Recently, the VBA sent the news release “Six Ways to Avoid Holiday Shopping Scams” to our statewide media contacts. The release contains tips to help consumers keep their information safe, whether shopping in the store or online.

You can find the release here. Please feel free to customize this release for your bank and distribute it to your own media contacts. The VBA has also created a sample social media graphic for use on your bank’s channels to market the tips to your followers. Click here to view and download the social media graphic.

Please contact Chandler Owdom to share any coverage your release receives if you distribute this information or tag us @vabankers when you feature material from our releases on your social channels. See examples of VBA in the news here.

Chesapeake Bank
Amanda Lipinski – Customer Service Associate

First Bank & Trust Company
Rodney Dellis – Vice President, Agricultural and Commercial Lending

First Bank, Virginia
Robert Watts, Jr. – Senior Vice President

National Bank of Blacksburg
Rebecca Melton – Senior Vice President, Chief Credit Officer

Taylor Bank
Hanna Ford – Management Trainee Program

The Fauquier Bank
Patrick Heijmen – Director of Wealth Management Services

Village Bank
Dan Jackson – Senior Vice President, Capital Markets and Product Development
Kim Karamarkovich – Vice President, Risk Management Officer

VCB Financial Group
Russell Carter – Vice President, Senior Trust Representative
Mark Herndon – Board of Directors

Frustrated for almost a decade by a sharp increase in federal regulations and near-zero benchmark interest rates after the 2008 financial crisis and Great Recession, Virginia bankers including Marc Bogan, Scott Harvard, Mark Nelson and VBA President & CEO Bruce Whitehurst, say events in Washington during the past year have brought long-overdue relief. (Virginia Business)

Chesapeake Bank Chairman, President & CEO and ABA Chairman Jeff Szyperski reflects on the importance of ensuring that employees are passionately engaged in the mission of banking, saying this is the best way to continue our industry’s success and help our communities thrive. (ABA Banking Journal)

It’s no secret millennials want bank products and services instantly available at their fingertips. For many financial institutions, using cloud-based applications is the only way they can affordably and effectively deploy the products younger generations desire. (BankBeat)

There have never been more opportunities – or more challenges – in digital marketing, especially for financial services. With a plethora of channels and corresponding metrics, how do marketers decide which ones to prioritize? (Bank Innovation)

In the latest American Bankers Association Washington Update, ABA President and CEO Rob Nichols focuses on efforts to help community bankers keep pace with change, including by working more closely with core providers to meet changing needs and by investing in fintech that promises to help community banks.

The latest edition of "Richmond Fed at a Glance" includes features on the impact of business cycle changes on small and large banks, a "Conversations with the Fed" discussion on the economy’s demand for college graduates, and a discussion on how to assess what students know and can do.

Hurricane Maria laid bare the banking system's dependence on telecommunications systems and showed how unprepared banks were for the sudden disruption in cell service. Some branches closed due to damage. In other cases, banks used the storm as an opportunity to shrink their physical footprint and put more emphasis on mobile offerings. (S&P Global, a VBA Endorsed Provider)