Banker Associations Mean More Business Opportunities
Doing business means trying to make more money than is spent to receive profits, and put some of that profit into further growing the business. However, the money that is both used for business and is the end goal of many companies needs to be stored somewhere. Storing cash-on-hand for the entire savings of a business, for example, is not safe if you choose to put it in a safe within the company itself. And if you wish to get a loan, you’ll probably want to do so with as many regulations and safeguards in place as possible to protect you from predatory loan practices, such as unreasonable interest rates.
This is where banks come into the equation. A bank is an essential partner in most business ventures, being a place where business finances are stored, transactions are conducted, and, in some cases, loans are made and repaid to grow the business further. But beyond just being a financial repository for business, banks present some other possible business opportunities, and access to a bankers association is one way to unlock this potential.
How Bankers Associations Began
A banking association is an organization for banks and banking professionals. In this place, the specific interests, challenges, and considerations that banks face can be discussed among peers, and larger decisions can be considered. This both for social and professional networking and allows banks to operate with more efficiency as knowledge is shared.
Banks have been a part of society for centuries, but the modern banking association, at least in America, didn’t come to be until the late 19th century. The oldest and largest of America’s groups, the American Bankers Association, or ABA, was formed in 1875.
A financial depression known as the “Panic of 1873” affected the United States and Europe. One American banker, James Howenstein, of St. Louis, Missouri, ran into a severe financial problem when he only had a few hundred dollars in cash in the bank itself, but millions of dollars were needed for additional deposits. He relied on his own network of banking acquaintances to overcome this hurdle. The experience taught him the value of banking connections who knew and understood the industry and were able to work together to overcome problems. Because of that experience, he decided to create a formal organization that would do the same thing his informal banking network had accomplished. So the American Bankers Association was born.
Currently, the ABA is the oldest and most prominent of America’s banking associations, but it’s far from the only one. Other banking associations operate at the state, county, or even municipal level. There are also banking associations that cover specific banking interests. The Consumer Banking Association, or CBA, for example, focus more on the retail sector and associated lending and financial products.
An Important Resource
Bankers associations are important for many reasons. For businesses themselves, the presence of banking associations helps banks to function in a more tight-knit, integrated way that benefits everyone in terms of speed and efficiency. This affects all-important banking transactions, including account management, deposits, withdrawals, and of course, loans that many businesses rely on.
However, bankers associations also present new opportunities for different businesses because of their sphere of influence. Both the general public and companies all have accounts with banks, and the banks themselves operate with other financial institutions. For certain businesses, this means that banks and their clients/customers can be a valuable pool to draw from for marketing specific products and services. If you want to reach out to people who have mortgages, for example, banks a prime source for this demographic since the majority of mortgage holders will get one via a bank.
Association Membership
Bankers associations have, as a primary group, the banks themselves as members. Organizations such as the ABA are open to all banks, regardless of size, so even smaller local banks can apply for and are admitted into the association. Trusts can also apply for membership and gain admittance into the ABA. And membership is not strictly limited to only the ABA. The Consumer Banking Association, for example, will have a lot of crossover with the ABA, and banks can be members of both.
However, it’s not just banks that can join. There is an associate membership status that is available for organizations with activities or business-related/adjacent to banking. These groups can also apply and be granted certain membership privileges.
Why This Matters
Even if a business isn’t involved in banking, there are benefits to getting access to a bankers association membership mailing list. Knowing which financial entities are related to, or help your business to operate is always useful, and so is knowing who the people in these organizations are. It makes for a smoother business relationship and opens doors to other networking opportunities.
The other side of the equation, however, is that banks and other associated groups are still organizations that need certain products and services to operate. Any business that can provide these products or services must know who to talk to within these banks to make any useful marketing, promotional, or proposal headway.
Let Us Help
Wall Street List is a company with a focus on providing the information that businesses need to reach out to their target market. Trying to track down individuals, especially within organizations, can be a time-consuming task, especially if you’re trying to acquire contact details. Wall Street List takes care of all this, doing the investigation, the compilation, the categorization, and, most importantly, the verification.
With Wall Street List, databases are continuously maintained and confirmed for currency. There are no lists with names and contact details of someone who has been deceased for ten years, for example. The lists can further be divided into specific categories and demographics. It’s not just bank association members that can be reached, but investors as well, even accredited ones should the need arise.
If you want comprehensive, promising bankers association membership mailing lists for your marketing or promotional projects, we can help. Contact Wall Street List for our databases or additional services like turnkey direct mail campaigns.
