Jim Baumgartner, president and CEO of Moneris Solutions Corp., Canada’s largest provider of debit and credit payment services for merchants, has been elected President of the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA).

ETA is the international trade association serving the needs of organizations offering payment processing products and services with over 500 member companies from seven different countries.

Baumgartner’s presidency – announced at the 2007 Electronic Transactions Association Annual Meeting and Expo, held last week in Las Vegas, Nevada – takes effect on July 1. He will be the ETA’s 16th president since the organization’s inception in 1990.

“Jim Baumgartner is an exceptional leader and someone who has always put the needs and well being of ETA and its members first,” said ETA executive director, Carla Balakgie, in a news release. “We are thrilled to have him as our new President.”

In 2005, Baumgartner was named ETA member of the year, an award presented to a member who embodies the true spirit of ETA by demonstrating exemplary leadership skills while contributing time, effort, and ideas that have resulted in significant contributions to the success of the association.

“I am honoured to serve as the next leader of this outstanding organization,” Baumgartner told the more than 3,000 payment professionals — from CEOs to sales agents — attending the ETA meeting this week.

“As president of the ETA, I will seek to build upon the efforts of my predecessors to listen, to respond to the needs of our membership and to promote the growth and integrity of electronic payments.”