About the ATPC

HOW WE FORMED

Before the American Transaction Processors Coalition (ATPC), payments processing companies were squeezed out of the political and regulatory chain of influence, and few Georgians and politicians understood the importance of the industry to the state’s (and nation’s) economic success.

Payment processing currently equals the entire U.S. movie industry (worldwide annual sales) and is dominated by Atlanta, just as Los Angeles dominates films. Most people don’t know about the industry and its impact, which is why the ATPC was developed…to tell the story of more than 40,000 employees right here in the state and an additional 105,000 people around the world on the payroll of Georgia companies.

WHAT WE DO

The ATPC was created to protect, promote and preserve the interests of this critical Georgia and American industry through proactive public relations and government affairs activities.

The ATPC  began its federal government outreach by educating Georgia’s Congressional Delegation about the payments processing industry’s “hometown impact.” That Congressional outreach expanded to include “hub and spoke” legislators – those representing districts across America where ATPC companies have a significant presence (sales force, data centers, corporate HQ’s, etc.) – to build broad support for protecting the payments industry, and ensuring Georgia and the U.S. are recognized as the global center of the digital economy. The ATPC staff and legislators regularly tell the industry story to members of Congress, White House, and federal regulators.

Similarly, the ATPC launched state government education and relationship-building campaigns in Georgia, signaling the impact 40,000-plus payments employees make locally. The ATPC remains one of the only payments nonprofit also focusing on comprehensive state government relations, and activities expanded to Florida, North Carolina, and Ohio in 2019. More states will be added in 2020 (and beyond), beginning with Illinois.

In addition, the ATPC works with member companies, community leaders, and government officials to raise the profile of the payments processing industry in a positive light.

WHAT WE’VE ACCOMPLISHED

  • Held over 350 Congressional meetings to become one of the “go-to” resources on all things payments for Members of Congress
  • Secured bipartisan Georgia Congressional delegation support to challenge CFPB Prepaid rule and placed ATPC editorials demanding a comment period extension for the onerous proposed rule
  • Helped pass Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act through education, placed articles, and Congressional meetings
  • Supported the launch of the House FinTech and Payments Caucus and Senate Payments Innovation Caucus – both initially co-chaired by Georgia Delegation members
  • Held America’s first Payments 101 Congressional staff briefing
  • Attended and reported on over 50 Congressional hearings on payments, cybersecurity, data privacy, the regulation of FinTech, and others
  • Briefed the Obama and Trump Administrations, Department of Homeland Security and Department of Treasury and the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center
  • Co-Sponsored the initial Congressional Payments Technology Caucus Meet‐and-Greet
  • Placed ATPC editorials in The Hill and PaymentsSource urging passage of Cybersecurity legislation
  • Established relationships and became the resource for the growing number of Committees that have Payments jurisdiction: Financial Services, Small Business, Homeland Security, Energy & Commerce, and Judiciary
  • Became an incubator for key industry platforms related to economic development, cybersecurity, a U.S. payments advisory council, and an international payments conference. This is illustrated through the ATPC Incubator Universe graphic
    • Inspired the creation of FinTech Atlanta in partnership with the Metro Atlanta Chamber and Technology Association of Georgia
    • Organized an ongoing cybersecurity platform, Cyber Council, to help strengthen the industry’s ability to address cybersecurity risks as well as share information to help prevent, detect, respond to and recover from cyber-attacks
    • Started PeachPay – a payments advisory council that regularly meets under the direction of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
    • Organized the P20 Conference to bridge a relationship between the U.S. and the U.K. focused on payments and financial services. The conference began in 2017 and rotates between London and Atlanta every year
    • Worked with the University System of Georgia to establish the Georgia FinTech Academy – the first of its kind in the world
    • Launched the Future Leaders young professional training program