NEW TASK FORCE AIMS TO MAKE ATLANTA A FINTECH LEADER

FinTech Atlanta, a task force founded in 2015 by the Metro Atlanta Chamber (MAC), the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) and American Transaction Processors Coalition (ATPC), has named more than 20 companies who will serve as founding members of the organization. Fintech is a portmanteau of financial technology, an umbrella term for a new wave in payment processing.

The companies include: American Transaction Processors Coalition, Bain & Company, Cardlytics, Coca-Cola Company, ControlScan, Delta Air Lines, Elavon, Equifax, First Data, FIS, Fiserv, Georgia Department of Economic Development, Georgia Tech, Global Payments, Holland & Knight, The Home Depot, InComm, Ingenico, Kabbage, Metro Atlanta Chamber, Merchant eSolutions, NCR, NoroMoseley Partners, Paymetric, Patientco, Priority Payment Systems, Russell Reynolds, Sionic Mobile, Spencer Stuart, SunTrust, Technology Association of Georgia, TSYS, TTV Capital, University System of Georgia, UPS, Venture Atlanta, Worldpay and WNA Ltd.

“FinTech companies deliver the financial infrastructure every organization utilizes to manage their operation, from accounting to payments and beyond. FinTech solutions power the global economy,” said FinTech Atlanta’s chair, Barry McCarthy, executive vice president of Network and Security Solutions at First Data. “Atlanta has quietly become the global capital of this critically important sector. Through the FinTech Atlanta initiative, I am confident Atlanta will become the recognized global home of FinTech by 2020, just as New York and London are the recognized headquarters of finance.”

The task force has three main goals: to recruit companies, capital and talent in the FinTech industry, to retain existing companies and workforce, and to expand Atlanta’s presence in the industry.

Atlanta is home to more than 90 FinTech companies employing 30,000 people. Additionally, 118 billion transactions, or more than 70 percent of U.S. credit card swipes, debit card payments and gift card purchases flow through Atlanta, according to ATPC.

“Metro Atlanta’s strong density in FinTech – which includes established corporations to emerging startups – is a major driver for job growth and innovation,” said MAC President and CEO Hala Moddelmog. “The FinTech Task Force serves as a powerful voice for growing and sustaining the region’s preeminent financial technology ecosystem and adding jobs to our economy.”

“Georgia’s FinTech companies process over 118 billion transactions per year; this is one of Georgia’s best kept secrets,” said Tino Mantella, president/CEO of the Technology Association of Georgia. “TAG and the TAG FinTech Society welcomes the formation of this new group, and we look forward to strengthening and increasing its dominance as a global FinTech leader.”