Association of Payment Professionals

Name

Association of Payment Professionals

Legal name

Association of Payment Professionals, Inc.

Website

https://paymentpros.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Spokane Valley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership fees for organizations and individuals in the payments industry. For most organizational members (3+ members), there are no extra dues beyond the base membership.
2. Conference Registrations: Revenue from Level Up annual conference registrations ($975 for members) and regional events
3. Digital Content Access: Sale of digital access to conference recordings and educational content ($79 for all-access to Level Up 21)
4. Sponsorship Partnerships: Corporate sponsorships and partnership packages from payment industry companies supporting the association

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

The Association of Payment Professionals (APP) is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit membership association founded in 1997 (formerly the Merchant Acquiring Council) that provides education, training, networking, and community resources for professionals working in merchant acquiring, payment risk, underwriting, and compliance. It delivers structured learning programs (M@Cademy, MACPACK), annual conferences (Level Up), regional events, special interest groups, and curated publications to help members stay current with regulatory changes and industry best practices.

Product overview

Association of Payment Professionals (APP) is a member-driven professional association supporting risk, underwriting, and compliance professionals within the payment ecosystem. APP is not a technology product company but rather offers a portfolio of membership services including educational programs (M@Cademy, MACPACK), publications (7 Things to Know), communication tools (APP Alerts), community programs (SIGs, Member Compass), and events (Level Up Conference, Regional Roadshows, Coffee Connect webinars). The organization focuses on education, networking, and loss prevention in payments rather than commercial technology products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• M@Cademy Education program providing structured learning content for payment industry professionals, covering merchant acquiring fundamentals, risk, and compliance topics. Available to members of the association.
• MACPACK Education program/content package providing members with curated learning resources on payment processing, underwriting, and risk management topics.
• Level Up Conference Annual flagship conference hosted by APP that brings together merchant acquiring, risk, underwriting, and compliance professionals for education sessions, keynote presentations, and industry networking.
• Member Compass Member resource providing curated guidance and reference content for payment professionals to navigate industry regulations, best practices, and operational issues.
• APP Alerts Communication service delivering timely alerts and updates on regulatory changes, industry news, and emerging issues affecting merchant acquiring and payment processing professionals.
• Special Interest Groups (SIGs) Community program that organizes members into topic-focused groups for peer-to-peer discussion, knowledge sharing, and collaboration on specific payment industry topics such as risk, underwriting, and compliance.
• Coffee Connect Informal networking event series hosted by APP enabling members to connect with peers in the payment industry in a relaxed setting.
• Regional Roadshows

Quantifiable outcome

• 20+ educational sessions per annual conference
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Equifax (Midigator)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerMidigator, an Equifax company, is a sponsor of APP providing chargeback prevention and dispute management solutions to members. Domenic Cirone serves as VP, Acquirer Solutions and was elected as APP President-Elect for 2026.
• VisacoreGTM or Marketing PartnerVisa is a major sponsor of APP with multiple representatives actively involved in the organization including Anupam Chauhan (Sr. Director of Payments Ecosystem Risk Control) and others in risk management roles.
• Chesapeake BankcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerChesapeake Bank is a sponsor with multiple employees serving in leadership roles. Erin Johnston serves on the APP Board of Directors (Second Term) representing Chesapeake Bank.
• Mentom PaymentscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerMentom Payments, based in El Segundo, CA, is a sponsor of APP. Jordan Stewart serves as President with other team members involved in sales and operations.
• SecurityMetricsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSecurityMetrics is a sponsor providing PCI compliance and security solutions to APP members.
• Merrick BankcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerMerrick Bank is a sponsor with Shari Savlick serving as Past President Advisor. Merrick Bank played a key role during Shari's presidency when APP navigated post-pandemic challenges.
• Intuit Inc.minorGTM or Marketing PartnerIntuit Inc. is a sponsor partner with Jennifer Maddux involved in APP conference program leadership.
• Arnall, Golden, GregoryminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerAGG (Arnall, Golden, Gregory) is a sponsor partner providing legal services to the payments industry. Ed Marshall serves on the APP Board returning for governance experience.
• National Association of Boards of PharmacyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNABP is a sponsor partner in the pharmacy accreditation space, complementing LegitScript partnerships.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• Association of Financial Professionals: AFP serves treasury and finance professionals in corporations and financial institutions. While not a direct competitor, its membership-based education model and adjacent compliance/treasury content make it a structurally comparable professional association.

Emerging players

• Association of Certified Fraud Examiners: ACFE is the premier anti-fraud professional association, offering CFE certification, training, and global events. APP's fraud-trends SIG and risk/underwriting focus overlap meaningfully with ACFE's member base.
• Risk Management Association: RMA serves banking and financial-services risk professionals through education, training, and benchmarking. While its focus is broader than payments, its risk-management membership base and educational programs make it a comparable professional-association model.
• International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators: IAFCI is a membership organization for financial-crimes investigators, including payments fraud and AML. It overlaps with APP's fraud-prevention and KYC/AML compliance audience and runs educational events and certification programs.

Direct peers

• PCI Security Standards Council: PCI SSC develops and maintains the PCI DSS standards and provides training, certification, and community programs for payment security professionals. APP's Security/PCI track and its relationship with SecurityMetrics show direct overlap in PCI-related education.
• NACHA (The ACH Network): NACHA governs the ACH network and runs a payments-industry membership association with educational programs, advocacy, and risk management resources for ACH payments — closely comparable to APP's role in card-based payments.
• Electronic Transactions Association: ETA is the leading trade association for the payments industry, representing merchants, banks, networks, and fintechs. Like APP, it serves payments professionals through advocacy, education, and events, but with a broader remit across the payments ecosystem.
• Merchant Risk Council: MRC is a global membership organization focused on payments fraud, risk, and technology. It directly overlaps APP's risk/underwriting/compliance membership and runs major annual fraud-prevention events analogous to APP's Level Up conference.

Broad incumbents

• BAI: BAI is a large, established non-profit providing research, training, and events for retail banking and financial services. It overlaps with APP's compliance and risk audiences but operates at a broader banking-industry scale.
• American Bankers Association: ABA is the largest U.S. banking trade association, offering compliance training, educational programs, and advocacy. It serves a much broader member base than APP but competes for the same compliance and risk-professional audience within member banks.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/APPpaymentpros
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/associationofpaymentprofessionals

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Association of Payment Professionals