AAP Preparation Workshop(s) – Two Part Workshop Prep Series

Part 1 – 1-Day AAP Prep – Details on What to Expect, What to Study and How to Get Started + Tons of Study Tips

Date: April 06, 2018

Location: Minneapolis, MN

Part 2 – 2-Day AAP Final Steps Before Exam – 2-Days of Quick Review – Hands-on Review Activities, Additional Study Tips + More!

Date: To Be Determined

What is an AAP (Accredited ACH Professional)?

An Accredited ACH Professional (AAP) is an individual who has a comprehensive knowledge of all areas of ACH, a deep understanding of and experience in one or more specific ACH subjects, and a broad knowledge of concepts that relate to the payments system as a whole. (NACHA.org)

Why Become an AAP (Accredited ACH Professional)?

By becoming an AAP and the financial institution having an AAP on staff, an end user like a business or government agency can more effectively manage ACH Network use and enhance its risk management profile. Similarly, solution providers and processors need qualified AAPs in order to ensure that they’re complying with FIs and business clients. Once you have your accreditation, you’ll find that you’re in high demand as the “go-to” person for all things ACH. (NACHA.org)

Who Can Become an AAP (Accredited ACH Professional)?

Any professional in the payments industry can work toward accreditation. If you’ve worked in ACH for years, you’ll be adding a highly respected qualification to your dossier; if you’re relatively new to the field, you’ll give yourself an edge over the competition. At a minimum, NACHA recommends spending two years working in the payments industry before taking the AAP exam.

Topic(s) to be Covered:

Aspiring to become an Accredited ACH Professional (AAP) – this is a 2-part “in-person” workshop, designed to help you prepare for the AAP exam!  The AAP Exam is administered each year in October by NACHA.

‘Being an AAP has many benefits; As an individual, your accreditation demonstrates to your employer that you’re committed to the profession, which can provide opportunities for personal career growth. It also helps your company, since bank regulators and examiners regularly look at financial institutions’ AAP employees as a sign that the FI is committed to risk management and regulation compliance. (NACHA.org).

Discover details on the six topics of the AAP Exam plus study tips and tricks to help you retain the information necessary to help you successfully pass the AAP exam.  The six sections of the AAP Exam are:

(1) General Payment Overview/Comparative Payment Systems-10%

(2) Marketing & Products-8%

(3) Risk Management-15%

(4) Rules & Regulations-28%

(5) Operational Process/Flow-28%

(6) Technical Standards/Formats-15%

NOTE: This is ONLY a 2-part workshop designed to help you prepare for the AAP exam (Please NOTE: the AAP Exam is provided by NACHA (National ACH Association) through nacha.org and requires an additional fee, paid to NACHA)

Part 1 – (spring timeframe) A 1-Day Workshop covering: What is the AAP Exam all about, the topics to study, how to study, tips on review exercises, overview of the different areas of the exam and what this means to you while preparing your study plan.

Part 2 – (fall timeframe) A 2-Day Workshop covering: All six areas of the AAP Exam, what you should know by now – including tons of review exercises and tips; how to test yourself, review questions throughout BOTH days – this is where you will determine your weak spots for your last-minute review studies.

It is highly recommended additional webinars or courses are taken to help an individual pass the AAP Exam, these workshops are intended to be a prep and review course, where nitty gritty details are provided in an additional webinar series.

Learning Objectives – What will be gained by attending these workshop(s):

• Participants and Legal framework of comparative payment systems such as Check, Card and Fedwire Funds and Securities Transfer
• Identification of acronyms in the payment systems and successfully list characteristics of all Standard Entry Class (SEC) Codes
• Tips on solving payment related issues by applying the Rules to operational processes within ACH (i.e. Stop Pays, general and extended Return Entries, COR (NOC) Entries, Reversals, Reinitiation and Reclamations – both Government and Commercial)
• Determining responsibilities, warranties and liabilities of the participants in the ACH network based on ACH Entry
• Potential areas of risk related to ACH payments, how to recognize the type of risk and provide solutions on how to mitigate
• Regulations that affect ACH payments (outside the ACH Rules), and determine how they affect the ACH payment system
• Illustration of all ACH file format technical standards and specifications
• Tips on how to market ACH products and identify which types of organization would benefit from each specific product
• Study Tips, Review exercises, Take-away Activities (to enhance your personal studies) - PLUS More!