The Federal Reserve Banks kicked off spring conference season with booths at the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC) (Off-site) and the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) Community Banking LIVE Convention (Off-site). Our credit union and community bank customers from all over the country were able to engage in conversation with our account executives about a range of Fed services. The conferences were a great learning opportunity for both our customers and Fed staff.

CUNA GAC

CUNA GAC, held in Washington, D.C. March 11-14, gathered thousands of industry leaders seeking political impact in the credit union industry. The agenda included a variety of breakout sessions and keynote presentations from leaders in politics, media and business. The Federal Reserve contributed to this agenda through Chicago Fed Senior Vice President Connie Theien’s participation as a panelist for the breakout session “Payments and Cybersecurity Issues for 2019 and Beyond.”

ICBA Community Banking LIVE

This year, community bankers met in Nashville, TN March 17-21 for ICBA Community Banking LIVE. This convention is the largest gathering of community bankers in the country with over 1,000 community bankers in attendance. ICBA Community Banking LIVE had a full agenda with over 60 learning sessions focused on the pillars of ICBA’s organization: advocacy, education and innovation.

Fed services that we highlighted

Customers who visited the Fed’s booth were able to speak with account executives about a range of featured services, including:

Conversations with our customers

At CUNA GAC and ICBA Community Banking LIVE, customers shared comments about the benefits they have gained from using Federal Reserve Bank Services. Below are some excerpts from our account executives’ discussions with customers:

  • Our staff is happy to learn about the new products the Fed is announcing. We’re excited to learn more about the new FedACH Exception Resolution Service and the Check Advanced Notice Return Report available through the new FedPayments Reporter Service for Check.
  • Through FedLine, we get a direct connection to the Fed, and we value the security and reliability that connection provides.
  • Concerns about Automated Clearing House (ACH) risk and audit are growing. We provide reporting information on ACH activity to our senior management using the FedPayments Reporter Service for FedACH Services.
  • We streamlined our processing and gained earlier notification of returned checks through electronic conversion of paper items.
  • We reduced our costs by moving services and settlement to the Fed and took advantage of ACH automation with the FedLine Command® Solution. The time we saved through this automation allowed us to cross-train staff in other areas to provide additional support. 
  • The Virtual Private Network (VPN) Device Migration was a smooth transition for our organization thanks to clear instructions from the Fed.

Fed staff in attendance

There were a number of account executives at CUNA GAC and ICBA Community Banking LIVE who were excited to spend time talking with their customers. Many other Fed staff, including marketing team members and executive leadership, attended as well.

Shown below from left to right in the Fed’s booth at CUNA GAC are: Sales Manager Lance Wagner; Senior Marketing Communications Consultant Marika Garland; Senior Sales Specialist Yvette Dean; Senior Account Executives Amy Paysour, Susan Bivens and Kari Fernando; Senior Sales Specialist Carrie Buycks; Account Executives Frank Agnew and John Pitts and Assistant Vice President Joni Hopkins.

cuna group

In attendance this year at ICBA Community Banking LIVE were: Marketing Communications Manager Karen Wojciechowski; Senior Account Executives Susan Bivens and Larry Franqui; Associate Marketing Communications Consultant Nicole Tamul; Account Executive Juan Dellepiane; Senior Account Executive Frank Blacharczyk; Sales Manager Lance Wagner; Account Executive Stacy Springer and Senior Account Executive Bobby Pinson (shown below from left to right).

icba group

The account executives in attendance at both events manned the booth, scheduled customer meetings and attended a variety of informational sessions. If you are interested in learning more about Fed services, our account executives are always happy to speak with customers at the various conferences we attend. We hope to see you at a future event this year.

Action Item:

Look for future Conference Connection articles in Fed360, and check out the Industry Events page for upcoming events that our Fed account executives will be attending.

Note

The Federal Reserve Banks do not sponsor or endorse any of the non-Federal Reserve Bank-related products, parties or entities discussed in this publication.