WAYATA, Minn., Jan. 28, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Twenty years ago, two P-Card managers at Cargill, a global agricultural commodities corporation, took everything they knew from their award-winning program, and launched the NAPCP, a professional association to serve the Commercial Card and Payment industry.
Laura Flandrick, CPCP, and Diane McGuire, MBA, CPCP, had found a void in the industry, but more importantly, knew how to fill it.
"It became very clear early on that there were so many resources in every aspect being put forth to raise the awareness of the Purchasing Card to help people implement these programs, to grow these programs, but there was no conduit to take all those resources and really get them down to the hands of the people who needed them," said Flandrick, NAPCP founding Managing Director.
In the original introductory message to the industry, Flandrick and McGuire wrote: "The NAPCP will provide a forum to guide, educate, and support Purchasing Card professionals. The synergies created will result in a more robust product and effective application of the product."
From a base of two hundred, the NAPCP has grown into a global Commercial Card and Payment professional association, serving an industry community of more than 20,000 industry professionals in 78 countries.
"Over the course of two decades, the payments industry has transformed in ways we couldn't even imagine in 1999," said McGuire, founding Managing Director. "P-Cards have evolved into an entire suite of Commercial Card and Payment products. Automation has transformed our industry in the areas of reconciliation, auditing, reporting and benchmarking capabilities. Mobile applications have shrunk our world, while opening up even more capabilities. The next 20 years will bring even more revolutionary innovations."
With the launch of the NAPCP's robust online Resource Center in 2000, as well as the first newsletter, whitepaper and survey results report, the NAPCP was well on its way to becoming an important industry resource. The NAPCP's extensive website--at 2,000 pages strong and growing--is a repository of Commercial Card and Payments educational products, tools, interactive learning and networking opportunities. The NAPCP has provided hundreds of reports, surveys, studies, samples, webinars, and more, dedicated to every imaginable relevant topic.
During the past twenty years, almost fifty providers from across the industry have joined the NAPCP as Partner Sponsors, while hundreds have participated as exhibitors, speakers and demonstrators. They are the issuers, networks and problem-solvers who challenge the norm and shape the future with innovation, technologies and strategies. Members of the NAPCP's end-user community have served peers and colleagues by sharing vast, collective knowledge and experience. This connectivity and generosity of spirit is what fuels the NAPCP, and helps build a vital, forward-thinking organization.
ABOUT THE NAPCP
The NAPCP is a membership-based professional association committed to advancing Commercial Card and Payment professionals and industry practices worldwide. Serving a community of more than 20,000, the NAPCP is a respected voice in the industry and an impartial resource for members at all experience levels in the public and private sectors. The NAPCP provides unmatched opportunities for continuing education and peer networking through its conferences, Regional Forums, webinars, website, virtual demonstrations, newsletters and regular communication. The association sponsors research and publishes timely and relevant white papers, survey results and other documents. The NAPCP also offers a Certified Purchasing Card Professional (CPCP) credential.
SOURCE National Association of Purchasing Card Professionals
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