ALEXANDRIA, VA – The integration of the Petroleum Convenience Alliance for Technology Standards (PCATS) with NACS cleared its last hurdle with the vote by the association’s Class A member companies to ratify the May 4 decision by the PCATS Board of Directors to integrate PCATS with NACS.
The growing intersection of technology with regulation prompted both organizations into the integration plan.
“Our industry is highly fragmented, comprised mostly of entrepreneurial retailers who must compete with internal, as well as adjacent, retail segments,” said NACS President and CEO Hank Armour, who is one of the founding retailers of PCATS. “Technical standards and early knowledge of enabling technologies empower our membership to quickly and efficiently create systems that allow the smallest operator to compete effectively in today’s retail landscape. PCATS will continue to fulfill this need.”
For more than a decade NACS has been involved in technology. In the mid 1990s, NACS created the Technology Standards Project. Eventually, this work was spun and in 2004 became PCATS. Since then, PCATS has grown its membership to over 170 companies, representing more than 22,000 stores and virtually all technology and services vendors selling into the industry.
“Increased emphasis on systems interoperability with better data security is our future. Payment card data security is one example where technology mandates are requiring significant investments by our membership,” said Pat Lewis, PCATS chairman and NACS vice chairman of technology. “The combination of both organizations’ competencies will ensure the industry has the best knowledge and advocacy.”
“This is a clear win-win for both organizations’ memberships,” said PCATS Executive Director Gray Taylor, who also is a payment consultant to NACS. “PCATS will re-double its focus on standards, while assuming technical work previously done by NACS. Meanwhile, NACS bring its broad industry reach, advocacy and world-class administration to augment the PCATS agenda.”
PCATS will maintain its own Board of Advisors, comprised of the pre-integration Board of Directors, and elect three PCATS Class A members to sit on the newly formed Board of Directors. The nomination and election process of the three Board of Directors seats will begin in early August, with announcement of the Directors to be made in September. The integration of PCATS with NACS is expected to be complete in October.