If you operate as a Credit Reporting Agency, you know that it's critical for your compliance personnel to master a variety of specific CRA compliance functions. Unfortunately, proper training for these requirements has been hard to find. Until now.

The very first industry Compliance Certification Program is now available through an innovative Learner Management System (LMS) that features a self-paced, comprehensive, and interactive way for your compliance staff and all levels of management to earn a Compliance Certification. To shed some more insights on the Compliance Certification, we sat down with its creator about what was behind the decision to build the program and what it contains.

Here is the interview with Jackie Drziak, EVP of All in Compliance:

Interviewer: This Compliance Certification Program is really a fascinating concept. Could you tell me a little more about how it works?

Jackie Drziak: Yes, we're super excited for the Compliance Certification Program. It is now offered to all CRA's and to all that provide consumer information, and it's intended to provide an industry-wide consistent way to train any employee who performs compliance functions, as well as all levels of management within a CRA. The program itself was written based on 13 industry important topics including Data Security, Regulation, Consumer Complaint Management or UDAPP, Bureau Policies, Business Continuity, Vendor Management, Auditing, Code of Conduct, CFPB and more. The student is given access to a self-paced, very interactive portal containing the individual modules. There is a small amount of testing within every module along with a compliance Q&A section. The real assessment is provided at the conclusion of the program with a comprehensive test to earn the certification.

I: So, what inspired you to begin this project?

JD: Well, in my years of doing compliance management for a CRA, I've seen the compliance function grow immensely, especially in recent years. As I began performing outsourced compliance services with All in Compliance, I've seen that compliance personnel come from two backgrounds: First, they may come from within an organization from a production role. These folks have a great depth of knowledge about the business, but don't always understand the complex in's and out's of compliance. Or conversely, a compliance staff member may be hired that has some form of compliance background but may not be familiar with consumer reporting. Either of these scenarios really requires some level of training to be sure. Now there are a host of resources available that train on FCRA or other components, but nothing like this one; it's really a comprehensive, easy to administer training. As it was being written, I began believing that all levels of management can also benefit from the material within the program. Any party within a CRA that has management oversight should be asked to achieve this level of certification.

I: How is the industry reacting so far to this concept?

JD: The industry loves the concept of consistent training material. This is a great way to demonstrate that we, as an industry, appreciate our responsibilities to consumers, to integrity, to maximum accuracy and to safeguarding data. The industry is willing to extend efforts to self-certify ourselves as individuals trained and who qualify to perform our duties.

I: Can you tell me a little bit about the learning process? How is the curriculum presented to the student?

JD: So the Learner Management System, or LMS as it's also known as, is technology to provide online learning and testing. Rather than asking the student to read through chapters of written material, this technology offers the material in a self-paced fashion so they can complete their testing in multiple sessions. Most appealing though is the level of interactivity that helps the student and reinforces the learning. I believe that in this COVID era of interactivity, we'll all benefit from more online education. And I would add that we are already working on the next course which will be available later in 2021. The next training is being written with the new hire in mind. It will offer general information about consumer reporting to new employees. Having this type of online resource will help CRAs to onboard new team members knowing they are getting a comprehensive understanding of this industry and the importance of things like privacy, confidentiality, data security and maximum possible accuracy. Stay tuned for more details on the new hire training program.

I: Thank you Jackie. Is there anything else you'd like to add?

JD: Yes, I'd just like to say that I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to envision, organize, write and now market this program. I've taken pride in being able to share what I know with businesses in the consumer reporting industry, and I hope this program continues to spread that knowledge.

To learn more about the Compliance Certification Program, click here.