ACA International invites credit and collection professionals, clinicians, and industry executives located around the world to earn or renew professional designations at the ACA International Spring Forum & Expo. Held March 14 – 16 at the M Resort Hotel in Las Vegas, the forum offers credentialing, attorney professional development, industry insights, networking opportunities and more.

Educational Content

ACA International’s comprehensive curriculum includes full training in four designation categories —management designations, compliance designations, advanced compliance and an attorney designation.

The new Management Designations track will cover Professional Collection Management (PCM) and Collection Industry Professional (CIP) education. The five scheduled sessions will equip attendees with a basic understanding of the compliance management system process along with tools for successful leadership, coaching and effective communication with various personalities.

On Friday March 16, speaker Elizabeth Conklin will hold an interactive session exclusively on PCM. Discussion topics range from dialer management and statistics to preparing for on-site client visits or audits.

Compliance Officers and Professionals Designations

Professionals interested in Credit and Collection Compliance Officer (CCCO) and Credit and Collection Compliance Professional (CCCP) designations can follow the Compliance Designations track. In addition to assisting professionals earn or renew a CCCP designation, the following coursework is offered for the CCCO designation:

Writing Effective Policies and Procedures
FDCPA: Advanced Issues
Duties of Data Furnishers Under the FCRA
Ethical and Professional Collections
Conducting a Risk Assessment
Data Security and Privacy
Understanding and Responding to the CFPB

Advanced Compliance Training

Certified CCCOs can take their performance to the “next level” through Advanced Compliance training seminars. Expert speakers will present Advanced Compliance: Conducting a Risk Assessment and Advanced Compliance: Controls and Corrective Action along with seven Advanced Compliance track sessions. The seven continuing sessions explores consumer financial protection (CFP) laws; emerging technologies relating to CFP laws; “transactional implications of being a vendor who engages vendors;” public speaking; and enforcing Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) regulations.

Compliance Attorney Designation

The Attorney Designation track will debut the new Credit and Collection Compliance Attorney Certification (CCCA). Attorneys with a strong knowledge of consumer financial protection laws (CFPLs) can receive a “unique opportunity to look at how those laws come together functionally and will explore strategies for building compliance programs around the CFPLs including meaningful training programs.” Structured around five bodies of knowledge, the track examines topics such as identifying and embracing consumer preferences; early warning systems related to disputes, complaints, and inquiries; and how to develop meaningful training programs. Further education may be obtained through attending the Credit and Collections Compliance Attorney Credentialing Program. Professionals may apply the six Professional development Units (PDUs) earned from the credentialing program toward renewing a CCCO designation.

Further Assistance for Collection Professionals

Collection professionals will find business enhancing products and services including debt collection software, dialing technologies and skip tracing services supplied by over 30 exhibitors at the exhibit hall. The exhibit hall will host a reception on Wednesday March 14, along with all meal breaks.

The ACA International Spring Forum & Expo is the “fastest and most cost-effective way” for debt collection professionals to achieve their industry designation. Interested parties may review the event’s website page and register here.

Optio Solutions holds a strong commitment to compliance, operating with a CCCO certified legal team along with a number of managers who have earned this designation. In addition, our agency possesses the SSAE 16 SOC I Type II — audited financial reporting — certification and the Professional Practice Management System (PPMS) certification by ACA International. Backed by extensive industry knowledge and experience, Optio Solutions provides first-party and third-party collections to a variety of industries. Businesses looking to replace, add or transfer delinquent accounts over to an agency can contact Optio solutions today.

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Joe Gargiulo

Editor Joe Gargiulo has 20-plus years in copy writing, public relations and marketing. He enjoys connecting story leads to all aspects of the human experience.