Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Something in the human psyche finds comfort in dividing the passage of time into discrete 10-year segments. Decades have a reassuring heft about them, without seeming to overwhelm, as do, say, centuries. Maybe that’s why it seemed fitting to us to celebrate, with this issue, our 10th year of publishing Digital Transactions.
We thought we’d not only mark this milestone but also remind ourselves—and our readers—why we launched the magazine, review the electronic-payments landscape of the past decade, and look ahead to the next 10 years. You’ll find the results in our Cover Story, where we examine the recent history of 10 major industry themes, as recorded by Digital Transactions, and where we have invited 10 experts to let us know how those themes are likely to play out.
Back in January 2004, when we published our first issue, we explained why we thought it was time for a new magazine. In this space, in a column headed “Why We Started This Magazine,” we spoke of a “revolution” then (and still) in progress in the business of processing payments, one that was rapidly and inexorably transforming paper into bits and bytes and creating new avenues for revenues and profits.
In part, we said: “[B]ankers, retailers, and independent sales organizations (ISOs) confront a market in ferment, one that’s giving rise to trends requiring a new arsenal of competitive strategies, and one that’s blurring the lines of demarcation between concepts like credit, debit, and the ACH. But opportunities abound for those who understand and come to grips with this revolution, not just to make money, but to re-make the way consumers spend money, indeed, the way they interact with business and government.”
Our purpose, we said, was to “interpret these trends and spell out these strategies” for a comprehensive audience of merchants, bankers, and the processors and acquirers in between. Ten years may have passed since then, but that purpose remains unchanged. If anything, the revolution in payments has only gained in speed and force, thanks to such factors as the advent of the smart phone, Check 21’s remarkable progress, a new regulatory regime, and the struggle to replace mag stripes with chips.
In fact, the need for Digital Transactions has grown stronger, and with it our intent to cover this shape-shifting, surprising, fascinating business. We sincerely hope you’ve profited over the past 10 years from reading this magazine, and we look forward to many more years of publishing it for you.
I repeat the invitation I extended in that first column. My email address is below. When you have a moment, I’d be delighted to hear from you.
John Stewart, Editor
john@digitaltransactions.net
