If you’ve connected with Glenbrook on LinkedIn, subscribed to our emails, or listened to our Payments on Fire podcast, you may have noticed our new On-Demand Learning option for payments education. In this post, you’ll hear why On-Demand Learning is a game-changing resource for payment professionals worldwide.

Education in the Payments Industry

As we frequently remark at Glenbrook, you can’t get a degree in payments. Everyone has a different, interesting story about how they ended up in the industry. We’ve also been known to say that the payments industry is like Hotel California – “You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.” 

Whether you’re brand new to the industry (~30% of our workshop participants have been in the industry less than 1 year) or you’ve been around for a while, the payments industry evolves at a steady clip, and there are infinite possibilities for payments professionals to learn valuable new skills. 

When they attend a workshop, people bring different assumptions, career experiences, and personal payment preferences. Payments industry terminology is also ambiguous. When one word can have five different things and three different words are used to describe the same concept, it can be hard for people to understand each other. 

Glenbrook’s workshops provide a comprehensive overview of the global payments landscape and a shared understanding of industry terminology so you can communicate with clients and colleagues effectively. 

In 2023, the global financial ecosystem processed 3.4 trillion transactions, representing $1.8 quadrillion in value and generating $2.4 trillion in revenue. However, this growth is anything but straightforward. Emerging technologies like GenAI and new networks such as Pix are reshaping the industry, accelerating change rather than simply expanding existing models. As a result, the ‘digital era’ of payments – defined by wallets, NFC, tokenization, and digital currencies – is evolving into the ‘AI era,’ characterized by intelligent, embedded, and autonomous payment systems.

In this rapidly changing landscape, professionals must not only understand where the industry has been but also anticipate where it is going to remain at the forefront.

As the payments industry continues to innovate and grow, certifications are becoming essential for those looking to validate their expertise and advance their careers. Similarly, foundational knowledge of the payments ecosystem is critical for success in this competitive industry. 

Glenbrook’s On-Demand Learning program is a key resource to help professionals achieve these milestones.

Origin of Glenbrook’s Payments Education Program

Several years ago, one of our founding partners, Carol Coye Benson, observed that at the start of most client engagements, our clients required a brief primer on payments to ensure that everyone on the team shared an understanding of payments and could use industry terminology to communicate with each other and with us accurately.

That got Carol thinking that a more formal education program would help not just our clients but also people in the industry. So, she started what was to become our Payments Boot Camp workshop. Since then, over 34,000 professionals have attended a Glenbrook workshop, and over 43,000 payments books, another brainchild of Carol’s, are in circulation from Glenbrook Press.

The Journey to On-Demand Learning

Until 2020, every workshop participant had attended an in-person session. When COVID struck, we realized that virtual delivery would be important to reach people who needed payment industry education. So, the pandemic prompted us to pivot (like everyone else) and take our workshops online, delivering through Zoom using interactive features like polling, breakouts, and Q&A.

What we did not realize was how many people outside the United States were eager to attend but, until virtual sessions, were unable to. The number of people dialing into Zoom from around the world led to the idea that on-demand learning would benefit this broad audience—after all, how much payment knowledge can anyone absorb between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.? 

It was clear that we needed to get our curriculum into a more consumable and accessible format so that someone could get smart about payments at a reasonable hour and get as much out of the course as they would listening in on Zoom. 

Glenbrook’s On-Demand Learning program is the natural progression of professional learning in the dynamic payments industry. 

Glenbrook On-Demand Payments Courses

Glenbrook realizes how quickly the payments industry moves. By adding an On-Demand learning option to our suite of educational resources, we’re providing busy payments industry professionals with a more convenient way to increase their knowledge, advance their careers, and remain competitive within the industry. 

You can start learning today by enrolling in one of these two courses:

Payments and Fraud Prevention Certification Preparation Course: Specifically designed to help professionals prepare for the Merchant Risk Council’s Certified Payments and Fraud Prevention Professional (CPFPP) certification, this course provides 16 hours of video content, downloadable handbooks, and over 300 knowledge check questions to help participants confidently approach their certification exam.

Payments Boot Camp™ Intensive: A condensed version of Glenbrook’s highly acclaimed Payments Boot Camp™, this course delivers a streamlined overview of the payments industry in 5 hours. Covering key concepts and the latest trends, the course is perfect for professionals looking for an efficient way to deepen their payments knowledge or for those new to the space.

Benefits of Glenbrook’s On-Demand Learning:

1. Flexibility and convenience – on-demand learning can be accessed from anywhere at any time. Tailor your learning experience to what works best for your schedule.

 

2. Improved retention – work at your own pace and refer back to up-to-date material for up to 1 year.

 

3. Immediate feedback – test your comprehension with knowledge checks throughout the course, or join a live monthly Q&A session to ask questions or expand on key points. Weekly reports keep you updated on your course progression.

 

4. Certificates – access a certificate at course completion to self-submit for continuing education or share on social networks

 

5. Affordability and time saving – on-demand courses can be more cost-effective than traditional in-person courses or workshops. Save money on commuting, accommodations, and other related costs that are incurred when traveling to a workshop, and save time by customizing your learning schedule.

The benefits that on-demand learning offers are undeniable. Improving your professional knowledge in a way that works for you is a true advantage in furthering your career. 

As Yvette Bohanan, a Partner at Glenbrook and Payments on Fire host, remarked on a recent episode:

“At the heart of our education program, we want to make people aware and knowledgeable so they can make good decisions when they’re doing their work because the more people in this industry making good decisions, the better and stronger the industry gets.”

Learn more about Glenbrook’s On-Demand Learning program, and sign up for your first course today!