It’s hard for me to believe that EPCOR is celebrating our 10th Anniversary, but there is no disputing that MPX and Payments Central joined forces on July 1, 2009 … so yes, it is our 10th Anniversary! I have to say these past ten years have really flown by.
Looking back over the past ten years, I am proud of the many things we have done to support our members and am also looking forward to the next decade. High on my list of things I’m proud of is the seamless merger of MPX and Payments Central. We brought together two strong organizations with dedicated Boards of Directors, talented staff and devoted members to create an even stronger and more diverse payments association. We have expanded our focus beyond ACH to include checks, cards, wires and now, faster and emerging payments. In 2010 recognizing this expanded focus, we modified our dues stucture to remove the ACH Volume component and since then have not changed our dues formula. Certainly, some of our members have seen increases in their dues which is simply a result of increases in their asset size, not in our dues structure.
Other notable achievements in the past 10 years include evolving the methods in which we communicate with our members and encouraging them to communicate with one another. The EPCOR Knowledge Community falls into this category, allowing members to interact with each other and the EPCOR staff. We have also introduced “Did You Know” informational videos, “Payments Pulse” podcasts and embraced social media as a communications channel.
I continue to be very proud of our educational offerings, including two annual conferences, Payment Systems Update, EPCOR Payments University and our other classroom events and webinars. And, while I’m bragging … we have also created best in class AAP, NCP and APRP prep programs, with our members’ pass rates for these exams exceeding the national averages. We also introduced the EPCOR Electronic Resource License which gives members affordable access to online training and downloadable publications for a minimal, annual subscription fee.
We have enhanced our advocacy efforts on behalf of our members. EPCOR staff and board members are involved in nearly 20 different industry boards, workgroups, committees, councils and advisory groups to assure that the interests of community banks and credit unions in the central United States are represented.
The next decade promises to bring even more enhancements to our organization. Last summer the Board developed a new 10-year vision for EPCOR focusing on education, expanded advisory services and building strategic partnerships to benefit our membership. With strong new initiatives and new leadership in EPCOR’s president, Susan K. Doyle, I have to say the future looks bright for EPCOR.
While it is always fun to reflect on the accomplishments of the past, the future is where we are all headed. I’m confident that EPCOR is well positioned to serve our members in the next decade.