The Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) announced today that four payments and fintech-related startup programs will send select startups to be featured at TRANSACT, the world’s largest payments technology event. Amongst the programs chosen are the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) at Georgia Tech, Queen City Fintech accelerator in Charlotte, and Clark Atlanta University Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurial Development in collaboration with Comcast NBCUniversal’s The Farm.
Four startups from each program will travel to Las Vegas later this month for TRANSACT. They will showcase their products and services at the event’s NextGen Park, a display of early-stage and emerging technologies on a show floor hosting over 200 companies.
In an announcement, ATDC’s Director Jen Bonnett highlighted the strength of Atlanta and Georgia as a leader in the payments industry. 70 percent of payments made worldwide pass through Atlanta’s “Transaction Alley”, and major industry players like Global Payments, First Data, TSYS, NCR and more have grown the ecosystem of innovation locally.
“All of us at Global Payments are extremely excited about ETA naming two local fintech programs for this year’s TRANSACT event,” says Global Payments Chief Product Officer Frank T. Young. “Congratulations to all of the accelerators, incubators, programs and startups from around the country who will be participating this year.”
“Atlanta has been home to the guts of the payments industry for so long,” says Amy Zirkle, the ETA’s Vice President of Industry Affairs. “That industry makes it a key driver of innovation in payments as well.”
Zirkle says they identified the specific startups that would participate by looking for those that had a unique value proposition and a unique perspective on payments. “We’re looking for a product that improves or enhances what’s already going on, but also pushes the envelope.”
For example, Trust Stamp, one of the startups selected, solves a simple problem that often comes up during transactions with a unique technological solution. The Atlanta startup, which went through the Queen City Fintech accelerator and is now an ATDC company, provides an identity verification token (an aptly-named ‘Trust Stamp’) on any individual you’re about to do a deal with.
Additional ATDC companies attending TRANSACT are Authomate, DataSeers, Mogean, and RoadSync. Atlanta-based Qoins will also represent Queen City Fintech.
“Startups have the power to significantly change and disrupt industries by bringing new and innovative products to market. Nowhere is this truer than in the payments industry,” said ETA CEO Jason Oxman.
This is also a first-of-its-kind partnership for an HBCU educational institution. Zirkle highlighted the importance of celebrating minority entrepreneurs breaking into the industry.
Renaissance Labs is one of the CAU startups that will be attending TRANSACT. The company, less than a year old, is a blockchain consultancy and development firm.
CEO Dajour Resiere says the access to thousands of companies and influential leaders in the payments industry, “one of the largest opportunities in blockchain,” will be an invaluable opportunity to accelerate their company.
