Not-So-Fun Fact:
Most “payment professionals” receive NO product training and only a cursory training on the most basic aspect of the payments industry.
What exactly is a Certified Payments Professional?
The ETA CPP program sets the standard for professional performance in the payments industry and is a symbol of excellence. It signifies that an individual has demonstrated the knowledge and skills required to perform competently in today’s complex electronic payments environment.
The Certified Payments Professional designation isn’t easy. It requires an investment in time, a minimum amount of experience, and a financial investment in test preparation, membership, and examination fees. Additionally, CPP’s are required to continue to invest in their professional development by taking Continuing Education credits.
Bottom line is the CPP is a way to ensure you’re not dealing with an amateur. Electronic transactions represent a higher and higher percentage of the revenue your business receives. If you’re going to trust a person with guiding you in choosing the right technology, gateways, settlement platforms, and servicing requirements – I think they should be as committed to their career as you are to your business.
From their website:
The Electronic Transactions Association is the leading trade association for the payments industry, representing over 500 companies worldwide involved in electronic transaction processing products and services. The purpose of ETA is to influence, monitor and shape the payments industry by providing leadership through education, advocacy and the exchange of information.
ETA’s membership spans the breadth of the payments industry to include independent sales organizations (ISOs), payments networks, financial institutions, transaction processors, mobile payments products and services, payments technologies, and software providers (ISV) and hardware suppliers.
Yes. After passing the Certified Payments Professional exam, the CPP must maintain his or her certification by completing 36 continuing education credits (much like a CPA in the accounting industry) every 24 months.
The Certified Payments Professional exam is a 3-hour proctored test that covers six domains related to payment processing:
- Sales
- Pricing and Interchange
- Process, Operations & Workflow
- Products, Solutions & Mobile Technology
- Risk
- Regulatory, Compliance, and Security
To be eligible to sit for the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) Certified Payments Professional (CPP), the candidate must have 3 years of industry work experience. This is full-time work in a payments company that sales electronic payments-related services. Three years doesn’t sound like much, but the vast majority of “professionals” in the payments industry are in their first year and are very poorly trained.
You Deserve an Expert
PCI compliance, gateways, authorizations, settlements, downgrades, EIRF, API handshakes… it’s a complicated world we live in. Don’t trust your business to a rookie or someone doing this “on the side”.