New job for longtime Wall Street lobbyist

Longtime financial industry lobbyist Scott Talbott joined the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA), the group confirmed to The Hill on Monday.

The burgeoning association named him as its senior vice president of government affairs, further adding to its advocacy department.

{mosads}Jason Oxman, ETA’s chief executive, said Talbott’s hire represents the group “taking a big step forward.”

“His experience advocating on behalf of the financial services industry will be invaluable as we ramp up our advocacy on behalf of the world’s largest and most innovative financial and technology companies,” Oxman said in a release.

Talbott had served as the chief lobbyist at the Financial Services Roundtable for almost 20 years when he left the influential trade association in November.

After leaving, the industry veteran likely had the pick of several high-level posts at K Street power shops and corporations.

So, why the transactions trade?

“The main reason is, payments are the future,” Talbott told The Hill. “The issues will continue to be on the forefront and continue to make news, and the policy implications will follow.”

ETA represents 500 companies that work in various aspects of the electronic currency industry, from large credit card companies and financial institutions to smaller — or lesser known — payment processors. There’s also some overlap with Roundtable membership.

Although it originally founded in 1990, the group has been steadily increasing its Washington footprint by making itself more well known on Capitol Hill. Last year, it began bolstering its lobbying staff and formed a political action committee, ETA PAC.

Talbott’s departure was part of a staff shakeup at the Roundtable, which represents the world’s largest banks. In 2013, the group also lost Richard Whiting — executive director and general counsel — whose tenure spanned three decades, and Brian Tate, its vice president of banking and securities, to the National Branded Prepaid Cards Association.

— This post was updated at 10:45 a.m. to include a statement from Talbott.