BITS
In 1996, CEOs and senior executives of the nation's largest financial institutions recognized the need for an organization to keep up with vast changes brought about by new technologies. At that time, Frank Wobst, then Chairman and CEO of Huntington Bancshares, chaired the Financial Services Roundtable's Technology Task Force. Through his leadership, BITS was created within the Roundtable as an entity that would allow Roundtable members to collaborate around key technology issues affecting the financial services industry.
As the first CEO of BITS, Catherine Allen initiated work with Roundtable executives to meet the needs of member companies. BITS was established to drive changes in electronic commerce and the payments system through understanding the changing landscape and its potential revenue opportunities. Over the years, BITS evolved as the financial services industry’s technology needs evolved. Leigh Williams, who became president of BITS in 2007, helped shape this evolution expanding the concept of collaboration beyond BITS core membership to collaboration with other associations.
Today, led by Paul Smocer, BITS continues to address newly emerging threats and opportunities – particularly those relative to cybersecurity, fraud reduction and critical infrastructure protection at the intersection of financial services, technology and commerce. Working with CEOs, CIOs, heads of IT Risk and other senior members of member companies, BITS identifies key issues affecting the industry where collaboration among its members can improve the environment for those companies and their customers through the development of policies and practices.