ECCHO’s industry advocacy has created and continues to consistently create significant reductions in bank operating expense, accelerations in collection speed and reductions in losses.

ECCHO is the only industry wide advocate for the check payment system and represents every segment of the industry from the smallest credit union to the largest commercial bank.

 ECCHO has created five different types of memberships in order to meet the distinctive needs of our various financial institution members:

• Full Members
• Participating Members
• Affiliate Members (of Full and Participating Members)
• Associate Members
• Sponsored Members

 

All members are covered equally by the ECCHO Rules—contingent upon exchange agreements. Full Members participate in the governance of ECCHO.  Full Members, Participating Members, and Sponsoring Organizations have a direct relationship with ECCHO which enables them to contribute to in-person Operations Committee meetings as well as Subcommittee calls.

Sponsored Members are sponsored by Sponsoring Organizations. This group includes financial institutions as well as other organizations (e.g. payments processors, solutions providers and regional payment associations) that support Sponsored Members.  Sponsoring Organizations represent their Sponsored Member pool at ECCHO Operations Committee and Subcommittee meetings.

ECCHO is a member-driven organization which utilizes the expertise of its members to create and maintain optimum rules for the industry.  Members play an important role in the rules development process:  1) ideas and issues are discussed in ad hoc subcommittee calls, 2) Rules are drafted through much collaboration, 3) draft rules are approved by the ECCHO Operations Committee before ultimate approval by the Business Committee.

ECCHO also works with its members to examine the latest issues in the industry and develop solutions—often taking the form of suggested practices, education and/or whitepapers.

The benefits of ECCHO membership are clear:

• Preeminent set of Rules for impartial image exchange avoiding the need for and cost of executing and maintaining multiple sets of customized bilateral agreements
  
  
• Unparalleled opportunities for networking including meetings, subcommittee calls, contact lists for bank adjustment areas, etc.
• Ongoing advocacy for legal and compliance issues see link
  
  
• Comprehensive check education through the National Check Professional certification process, as well as other training classes, webinars, whitepapers, industry presentations, etc.
• Representing its membership within industry groups like X9 Standards groups, NACHA, clearing houses and solutions providers, as well as liaising with the Fed, FFIEC, FDIC, FTC and other government organizations
• Applying industry learnings and initiatives in their formative stages (Reg CC, X9, standards updates, Fed initiatives, etc.)
• ECCHOEdge Archive of members only resources including whitepapers, briefings, previous subcommittee meeting notes, and presentation slides inside ECCHOConnect
  
  
• Member discounts on most education including ECCHO’s National Check Professional Certification program and ECCHOEd online education