I have the NCP designation on my email, name tag and business cards and get asked quite often what that stands for. In 2011 ECCHO (The Electronic Clearing House Organization) developed a new industry certification. This certification program was named the National Check Professional Certification and if you obtained this certification you earned the NCP (National Check Professional) designation.
What the certification consisted of was very similar to the AAP exam that I also took in 2011. It was a three hour computerized exam containing a total of 120 questions. The only difference was I didn’t get my results immediately afterwards which was nerve racking. I took the AAP exam in October 2011 and the NCP exam in November 2011. I do not recommend this for anyone, as it consumed a lot of personal time to study thoroughly for both exams.
I often get asked if the exam is just as tough as the AAP exam and the answer is “Heck Yeah”. There are several Rules & Regulations that pertain to checks that have been around for years. So, you might ask yourself, why are we talking about checks here? Checks seem to be phasing out, right? Not exactly, since there are still millions of checks being processed every year. The difference is now approximately 97% of forward collection is accomplished using image exchange. The NCP exam not only covers paper checks but images, image exchange, substitute checks and Remote Deposit Capture since this is where the industry has found itself.
If you would be interested in enhancing your check/image knowledge, I would strongly recommend this certification. If this sounds like something you would be interested in, I have a “free” recorded lecture hall available through our on-demand training titled “So you think you want to be an NCP?” You can order this webinar today by visiting EPCOR’s online store.