and time-and-attendance functions
 

· Representing the views of the EBT community to various administrative and regulatory agencies on the state and federal level