By Elizabeth Johnson

After several years working with other host cities, TRANSACT, powered by the Electronic Transaction Association (ETA), returned to Las Vegas for the first of four annual events. TRANSACT 16 drew the highest number of participants for the show in Las Vegas to date.

The show, held April 19-21 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, had 65 new exhibitors on the floor and more than 700 first-time attendees. It also had a record number of countries represented at the show.

TRANSACT 16 represents the world of payments technology; an industry that is growing and evolving on a daily basis. Things everyone encounters in daily life - credit cards, processors, online checkouts and virtual wallets and security - were on display.

"This is a tremendous time of growth and change in our industry," said Jason Oxman, ETA CEO. "TRANSACT 16 brought together thousands of payments game-changers from traditional payment leaders and investors to innovators to chart the future of commerce."

With more than 60 sessions and five keynote presentations, content at the show touched on big topics such as mobile payments, the convergence of online and in-store shopping experiences known as omni-channel commerce, security and fraud prevention and much more.

“The entire commerce experience will be rewired in the next three to five years, as the industry shifts to mobile and enables new innovation. There’s never been a better time for industry players to come together to bring more choice and greater opportunities for consumers and businesses alike,” said keynote presenter, Bill Ready, senior vice president, Global Head Product and Engineering at PayPal.

Exhibitors announced new products that will shape commerce and enhance the consumer experience. Visa announced its Quick Chip, designed to speed up the checkout time for millions of consumers using EMV (chip) cards. Verifone debuted its new POS system, Carbon for the first time in the U.S. The sleek new device looks more like a tablet than a traditional processing terminal.

First Data showcased its new Clover online store designed to help merchants improve their overall business. It will be offered free to business owners through the end of the year.

“We’re happy our exhibitors see TRANSACT as a place to break news,” said ETA Director of Communications Meghan Ceislak. “We’ll work with them to do everything possible to make their experience a success.”

TRANSACT developed relationships to include exciting features in the Exhibit Hall. A special zone showcased the latest in biometrics technology presented by members of the FIDO Alliance so that attendees could see the future of payments security first-hand. It worked with intuit to award $25,000 to the winner of this year’s Payments Pitch-Off, a Shark-Tank style competition where start-ups demonstrated their technology product or service in front of a panel of judges.

This year, TRANSACT 16 added a digital marketing component to its outreach that included mobile advertising and content marketing. The content marketing approach will help them continue to maintain the brand in between shows in order to engage with their attendees, provide year round value.

“We want to remain top of mind for the payments industry throughout the year,” said Del Baker Robertson, director of membership and marketing at ETA. “It’s essential that we offer the best way for industry to connect and move the needle forward for merchants and their consumers and building online communities helps us do that.”

TRANSACT 17 will be held May 10-12 in Las Vegas.