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Acquire knowledge being sold outside of bank loans,"
he said. "Then OnDeck Capital
"It's important to have well-rounded knowledge of your whole practice, not introduced a loan product with a
because you will perform all functions, but to better serve your merchants," daily debit, other products began to
said Diane Driscoll, ETA CPP and underwriting manager at US Alliance Group look like cash advance and MCAs
Inc. "I find it easier to learn when I discuss topics with others and compare were no longer tied to processing."
notes." Driscoll recently joined ETA's 2019 class of YPP scholars, serves on the
ETA's CPP credentialing committee and was a CPP panelist at Transact 19, the Murray enlisted the help of Coun-
ETA's annual conference. She advised aspiring CPPs preparing for the exam to selorLibrary.com, an affiliate of law
target areas where they are least knowledgeable. As an underwriter, Driscoll firm Hudson Cook LLP, to create
was knowledgeable about risk but said sales, pricing and interchange were the industry's first MCA certifica-
foreign to her. Talking with sales and deployment professionals helped her get tion program. "There was a great
up to speed. need to distinguish between the
products and understand the differ-
Dale Cardarelli, ETA CPP and vice president, enterprise sales at Citizens Bank ence between loan transactions and
Merchant Services/Worldpay, agreed that well-rounded knowledge is key to purchase transactions," he said. "We
success in payments. Cardarelli also serves on the CPP credentialing committee purposely chose a very fundamen-
and participated in Transact's CPP panel. "There are so many people in the tal design, focusing on key areas
payments ecosystem," she said. "An ISV with a gateway may also do processing." and using written copy and video to
Cardarelli recommended reading industry trade publications and white papers, appeal to different learning styles."
and paying attention as a consumer at checkout. Notice what kind of systems
merchants are using, she advised, and whether you are handing over your card Having seen newly certified brokers
or interacting with the POS device yourself. change their entire approach to sell-
Educate merchants ing MCA products, Murray said, "It's
hard for new brokers to fund a small
Sean Murray, deBanked president and chief editor, wanted to educate MLSs business if they don't understand the
on the diversity of lending products. "At one time, MCA was the only product product and nuances of loans versus
purchases. Knowledgeable brokers
help customers make informed de-
cisions, which allows them to close
more deals."

Credentialing programs profession-
alize the merchant services industry
and help MLSs build credibility and
trust, Driscoll stated. "Our indus-
try needs to self-regulate to combat
bad actors," she said. "We need to
educate merchants to request certi-
fied payments professionals who
are well-versed in technology and
services and are able to explain how
they benefit the merchant."

Murray also promotes business best
practices, most recently at Broker
Fair 2019. The deBanked annual con-
ference included a panel discussion
on ethics and integrity with Justin
Bakes, CEO at Forward Financing
and Christine Chang, CEO at 6th
Avenue Capital LLC. The panelists
said doing the right thing is good for
business; subpar practices can dam-
age companies and careers.
Compete with major brands

It may be worth noting that MLSs
are not only competing with each

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