Executive Letter: Leading Financial Awareness Across Wisconsin
By Rose Oswald Poels
Throughout the industry, bankers make a difference in every community they serve. Whether it is helping an individual open their first saving account, mortgaging a home, or volunteering for various initiatives — the significance of the banking industry is undeniable.
As your partners in ensuring the well-being and longevity of the industry, the Wisconsin Bankers Association (WBA) is not only committed to your bank’s success, but also that of each of the communities you serve.
Of course, a major aspect of this mission is professional development. In addition to the countless schools, workshops, and conferences our team hosts annually, there are a number of resources and best practice tools that every member of the bank may take advantage of. By investing in the expertise of your team, bankers will have the ability to meet the needs of every customer.
Bankers have always been known in their communities as trusted advisors and confidants. To aid bankers in guiding their communities toward financial success and keep customers aware of critical information, topics of interest, and other safe-banking practices, the Association has created a consumer resources page on the WBA website.
The resources, which can be found at wisbank.com/consumercontent, are free and available to all members. Ranging from one-pagers discussing topics such as the risks of storing money in apps to elder abuse factsheets and Wisconsin Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (WUTMA) account information, WBA has a list of tools that not only feature relevant and timely information related to banking but are also easily customizable. Bankers are encouraged to utilize this page to share as handouts, social media reminders, or as topics of conversation with customers.
In addition, WBA’s non-profit arm, the Wisconsin Bankers Foundation, has a number of free, financial literacy-related resources. Available at wisbankfoundation.org/resources, all bankers are encouraged to utilize these resources as they connect with community members or in their recommendations to teachers and parents.
As always, WBA’s resource library is ever-expanding, and we want to make sure the topics highlighted are relevant and useful for your team and community. If you have any suggestions for what consumer resources our team should create next, please reach out to Jackie Lindquist, WBA marketing specialist.
