2017 marked a major milestone as ABA’s Frontline Compliance Training celebrated its 10-year anniversary. This exclusive suite of online training courses is offered to ABA members free of charge — helping banks save a combined $5.9 million each year on compliance training for employees.

JAN

Celebrating Our Tenth Year of Free Frontline Compliance Training

ABA Promotes Innovative Student Debt Repayment Benefit

With the burden of student debt weighing heavily on many millennial employees, ABA in February endorsed an innovative student loan repayment employee benefit offered by Gradifi — a powerful tool banks can use to attract and retain top talent. Eight in 10 millennials said that kind of benefit would be a “deciding factor” or make a “considerable impact” when deciding whether to take a job or stay with an employer.

FEB

ABA Government Relations Summit Tops All-Time Attendance Records

ABA’s Government Relations Summit notched record attendance numbers in March, with 1,500 attendees flocking to the nation’s capital representing 52 states and U.S. territories. Bankers heard from top lawmakers, administration officials and Washington insiders, and participated in a live grassroots call to action that resulted in 2,472 letters being delivered to members of Congress.

MAR

2017Key ABA AchievementsIN REVIEW:

ABA Launches Payments Forum

Payments and innovation took center stage during ABA’s inaugural Payments Forum, held in Washington, D.C. Bankers, fintech representatives and industry partners came together to discuss current innovations and tips for implementing an effective payments strategy. ABA also continued its work to educate bankers about how they can leverage fintech to better serve their customers. The association published five white papers this year on regtech, biometrics, APIs, blockchain and digital lending, and endorsed three new digital solutions from Akouba, LendKey and Zenmonics.

JUN

ABA Bankers Meet with President and Treasury to Detail Reg Reform Needs

Regulatory reform continued to be a key focus of the White House throughout the spring, as ABA community bankers participated in meetings with President Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to discuss outdated and ill-fitting regulations. These important conversations were followed by 10 detailed white papers helped inform Treasury’s sweeping 150-page report on regulatory reform, which was released in June.

APR

New CEO Leadership Program Complements Stonier-Wharton Partnership ABA held its first-ever CEO Leadership Lab in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in Philadelphia. Led by top Wharton leadership faculty, this new program — designed exclusively for bank presidents and CEOs — brings together Ivy League thought leaders and industry execs for a deep-dive into navigating changing regulations, innovation, demographics and other emerging issues. The program compliments the ABA Stonier School of Banking, also held in partnership with Wharton. The 2017 school had our highest enrollment — 704 — since the 1980s and reflected increased enrollment of women (44 percent of the student body).

MAY

ABA Staff Task Forces Delve Into Bank Consolidation, Diversity & Inclusion

ABA President and CEO Rob Nichols this year formed two staff task forces to dig into two existential issues facing the banking industry: diversity and inclusion led by Sara Reid and bank consolidation led by Brittany Kleinpaste. The results of that work — which were shared with bankers during ABA’s Summer Leadership Meeting in July — included several actionable recommendations that ABA is working to implement.

JUL

ABA Spotlights Banks’ Leadership in Responding to Hurricanes

As three powerful hurricanes pummelled the Gulf Coast and Puerto Rico in rapid succession last fall, bankers sprang into action to help customers and communities recover. In hard-hit areas, bankers waived ATM and check-cashing fees, opened mobile branches, served up hot meals to hurricane victims and contributed millions of dollars to hurricane relief efforts, including funds established by the state bankers associations in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. ABA captured this response — and the spirit of banking — in a video viewed 236,000 times.

AUG

ABA Holds First ‘Candidate School’ to Help Bankers Run for Office

ABA welcomed its inaugural Candidate School class to Washington, D.C., this September for a two-day intensive seminar geared toward providing bankers with the tools and resources they need to run for political office. Attendees learned how to file necessary paperwork, manage paid and earned media, fundraise, conduct research, target their messaging and get out the vote. As the industry seeks to build its collective muscularity, ABA is encouraging more qualified bankers to consider running for elected office.

SEP

Historic Tax Reform Reflects ABA Advocacy

Months of advocacy came finally to fruition with the year-end passage of the long-awaited tax reform bill. This legislation — which marks the first major overhaul of the U.S. tax code in more than three decades — is expected to catalyze economic growth and job creation in the U.S. ABA had a critical seat at the table as tax reform advanced; President and CEO Rob Nichols and ABA staff experts represented the association and the industry at several meetings as the final details of the bill were hammered out.

DEC

Banks Score Victory for Consumers with Repeal of Arbitration Rule

The banking industry scored a critical victory in October with the repeal of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s final arbitration rule, which was overturned when Congress exercised its authority under the Congressional Review Act to repeal new federal regulations within 60 days of issuance. ABA President and CEO Rob Nichols attended the signing of the final repeal bill at the White House.

OCT

ABA Foundation Survey Highlights Ways Banks Protect Seniors A new benchmarking survey published by the ABA Foundation in November highlighted the many ways in which America’s banks are working to protect their senior customers from fraud and financial exploitation. The survey noted that banks are increasingly working together with local law enforcement and Adult Protective Services to stop financial crime, and many are beginning to leverage technology to keep seniors safe. The survey supplements the Foundation’s Safe Banking for Seniors education program.

NOV

Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian

Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian