ETA Announces 2021 ETA Star Awards - Response to COVID-19

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Electronic Transactions Association (ETA)

Sep 29, 2021, 13:36 ET

CARLSBAD, Calif., Sept. 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) has recognized three companies with the payments industry's highest honor, the 2021 ETA Star Awards – Response to COVID-19, presented at the ETA Strategic Leadership Forum. This year's winners are Celero Commerce, Homebase, and NCR Corporation.

The 2021 ETA Star Award — Response to COVID-19 was created to acknowledge the important work of the payments and fintech industry in keeping commerce running and going the extra mile for their customers and employees in response to the pandemic. The winners were judged and selected by the ETA Awards & Recognition Committee, composed of a panel of industry executives of ETA member companies.

"During the pandemic, ETA's member companies were nimble, flexible, and adaptive to provide much needed support to their merchant customers and employees," said Jodie Kelley, CEO of ETA. "It was a pleasure to acknowledge the ETA Star Award – Response to COVID-19 honorees for the important work they did to adapt and help their customers engage in commerce in new ways and to support their employees and their communities during the pandemic."

Each Star Award winner's response to the COVID-19 pandemic is detailed below.

Celero Commerce

Celero Commerce was formed to bundle payments, software, and data to help small to midsized businesses level the playing field and win in the marketplace. During the pandemic, its mission shifted to help American small businesses survive and thrive. The company responded quickly to the crisis, equipping its merchants with a "Celero COVID-19 Survival Kit" that included new tools — including gift cards, e-commerce, curbside and ordering tools, and virtual payment terminals — to help them stay in business while adhering to social distancing guidance and regulations. Celero's goal was to get its partners back to the point of not merely surviving but thriving. The company prioritized providing revenue-driving opportunities to its partners, setting up payment gateways for nonprofits, and offering email invoices for small businesses. Additionally, Celero served its local Nashville community by building a diverse team of engineers, half of whom joined Celero after experiencing employment cutbacks due to COVID-19. Learn more.

Homebase

Homebase played a pivotal role in educating policymakers and the media about the devastating impact of COVID-19 on small businesses and their employees. The company's extensive customer base allowed it to track in real time how many employees were — and were not — clocking in for work across cities, states, and industries. Additionally, Homebase built a financial resource site that provided critical information to businesses and workers, provided live support from certified HR professionals, and reconfigured its blog and newsletter with resources to help employees navigate the crisis. The company paused billing and refunded annual contracts to allow customers to get back money they desperately needed, and it created solutions to allow employees to access their pay sooner. Learn more.

NCR Corporation

When the pandemic hit and brought most businesses to a screeching halt, NCR reprioritized and established a global COVID-19 Response Task Force to provide fact-based decision-making and frameworks that prioritized the safety of employees and customers while maintaining business continuity. Through its #KeepCommerceRunning campaign, the company brought new meaning to employees' work and re-engaged many of its 14,000 field service employees to roles in manufacturing and service centers in an essential effort to keep commerce moving. By rapidly transforming its internal operations and customer focus to respond to pandemic conditions, NCR became a trusted resource for customers seeking government assistance, product development, and support to keep commerce running with contactless payments, online solutions, and stand-alone solutions for hospitality and retail merchants. Learn more.

About ETA
The Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) is the world's leading advocacy and trade association for the payments industry. Our members span the breadth of significant payments and fintech companies, from the largest incumbent players to the emerging disruptors in the U.S and in more than a dozen countries around the world. ETA members make commerce possible by processing approximately $22.5 trillion annually in purchases worldwide and deploying payments innovation to merchants and consumers. For more information, visit electran.org.

Media Contact:
Joe Feese
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SOURCE Electronic Transactions Association (ETA)