The Electronic Funds Transfer Association is going through another life change.
The Herndon, Va., trade group, which only a year ago proclaimed the start of a new era under a new chairman and management structure, is regrouping again, this time with the close involvement of a prominent industry consultant.
The consultant, John B. Benton, has entered into a "strategic relationship" to augment the organization's four-member staff and improve the content of its programs, said the association's chairman and chief executive officer, Robert P. Barone.
As part of the revamping, H. Kurt Helwig, the association's head of government relations, has been installed as executive director and chief operating officer. Mr. Helwig took the place of Wayne I. Boucher, who resigned in September, not quite a year after he and Mr. Barone rode in on a wave of newfound optimism.
Mr. Benton, chairman and CEO of Benton International in Torrance, Calif., has long been active as an EFTA board member and adviser. Under terms of the alliance, people from his firm will participate directly in the councils and special interest groups that are central to the association's educational and research missions.
"We had been struggling a little," Mr. Barone conceded in a recent interview. "We made progress over the past year, but it became clear that we needed more support, and there is nobody better than Benton to come in and help us make sure that our programs are the best that they can be."
Benton International, ironically, is a former employer of the association's last president, Mr. Boucher. In the 1970s Mr. Benton was executive director, and Mr. Boucher a staff member, of the National Commission on Electronic Fund Transfers, which President Gerald Ford appointed to set the framework for future debates on EFT regulation. The commission, in turn, gave rise to the EFT Association in 1977 and, a year later, to the EFT Act, familiar to bankers today as Federal Reserve Regulation E.
The association is currently seeking a voice in the development of electronic benefits transfer, the government-sanctioned programs that convert welfare checks, food stamps, and other entitlements to electronic delivery methods like automated teller machine and point of sale terminal networks.
EFTA has an Electronic Benefits Transfer Industry Council that claims to be "the only interindustry group dedicated to solving the political, regulatory, and business challenges surrounding EBT," as well as an EBT special interest group that serves as a general educational forum.
The association also sponsors special interest groups in the direct service delivery and point of sale areas, and a Network Executives Council that brings together the leaders of regional ATM and POS networks.
Mr. Barone, a former president of the ATM manufacturer Diebold Inc., took the association's reins after it had been languishing for most of 1994 without a full-time chief executive. Drawing on electronic banking industry contacts from his 23-year career at Diebold, Mr. Barone shored up the membership base, currently at about 150 companies - including financial institutions, technology suppliers, retailers, and government agencies - with 1,200 participating individuals.
For 1996, the group is turning to program innovations such as a series of regional "EFT Expo" trade shows, "EFT Essentials" seminars, and a newsletter - all of which are expected to be supported by the Benton group.
The association also plans to launch a legal/regulatory special interest group in 1996.
The association's 33-member board ratified the Benton deal earlier this month by unanimous vote. "It came after a long discussion," said Mr. Barone, acknowledging the unusually close connection between a trade group and a consulting firm. "We've gotten very good feedback and we're off and running."
Also at that board meeting, held at the time of the Bank Administration Institute's retail delivery systems conference in Atlanta, directors created a new "individual membership" category with dues of $1,000, which compares to institutional rates that go as high as $15,000; and authorized an expansion of the board to 50 members in keeping Mr. Barone's desire to broaden participation.
"We want to make our board meetings more issue-oriented, bringing in key speakers and spending much of our time on industry issues and strategic approaches to resolving them," Mr. Barone said. "We see them as major events, and we may also invite press and other outsiders."
Mr. Barone said his role as chairman and spokesman will not change. He will rely on Mr. Helwig for management of day-to-day affairs. Mr. Helwig, who came to EFTA three years ago after working for an educational association, said he will retain his government relations responsibilities.
"In fact, the board wants us to increase our visibility in that area," Mr. Helwig said. "It's an important goal because it is hard for a diverse group to reach a consensus on some of these issues."
Mr. Helwig was one of five new directors elected at the recent board meeting. The others were James J. Davis, vice president and general manager of Schlumberger Smart Cards & Systems - North America; Kiran Gandhi, vice president for business development, Mag-Tek Inc.; Arthur D. Kranzley, senior vice president, Advanta Corp.; and Michael Shade, director of marketing, Verifone Inc.
