President's Message

MESSAGE

Lorrie Trogden | President & CEO | Arkansas Bankers Association

Iwear my politics on my sleeve. Politics are too serious a matter to hide your discontent about bad policy. Advocacy is the ABA’s number one benefit, and for 130 years, we have worked alongside you to shape the issues that impact the success of the banking industry. I have been the ABA President/CEO for three years now, and we have fought more bad policy since January of this year than the total of my first two years here. The Biden administration seems to carry a real grudge against the banking industry and shows no interest in the fact that the many ill-thought-through policies they seek to implement will ultimately hurt consumers.

Arkansas banks stepped up to the call of getting more unbanked and underbanked into the financial system. We now have 15 financial institutions that offer certified Bank On Arkansas+ accounts, which is more than any other states’ Bank On programs. In addition, there are banks that offer similar special accounts outside of the Bank On system aimed at reaching this population. As of this writing, we are currently engaged in a battle to stop reconciliation budget bill language requiring banks to report bank account inflows/outflows of over $600 to the IRS. This is a serious government overreach of customer privacy and will come at a truly massive cost to the banking industry, individuals, and small businesses in increased tax preparation fees. Underbanked or unbanked customers who do not trust the government with their data, or its ability to protect their data, might leave the financial system in droves. Within one day of posting our opposition, I had three people tell me if it passes, they will pull their money out of the bank. Concern for getting more people into the financial system seems to have gone out the window with this policy. Members of our Arkansas congressional delegation are all opposed to this language, so please be sure and thank them for their support.

Additional campaigns have been waged on overdraft fee limitations, mandated DEI initiatives, postal banking, Fed Now bank accounts, taxing mega credit unions, farm loan payoffs without making banks whole, and nonbanks' requests to join the payments system. These are just the most recent, there are and have been many others. Banks are well-equipped to handle these issues without further overburdensome and overreaching federal regulation. I must also mention AmBA’s new credit union consumer education website: reformcreditunions.com. You can follow it on Twitter at @reform_cu or Facebook.

As we hurtle towards the 2022 mid-term elections, political fundraisers are going strong, which means a lot of PAC check requests. We need your help to ensure that we have healthy state and federal BankPAC account balances to support candidates who understand bankers’ concerns. Our combined state and federal goal for the year is $50,000. Thus far, contributions equal $7,650; fundraising is much more difficult when holding mostly virtual conferences. Your bank or bank PAC can contribute to our state PAC and you, your board, and employees can write individual checks to our federal PAC. Payroll deduction is also an option. Before conducting any type of federal campaign, please make sure we have your signed authorization card on file.

A special shout out to Larry Wilson for being the first to have his 13th board meeting. Please contact me or Chairman Jim Cargill to schedule yours. We are happy to attend in person or virtually. Also, a reminder, the choice to support BankPAC is yours alone and is completely voluntary. The most productive industries effectively combine a strong trade association and a solid grassroots program with a well-financed and carefully directed PAC.

Leaving politics for a moment, I want to mention a few upcoming events and other items of importance. Due to rising Delta COVID cases, the MEGA Conference has been rescheduled to January/February 2022, and the October Emerging Leaders Section Leadership Conference will be virtual. Currently, our January Women in Banking Conference is still slated to be in person, and I

“I would rather wear my heart on my sleeve and suffer beautifully than to bury it beneath my ribcage and cut off its breathing.”

- Kaitlin Foster

am excited to announce we will be presenting our first Arkansas Bankers Association Power Woman in Banking award. Be on the lookout for nomination information hitting your inbox in late October. Invitations for February/ March Group meetings along with ABA Board of Directors, ELS, and Group Vice Chairman nomination forms will be out soon. Thank you for participating in our Lobby•Mask•Vaccine surveys. They are very helpful to your peers, and we will continue to survey while COVID numbers are still rising. We have compiled a list of stress management and mental health resources that can be found on the ABA COVID Resources webpage.

Always remember, if there are other resources the Association can provide, do not hesitate to call me. We are here to help in any way we can. I am fully vaccinated and ready for a road trip – invite me to come by for a visit. In closing, we will always wear our politics on our sleeve and will never stop fighting for you or beside you!