‘I Wish I’d Gotten My AAP Years Ago’

Larry Matteson, AAP, APRP
Vice President, Risk and Third-Party Services
EPCOR

It wasn’t that Larry Matteson didn’t want to take the AAP exam. But there are only so many hours in the day.

“A lot of the EPCOR staff had always tried to get me to take the AAP exam. But working at a bank you don’t get a lot of time off to study,” said Matteson, who worked closely with the payment association. “I’d actually registered several times, but never took the test.”

Then Matteson left the bank—to become EPCOR’s vice president of risk and third-party services. And becoming an AAP transformed into a priority.

Each time he registered for the test, Matteson knew a lot of studying would be required. It was no different as he prepared to finally take it in 2017—even with 15 years of ACH experience.

“It’s a tough exam,” said Matteson.

“Having the practical experience helped a lot on some things, especially on the operational aspects. But it didn’t help at all on the regulatory side.”

Still, the preparation and hard work was worth it.

“Especially in the payments field, people are looking for excellence,” said Matteson, who is retiring from EPCOR later this year. “I wish I’d gotten my AAP years ago at the bank.”

Matteson didn’t let time slip by when it came to the APRP exam. He assisted in developing the training manual and said that got him “a little more interested in it.”

Less than a year after passing the AAP exam, Matteson passed the inaugural APRP test administered in 2018.

To anyone hemming and hawing about whether to seek one or both credentials, Matteson shared this thought: “The accreditations speak to a level of understanding and knowledge that people will assume about you before they’ve even met you and had a chance to talk to you.”