Executive Letter: Celebrating WBA’s 2025 Highlights

By Rose Oswald Poels

As we approach the end of summer, I’m proud to reflect on the many ways the Wisconsin Bankers Association has strengthened our industry and advanced the mission of Wisconsin banks so far this year. Our many accomplishments would not happen without the support and active engagement of our members. Below are a few of our highlights achieved to date:  

Housing Grant Awards

Earlier this year, WBA awarded $60,000 in grants to six member banks in support of housing, economic development, and financial literacy initiatives across Wisconsin. These efforts ranged from emergency housing microloans and targeted financial literacy education to strategic efforts to increase Native American homeownership. These meaningful projects reflect the deep commitment of Wisconsin banks to strengthen their own communities.

Fraud Summit Success

In June, WBA hosted its first-ever Fraud Summit in direct response to member feedback requesting more resources to address increasingly complex fraud threats. This event brought in fraud experts and bankers from across the state to share insights on cyberattacks, payment fraud, social engineering, and AI-driven scams. We received overwhelmingly positive feedback, and we plan host the event again in the future to keep members educated on emerging threats.

Second Class of BOLT Leadership Academy

WBA is committed to cultivating the next generation of bank leaders. We launched our second class of BOLT (Building Our Leaders of Tomorrow) Leadership Academy, a program designed to equip emerging community bank leaders with advanced industry knowledge and a strong peer network. Members of the new cohort are already making an impact — a few participants represented Wisconsin at the American Bankers Association’s Washington Summit this past spring and spoke directly to policymakers.

Advocacy Wins

WBA’s advocacy efforts this year have rung in meaningful results for Wisconsin’s banking industry. On the federal level, we celebrated two major wins. In the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” Congress passed a modified version of the ACRE Act, which provides banks with a 25% federal income tax exemption on ag real estate loans which will help banks support their farm customers. Second, the Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act (the “trigger leads” bill), which restricts credit reporting agencies’ ability to sell consumer contact information after applying for a mortgage loan, passed the U.S. House and Senate and is awaiting the President’s signature.

These policy victories are the direct result of your grassroots engagement through WBA with elected officials. Moreover, through contributions to Wisbankpac and the Alliance for Bankers Conduit, we help ensure pro-banking candidates are elected to office at the state and federal levels.

Record Number of Associate Members

WBA associate membership reached 176, the highest number of associate members to date. These partnerships not only provide important resources to WBA, but also offer WBA members a wide variety of meaningful products and services.

I am very excited and proud of what we have all accomplished together so far this calendar year! I look forward to continuing this success as we move through the remainder of the year. Thank you for taking an active part in ensuring a strong future for the Wisconsin banking industry!