2009 NACHA Payments System Awards:
Call for Nominations
Deadline for Submissions: February 23, 2009
ACTION REQUESTED
NACHA invites nominations for the 2009 George Mitchell Payments Systems Excellence Award and the 2009 Kevin O'Brien ACH Quality Award. Please submit nominations using the Microsoft Word® form provided (include all supporting documentation) to Mary J. Yerkes at NACHA via e-mail to myerkes@nacha.org no later than February 23, 2009.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
George Mitchell Payments System Excellence Award
The George Mitchell Award, named after the late George Mitchell, former vice-chairperson of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and early electronic payments proponent, is presented annually to an individual or organization that has shown superior leadership in the development, implementation, or advancement of electronic payments.
Kevin O'Brien ACH Quality Award
The Kevin O'Brien ACH Quality Award is presented annually to recognize best practices in ACH participants' efforts to maintain and improve the quality of ACH services and/or the integrity and reliability of the ACH Network. The award is named in honor of the late Kevin O'Brien, who served as NACHA's Chairperson from 1999-2000.
Award Notification & Recognition
NACHA will recognize award recipients on Tuesday, April 9, 2009 at the 2009 NACHA Payments System Awards Luncheon, sponsored by IBM, at its PAYMENTS 2009 conference in Orlando. PAYMENTS 2009 (payments.nacha.org) will be held April 5 – 8, 2009 at the Orlando World Center Marriott. NACHA will also announce award recipients in a news release, on its Web site (www.nacha.org), and in other NACHA communications.
Award Nomination Criteria
Nomination for the 2009 George Mitchell Payments System Excellence Award and the 2009 Kevin O'Brien ACH Quality Award is a privilege that provides individuals and organizations with visibility in the industry and opportunities to make an impact on the ACH Network. Nominees must adhere to NACHA's Code of Conduct (http://www.nacha.org/code_of_conduct.htm) and conduct their activities with the highest levels of integrity and professionalism. NACHA, Regional Payments Associations, and/or their employees are not eligible for these awards.
BACKGROUND
2009 George Mitchell Payments Award Nomination Package
The 2009 George Mitchell Payments Award nomination package should include:
- a cover sheet (see attachment) that includes the nominee's complete name, title, organization, and contact information, and the submitter, if different;
- appropriate supporting documentation as outlined below.
Eligibility
Any individual or organization that has demonstrated superior leadership in the development, implementation, or advancement of electronic payments is eligible. NACHA, Regional Payments Associations, and/or their employees are not eligible for this award.
Information Needed
To nominate an individual or organization, please submit a description of the nominee's achievements in the development, implementation or advancement of electronic payments, along with supporting documentation to demonstrate the achievements. Please include an executive summary and format the description in an article format.
2009 Kevin O'Brien ACH Quality Award Nomination Package
The 2009 Kevin O'Brien ACH Quality Award nomination package should include:
- a cover sheet (see attachment) that includes the complete name, title, organization, and contact information of the nominee, and the submitter, if different;
- appropriate supporting documentation as outlined below.
Eligibility
Any private or public sector Originator or Receiver, depository financial institution, third-party service provider, or ACH Operator is eligible to receive the award for an ACH-related program, project, practice, or procedure that improves services, reduces exceptions, minimizes risk, or streamlines processing is eligible to qualify as a quality improvement initiative. The results of such an initiative should be a demonstrated improvement in customer satisfaction, a reduced number of exception items, more effective utilization of staff effectively meeting unique customer needs, reductions in costs of ACH processing, improvements in risk management, and/or any other demonstrated quality improvement. NACHA, Regional Payments Associations, and/or their employees are not eligible for this award.
Information Needed
To nominate an individual or organization, please submit a description of the nominee's achievements in the development, implementation or advancement of electronic payments, along with supporting documentation to demonstrate the achievements. Please include an executive summary and format the description in an article format.
Submission Process & Staff Contact
Necessary Documentation
Nominators should include descriptive documentation that chronicles a program, project, practice or procedure that has resulted in improved ACH quality within their organization. Nominators should demonstrate that the nominee's best practice has resulted in improved quality to their organization and the ACH Network through supporting data, statistics, survey results, customer feedback or any other relevant information. Please provide the description in an article format, and include an executive summary and as many of the following headings as applicable:
- goals of project
- description of old process and new process
- project structure
- summary and statistics on amount of work effort
- benefits of new process
- general applicability to other ACH participants
- recommendations based on lessons learned for other organizations who could consider a similar effort
Due Date for Nominations
Nomination submissions for the 2009 George Mitchell Payments System Award and the 2009 Kevin O'Brien ACH Quality Award must be received by February 23, 2009.
Submitting Nominations
The recommended format for submissions is an email with a Word attachment. Please forward nominations and supporting documentation to Mary J. Yerkes at myerkes@nacha.org. If necessary, please fax hard copies to 703/787-0996, attention Mary J. Yerkes or mail to:
NACHA—The Electronic Payments Association
ATTN: Mary J. Yerkes, Senior Staff Writer
Industry Marketing & Communications
13450 Sunrise Valley Drive, Suite 100
Herndon, VA 20171
Fax: 703/787-0996
Nominators understand and agree that their submissions will become the property of NACHA. NACHA may publish the material in its annual Electronic Payments Review and Buyers Guide, on its Web site, and in other NACHA publications. Further, Regional Payments Associations may publish submissions in their newsletters, on their Web sites, and for ACH training.
