AARP BankSafe: Protection Against Financial Exploitation

The AARP BankSafe Initiative

The BankSafe Initiative helps the financial industry better meet consumers’ financial needs and safeguard their assets. The initiative focuses on four key areas:

Preventing financial exploitation
Empowering family caregivers
Helping those with dementia
Making banking tools and environments easier to access

With the average victim losing $120,000, prevention of financial exploitation is critical to AARP’s mission to empower people to choose how they live as they age. BankSafe meets this need by conducting research into consumer insights, facilitating partnerships between the aging network and the financial industry, and developing the innovative BankSafe training platform to help financial professionals identify and stop suspected exploitation.

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AARP BankSafe Financial Exploitation Training

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Awards

AARP’s BankSafe Initiative has been recognized both nationally and internationally as a leading resource for the financial industry in the fight against financial exploitation. Our resources are proven to help frontline staff prevent and report exploitation and people are talking about it.

Learnx Live Platinum Award

The Telly Awards honor excellence in video and television. Each year, the awards are given to some of the most respected agencies in the world and showcase the best of the best in production across all screens. AARP BankSafe was recognized for its innovation in video production and quality.

The Davey Awards acknowledge big ideas within small budgets. Sanctioned and judged by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts, the prestigious Davey recognizes creativity and innovation in video production.

AARP BankSafe has received two Gold Awards in Excellence in Learning from the Brandon Hall Group for the “Best Results of a Learning Program” category

The Banking Technology, Women in Technology Awards recognize outstanding, innovative women making a positive impact within their organization and on the wider banking and financial services industry. Jilenne Gunther, National Director for AARP’s BankSafe Initiative was recognized as a leader in the way she uses interactive technology and real-world experiences in BankSafe’s training approaches. This combined with her collaboration with financial industry partners to combat financial exploitation head-on gave her this prestigious recognition as an industry leader.

The Association Women Technology Impact Award is given to an individual who has pioneered the use of technology in a way that has a substantial impact on members and moves their association forward. The Director of BankSafe, Jilenne Gunther won this award by creating a free, interactive training platform designed to empower bank, credit union and investment firm employees to stop financial exploitation from occurring before it happens.

The Learning Award is the ultimate accolade given to any enterprise providing learning services to external partners. As a finalist, AARP BankSafe has demonstrated consistent high-quality, innovative strategies in recognizing and preventing financial exploitation in older Americans.

The Horizon Interactive Award is recognized as one of the most prestigious web design awards available and AARP BankSafe was honored with a Silver for its excellence in interactivity and site design.

A Free, Award-Winning Training, Endorsed by the Financial Industry

"The BankSafe training is a game changer. It's taking training new employees to a whole new level. It's flexible and provides the accountability that a bank wants and the modern training that employees have come to expect."

— Linda Navarro, President and CEO, Oregon Bankers Association

"As the CEO of a small credit union, it's really important that we're here to protect our members, and that's what's great about BankSafe. Our members come to us because they trust us, and now we have the training to show them we know what we're talking about."

— Linda White, CEO, Upward Credit Union

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New Course and Research Addressing Gift Card Fraud

AARP has launched a brand new course available to all U.S. retailers to prevent gift card and money-wiring fraud. Click here to learn more about this growing concern and email us at BankSafe@aarp.org to sign up for the free course today!

What Every Financial Institution Should Know

Learn what the 50+ want out of financial institutions and ways to protect consumers from exploitation

Access BankSafe Guides and Resources

Get tip sheets, checklists and other resources for financial institutions, employees and consumers

The Impact of AARP BankSafe

Researchers from Virginia Tech Center for Gerontology studied the impact of training bank and credit union staff to spot and prevent financial exploitation. The research shows significant benefits to consumers and financial institutions when frontline employees take the AARP BankSafe training rather than other forms of training, including:

A 133% increase in knowledge regarding exploitation
Four times greater employee confidence in recognizing, preventing, and reporting cases of financial exploitation
BankSafe trained employees saved 16x more money from exploitation

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Full Report – AARP BankSafe™: The Impact of Training Financial Professionals to Prevent Financial Exploitation

Summary – AARP BankSafe™: The Impact of Training Financial Professionals to Prevent Financial Exploitation

Apply for the AARP BankSafe Trained Seal

As part of the BankSafe program, banks, credit unions and investment firms can apply to have AARP verify that at least 80% of their frontline staff successfully passed the BankSafe training and confirm that they have a financial-exploitation escalation reporting policy. Qualifying banks, credit unions, and investment firms in good standing can apply to receive a seal from AARP, good for one year, recognizing their commitment to fighting exploitation. Learn how to earn the BankSafe trained seal.

Connect With Us

Invite BankSafe to Your Event

Let us know if you would like BankSafe to participate as a speaker or panelist at your next event

FAQs and Contact BankSafe

Still have questions or need help? Review our FAQs or reach out the the BankSafe team