Advocacy Accomplishments in 2024

Dec. 20, 2024

We are approaching the end of 2024 — a year that has required the banking industry to push back against a flood of misguided policy changes that would fundamentally alter how banks do business — from the micromanagement of payment card programs to Community Reinvestment Act compliance.

Over the past 12 months, the team at ABA has been hard at work engaging policymakers on these critical issues, using facts and data to demonstrate the real-world harm that these policies would create for banks and their customers. At the same time, we have continued to support banks of all sizes as they innovate and adapt to rapidly evolving business conditions and novel challenges.

ABA has proudly served the banking industry for almost 150 years, and we stand ready to assist your bank as you tackle the challenges of today and plan for tomorrow. I encourage you to take a closer look at how ABA membership can support your organization and your employees. Email my team at [email protected] if you'd like to learn more about benefits and pricing.

ABA serves as the industry’s most important advocate, a trusted partner and an innovative catalyst on behalf of the America’s banks. In the remainder of this email, I’ll provide a few examples of how we’ve done just like that for banks like yours over the course of the past year.

ABA: THE INDUSTRY’S MOST IMPORTANT ADVOCATE

Led the fight against fraud. Already leading the industry’s efforts to provide banks and consumers with new tools to spot and stop fraud and scams, ABA in October called on Congress and the next administration to do more to combat this growing threat. We called for a national fraud prevention strategy that would focus on increasing interagency coordination and reducing the number of Americans scammed.

We also urged the FCC to create a centralized database to track spam messages and urged the federal government to work with states to fund financial crimes intelligence centers that can help better mobilize resources at the local level where they can be most effective.

Challenged the tsunami in court. As the industry pushed back against the regulatory tsunami, ABA played a leading role in securing injunctive relief for banks in several lawsuits. We are currently involved in six active lawsuits on behalf of our members—and we won’t hesitate to pursue additional legal action as needed to combat rules that would harm the nation’s banks.

1. Community Reinvestment Act modernization. ABA, leading an effort joined by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Texas Bankers Association and ICBA, won a preliminary injunction in March pausing implementation of the flawed CRA final rule — a key sign that the judge believes we are likely to prevail on the merits at trial.
2. Section 1071 final rule. In the lawsuit we joined with the Texas Bankers Association, the preliminary injunction we secured last year won 290 extra days for banks to prepare to comply with this unnecessarily complex rule requiring banks to collect and report small business lending data. Unfortunately, a federal judge denied our motion for summary judgment in the case, and we are now appealing that decision to the Fifth Circuit.
3. UDAAP exam manual. We secured a full win last fall in the trial court, undoing the bureau’s surprise update to its UDAAP exam manual. The bureau has moved forward with appealing the decision, but our convincing victory remains likely to stand.
4. CFPB late fees final rule. We joined the U.S. Chamber, the Consumer Bankers Association and others in challenging the bureau’s rule slashing the cap on late fees, and we succeeded in forcing the bureau to pause implementation. On December 6, we received a ruling from a federal judge denying a request from the CFPB to move the case out of Texas, as well as the bureau’s requests to dismiss the case and dissolve the preliminary injunction. The judge’s kept the preliminary injunction in place and concluded that the rule violates the CARD Act—a strong indication of the strength of our case.
5. Illinois interchange rule. ABA joined the Illinois Bankers Association and others in seeking a preliminary injunction against a state law that would restrict interchange fees and call into question the longstanding principle of national bank preemption. As we continue to await the judge’s ruling in this case, the OCC in October filed a rare amicus brief in support of our lawsuit, arguing that the law constitutes “unlawful interference” with the OCC’s supervisory powers over national banks.
6. CFPB overdraft final rule. After the CFPB finalized yet another misguided final rule significantly restricting overdraft fees last week, ABA and the Mississippi Bankers Association, together with several other trade groups representing banks and credit unions, immediately filed a lawsuit against the bureau challenging the rule. We will be seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the rule from taking effect.

Blocked the misguided Basel III endgame. With the support of our members and state association partners, we succeeded in convincing regulators to scrap the incredibly unpopular Basel III endgame capital requirements. This proposal received bipartisan criticism and overwhelming opposition from commenters, including many from outside the banking industry. With new leadership expected at the FDIC and the OCC in 2025, the endgame in its current form is effectively dead.

Moved the needle on credit union oversight. Thanks to persistent efforts by ABA to educate the policy community on credit union issues—including the economic and tax consequences of credit union acquisitions of taxpaying banks—we have heard increased calls for greater credit union oversight and accountability.

The credit union industry’s top regulator, Todd Harper, has publicly questioned recent high-dollar credit union stadium naming deals. CFPB Director Rohit Chopra earlier this year called for Community Reinvestment Act-like standards for credit unions. And at ABA’s Annual Convention in New York in October, Rep. Claudia Tenney (pictured), a key voice on the House Ways and Means Committee, said that it’s time for an oversight hearing on the industry. With a rulemaking expected any day on credit union executive compensation, it’s clear that we are making meaningful progress toward ensuring greater transparency and accountability for these institutions.

Corrected the record with research. ABA’s Office of the Chief Economist and policy teams mobilized throughout the year to push back against inaccurate or misleading data being used to support several harmful policy positions, including the CFPB’s aggressive campaign against so-called “junk fees” and credit card rewards programs, as well as proposed changes to Regulation II. We also pushed back against the CFPB’s interpretation of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, which it incorrectly claimed applies to wire transfers. (Dive deeper into ABA’s Viewpoint blog posts.)

