Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA) announced today a legislative effort to recognize the critical
role the payments industry, headquartered in Atlanta, plays in the current and future well-being of America and the world’s
economy during discussions at an Atlanta Trend and American Transaction Processors Coalition (ATPC)
luncheon. Sen. Isakson and senate colleagues – Thomas Carper (D-DE), Chris Coons (D-DE), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Gary
Peters (D-MI), David Perdue (R-GA), Michael Rounds (R-SD) – introduced the senate resolution today in the hopes of
creating a “National Electronic Payments Week,” which commences on Black Friday, and includes Small Business
Saturday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday.

The resolution’s goal transcends merely recognizing the industry during America’s busy holiday season, and instead seeks to
“foster an environment that encourages the continued growth, innovation, and security of electronic payments.”

Credit, debit, and prepaid accounts used either in-store with a card or smartphone, or online make a 21st Century
economy possible. Electronic payments are a central driver of the modern American economy, and they account for 70 percent
of domestic purchases – far outpacing checks and cash. And Georgia is the American home of payments, with an ecosystem of
90 local companies processing more than 70 percent of $4.4 trillion in credit card transactions last year, alone.

The holiday season is a time of togetherness for American families. And many of the 1.2 billion credit cards in circulation are
used to purchase the corresponding holiday gifts at the more than eight million U.S. merchants. Holiday shopping accounted
for more than 20 percent of U.S. merchant income in 2015.

“For the first time in American commerce, more individuals shopped online than in stores in 2015,” said Isakson, who also
co-founded and co-chairs the Senate Payments Innovation Caucus. “Our U.S. companies lead the payments industry, and
Georgia is the industry’s home. That’s why I felt it was important to help launch a bipartisan legislative initiative to call
attention to this vital industry during the busiest retail time of the year.”

Senator Isakson was recognized at today’s bi-monthly Atlanta Trend luncheon, as a guest of the ATPC, for his vision in helping
Atlanta’s payments processors coalesce around efforts to push for greater support among government and
investment communities to drive innovation, security and jobs. The work of ATPC and partner organizations has led to creation
of Congressional House and Senate payments caucuses, the ongoing Georgia General Assembly House and Senate Joint Study
Committee on Industry Incentive for Financial Technologies and Payments Processing, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
PeachPay, and other critical initiatives, in less than two years.

“Georgia is home to more than 60 percent of America’s payments processing companies but few people outside the industry
knew of this dominance,” said ATPC Executive Director, H. West Richards. “We felt it imperative to educate members of
government and business leaders about the payments industry to garner their support in developing the necessary talent,
driving innovation, and ensuring information and infrastructure security to meet the demands of a global economy; and we’ve
been fortunate to have champions like Sen. Isakson to ensure America retains its FinTech dominance.”