After seven months without a chief executive officer, the Electronic Funds Transfer Association has installed two people at the top with extensive industry experience.
The association named Robert P. Barone, recently retired from Diebold Inc., as chairman and CEO; and Wayne I. Boucher, a long-time industry consultant and researcher, as president and chief operating officer.
The appointments signal a desire to revitalize a lobbying and educational group that has not been growing as fast as changes in financial delivery systems and interactive technology might indicate.
"This is truly a defining moment for the future of our association," said Paul Schmelzer, who as chairman of the EFTA executive committee has been nominally in charge since March when the last president, Sean W. Kennedy, changed careers. Mr. Schmelzer's full-time job is vice president of software products at Deluxe Data Systems, one of about 150 corporate members of the electronic banking group.
In Mr. Barone, EFTA gets a seasoned industry leader who has scaled back his 23-year relationship with Diebold to that of consultant. This leaves Mr. Barone, 56, free to devote himself to the trade group's strategic planning and membership development.
"I will get involved in speaking for the organization and helping generate its key relationships with new members and other associations," said Mr. Barone. He said he will still live in the Canton Ohio, area where Diebold is based, but will spend much of his time on the road, including a couple of visits per month to the EFTA office in Herndon, Va.
Mr. Boucher, 59, is the association's day-to-day manager. He is moving to the Washington area from Rock, where he headed the Arkansas Institute, a nonpartisan public policy think tank for such subjects as youth crime and education.
Before going to Arkansas in early 1993, Mr. Boucher was executive vice president of Benton International, a consulting firm based in the Los Angeles area, a senior research associate at the University of Southern California business school, and director of research for the National Commission on Electronic Fund Transfers.
"I'm excited about it," Mr. Boucher said of his return to a payments industry focus. "I honestly believe this organization has opportunities it never had before. The opportunity to work with Bob Barone is sensational, and we will be totally dedicated to helping this organization serve and grow its membership."
Both men have close ties to the association, dating back to its founding in 1977. The association was, in a sense, the private-sector offshoot of the EFT commission, a presidentially appointed panel that recommended legislative responses to the first big wave of automated teller machines and point of sale terminals.
John B. Benton, who later set up Benton International and brought Mr. Boucher with him, was executive director of the commission. Benton International became active in EFTA, which prides itself on a multifaceted membership not restricted to financial institutions, and Mr. Boucher directed some of its research. He "facilitated" the association's strategic planning exercise in 1992 and said the results have "held up pretty well."
"Some problems that we identified in the project are still there, waiting for me and Barone to get at them," Mr. Boucher added.
Mr. Barone was on the EFTA's first board of directors and later rose to chairman. He played a key role in negotiating its merger with the Electronic Money Council, a rival, bank-dominated group that also sprouted in the late 1970s.
"There is no question about the strength of this management team," said Mr. Barone, who was vice chairman of Diebold, the leading ATM maker, at the time of his retirement. "We should be able to make significant progress in increasing the membership and what we do for the industry."
He declined to be more specific about his plans, pending discussions with Mr. Boucher and other leaders, but they are likely to encompass such hot topics as home-based and interactive services, smart cards, and electronic benefits transfer. Mr. Barone's recent work for Diebold has focused on EBT opportunities as well.
"Give us until [a scheduled board meeting in] December for Wayne and me to lay out our specific strategies in detail," Mr. Barone said.
