The Electronic Transactions Association is winding up the second month-long test period for the Certified Payments Professional credential and working on training courses for subsequent rounds of testing.
Some 221 candidates registered for the second group of three-hour tests, which were scheduled during May at sites throughout North America. The association expected a somewhat smaller number to complete the next steps of scheduling a test date and taking the test.
Proponents say the credential improves the acquiring industry’s credibility with merchants, gives participating independent sales organizations and sales agents a competitive advantage, sets standards for hiring, mitigate risk and promotes best practices.
The association is alerting retailers to the credential through mailings and by placing ads in trade publications and on merchant-oriented websites, Rori Ferensic, the trade group’s director of education and professional development, tells ISO&Agent Weekly.
Still, the association is just starting to get the word out to merchants, the “end-users of our members products and services,” Ferensic says.
“We’re nowhere near scratching the surface” of reaching all the “zillions” of merchants, she admits.
Once merchants become familiar with the credential, they can use a registry on the association’s website to find ISOs and agents who have earned the endorsement. The registry’s searchable by last name and by state, Ferensic notes. It lists the 180 members of the industry who passed the initial test.
Some 221 took the initial exam, the same number that registered for the second exam. More than 350 registered for the first test but not all followed through with the final steps.
Meanwhile, the association hopes to complete a study guide in about a month to help candidates prepare for future tests, she says.
“We’re almost there,” she says of the guide. “It will definitely benefit those taking the November exam.”
Deadline for registering for that third round of testing falls on Oct.1, but the association could accept some late applications, depending upon logistics, Ferensic says.
An accompanying course is in the works, but the final form has yet to take shape. The association may offer it in print, online or in a combination of those two forms, she says.
By the fourth round of testing, the association intends to provide candidates with scores immediately after completing the exam, Ferensic says. So far, test-takers have had to wait for several weeks for their results.
A candidate who took the test during the first round called the exam “appropriately difficult.”
An experienced sales agent who cares about the industry and does his homework should be able to pass it, Michael Gavin, vice president of third party sales for Merchant Warehouse Inc., a Boston-based ISO, told PaymentsSource at the time.