ABA: A TRUSTED PARTNER

Launched the ABA Partner Network. This year, we launched the ABA Partner Network, a new resource designed to connect banks with the technology solutions they need to innovate. The network was developed in close consultation with bankers, to support them as they make critical decisions about who to partner with on their innovation journeys. To date, we have over 400 service providers listed on the Partner Network, which bankers can explore quickly and easily through the network directory, and more enhancements to the network are planned for 2025.

Conducted independent assessments of the financial services marketplace. Along with the launch of the Partner Network, ABA also unveiled a series of product assessments for our members that examine specific market segments and provide a holistic review of the key vendors offering solutions. ABA receives no financial incentives from providers for inclusion in these assessments—ensuring that banks receive an unbiased look at the solutions available.

This year, we have published product assessments on check fraud detection and mitigation, middleware and digital account opening, and more are in the works.

Transformed ABA’s email newsletters. As we strive to provide our members with accurate and timely updates on banking news, ABA upgraded ABA Daily Newsbytes and our other email bulletins to provide bankers with even more personalized news and insights. To subscribe to our email publications or to change your subscriptions, visit aba.com/EmailBulletins.

Launched “ABA Communities” for bankers to connect. One of the benefits of ABA membership is the many networking opportunities that ABA provides. This fall, ABA launched a new online networking platform — ABA Communities — to enable bankers from across the country to build relationships and connect with their peers in similar roles. Bankers can join ABA Member Exchanges focused on different topics and job roles, including compliance and risk, marketing and more.

In addition to ABA Communities, ABA also continues to support and enhance its banker Employee Resource Groups, which were created to provide bankers with shared life experiences and common identities opportunities to network. Currently, ABA has ERGs for women in model risk management and development and women bank CEOs, as well as groups for Black bankers and Asian American and Pacific Islander bankers. Plans are in the works to enhance these ERGs in the coming year, as well as launch a new ERG dedicated to Hispanic bankers.

Supported hurricane recovery efforts. With several southern states devastated by record-breaking hurricanes this year, ABA and the state associations stepped up to provide more than $150,000 in financial support to the banks and communities directly affected by these devastating storms.

ABA: AN INNOVATIVE CATALYST

Armed bankers with tools to fight fraud. Over the course of 2024, ABA has worked tirelessly to provide bankers with a full range of tools and resources to help them educate their customers on the risks and red flags of fraud and strengthen their internal processes to keep their customers and institution safe.

Our many resources include the ABA Fraud Contact Directory, which provides a one-stop destination for banks to access information needed to file warranty breach claims for fraudulent checks—and, new this year, claims for fraudulent wires, ACH, RTP and FedNow transactions. We also offered a new and comprehensive check fraud toolkit, and the ABA Foundation expanded its elder fraud resources.

ABA also brought back its award-winning anti-phishing campaign, #BanksNeverAskThat, and added a new companion campaign, #PracticeSafeChecks, that focuses specifically on educating consumers on the safe use of checks. All banks can join these campaigns for free, and it’s never too late to start participating.

Check out how these campaigns have been promoted, including in TV and radio spots as well as ads in prominent Washington D.C.-publications.

Invested in the technology of tomorrow. ABA made strategic venture investments in Monit, a small business insight platform, and Posh, a provider of artificial intelligence-based virtual agents designed for financial institutions. We believe that both these firms provide tangible solutions that will benefit banks and align with where the market is headed.

Reimagined training for the next generation of bankers. Throughout 2024, ABA rolled out newly redesigned Frontline Compliance Training Courses, geared toward modern learners with a more interactive, mobile-friendly and responsive design. Our new courses were recently recognized with two gold and one bronze Brandon Hall Group Excellence Awards. ABA members can take advantage of the full library of Frontline courses for free.

Supported bank efforts to increase financial inclusion. ABA continues to encourage every bank in the country to offer low- or no-cost Bank On-certified accounts, and today, these accounts are now accessible in more than 45,300 retail banking locations across the country. Banks’ efforts to promote financial inclusion were reflected in the FDIC’s biennial survey of unbanked and underbanked households, which showed that the number of unbanked Americans again decreased in 2023 to the lowest levels ever recorded.

As we reflect back on the many accomplishments of 2024, we are also looking ahead to 2025, which promises to be a much different year as we navigate a presidential transition and shifting political dynamics at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.

It is my sincere hope that this new year will bring an opportunity to really reset the conversation on banking policy in Washington and shift away from the “one-size-fits-all” approach to rulemaking that we’ve seen playing out in recent months.

To that end, I invite you to join me in Washington, D.C. for the 2025 ABA Washington Summit which has been rescheduled to April 7-9 to accommodate the congressional calendar. Together, we can deliver that important message to the people in power.

Regardless of how the dynamics in Washington may shift in the year ahead, ABA’s goals and priorities — and our commitment to representing banks of all sizes — will remain the same.

Working with our many banker-led councils, committees and working groups, along with our state association alliance partners, we’ll continue to champion commonsense policies that will support economic growth and enable banks like yours to carry out their important work of serving their customers, clients and communities.

If you share these goals, there is a place at the table waiting for you at ABA. I hope you'll consider becoming a member in 2025. Please email [email protected] to learn more about how we can serve you.

Rob Nichols
President and CEO
American Bankers Association