RMA's Credit
Risk Certification

Our Credit Risk Department was, basically, a decent department, but the managers we brought in believed that it could be an excellent department. One of the ways we achieved that excellence was through the CRC. We all took and passed the CRC, and the next time the OCC came to look at us, they considered us a very strong credit risk review department (from the control function perspective).

I decided to get my CRC so that everything I had learned and everything I had experienced up to that point in credit risk was recognized and acknowledged. I believe it’s important for my credibility and I wanted my bank’s management to know that when I had something to say, there was substance behind it—that’s what Credit Risk Certification gave me.

I think someone in the credit side of banking should pursue a CRC. It validates your knowledge and experience in the industry. I don’t think you can just study and expect to pass the test for the CRC. In order to pass, you also need to call upon your experiences in the industry.

Being Credit Risk Certified has helped me with one of my primary job responsibilities—interactions with the regulators. I believe that my CRC designation has given them confidence in my abilities as far as grading the loan portfolio, properly classifying loans, and also preparing the allowance for loan loss.

A very important piece of advice I can give to any candidate going for the CRC is to gain the experience. Five years of experience is absolutely crucial. You can read the book and know the material left, right, and center, but if you don’t have the practical experience, you won’t be able to make it through that exam. One other note: the CRC exam will really get your brain working. It is a thinking person’s test, not just an A, B, C, or D test.