The ever-evolving payments environment makes it more challenging than ever for payments professionals to keep up, says Adrian Brown, Director of Education at The Payments Authority. PYMNTS recently sat down with Brown to get his views on the role of continuing education for payments professionals and the critical issues that should be at the top of their agendas.
The ever-evolving payments environment makes it more challenging than ever for payments professionals to keep up, says Adrian Brown, Director of Education at The Payments Authority. PYMNTS recently sat down with Brown to get his views on the role of continuing education for payments professionals and the critical issues that should be at the top of their agendas.
It seems that payment systems are ever-evolving and growing more and more complex, from card strategies and EMV to data security. How do we keep ahead of the curve?
AB: Education is the key to staying ahead of any curve, especially when it comes to today’s payments professionals. They have many training sources from which to choose so they need to identify which organizations and thought leaders know their stuff… which ones to trust. They need to look for those who understand the various payments applications, products and services. They need to know where technology is taking us.
Are most payments professionals getting the training they need? How have you tried to fill the gap?
AB: People are busy and they’re not necessarily looking to fill their day with rules and regulations. Most understand the importance of compliance and risk management and that operating in a secure environment is a must but in the words of my colleague, Scott Bailey from N1 Discovery, “People can’t protect what they don’t know exists.”
Employees and management alike need to realize that they can’t afford to be complacent. Staff development and training is a very necessary key to success. We understand the needs of our audience and we want to provide clarity on today’s hot topics, in a voice they understand.
As financial institutions and companies digest the fallout from so many recent card data breaches, we want to be there to provide education so they understand how to navigate through the electronic payments world and do so easily and safely.
We’re pretty good at listening. When our members told us they wanted more check education, we added new check topics to our curriculum, including a 12-webinar NCP Prep Course for those who are planning to sit for ECCHO’s National Check Professional certification exam. We modeled it after our very successful AAP Prep Course for NACHA’s Accredited ACH Professional program… and we proudly boast that the exam pass rate for TPA members in October 2013 was 29% higher than the national average. We’ve yet to see the results for this year’s AAP exam, but we expect more of the same.
And the education doesn’t end there. Once you’ve earned NCP or AAP status, you’ve got to earn continuing education credits or take the exam again in 5 years. With that in mind, we created an AAP Alliance which is a growing community of 100 plus AAPs who congregate on a regular basis via conference call or face-to-face meetings to discuss hot topics in payments and share and compare with their peers… while earning renewal credits. TPA staff are present during those meetings, but the AAPs themselves drive the conversation and content. It’s great to see their enthusiasm.
There is tremendous investment in enhancing the security of the U.S. payment system, with EMV being one example. Based on your experience, how do you expect payment security to evolve over time?
AB: If you look back 10 years, we were dealing with multi-factor authentication. The result was positive security acknowledgement for files and transactions chained to institutions by way of corporate practitioners. We’ve moved on from there to token technology, but that’s still a work in progress. As we witness the shift in sophistication of the cyber criminals who are responsible for these large security breaches, I see biometrics – like what’s used in Apple Pay – as being the next level of security when we talk about consumer payments.
I think encryption will play a part in data security too. When information or transactions are at rest, they will be encrypted, but with all systems and interfaces there will have to be a level of encryption to pass and move the transaction as well. It really goes back to research, development, and education to figure out what’s going to be the best mode of security for those of us in the U.S.
What is the role of ACH in reshaping the future of the payments industry?
AB: The Payments Authority recently held our 17th annual payments conference and our agenda included a panel discussion on ‘Better Payments’ with participants from the Federal Reserve Bank, The Clearing House and NACHA weighing in on their plans for the future. I think everyone agrees that the ACH needs to continue to evolve into a simpler, faster, more efficient payment system in order to broaden its appeal. We have to have faster, safer payments, and as we make that transition, we need to ensure that educators are providing the right kind of training for industry stakeholders.
Adrian Brown
Director of Education, The Payments Authority
Adrian brings more than 25 years of payments industry experience and expertise to The Payments Authority. In his current role, Adrian is charged with developing curriculum and delivering payments education that meets the needs of both new and seasoned payments professionals from financial institutions and companies, large and small. He is an Accredited ACH Professional (AAP) and frequent presenter at industry meetings and conferences, both locally and nationally.
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