IBAT offers educational training specific to community banking.  Our goal is to meet the community banker needs with a variety of different delivery methods.  One of those delivery methods is the Cluster Program.

 

This unique program format invites all employees from several banks in a close geographic area to meet for two hours of live training on a banking hot topic.  Each bank pays a flat fee of $650 and sends as many employees as they like.  The hot topic for 2006 was Bank Secrecy Act.  Each session has attracted between 80-150 attendees. 

 

In 2006, Cluster Programs have served more than 1500 bankers across Texas.  It starts with a call from retired banker Frank Adams to determine if there is a "hot topic" of interest in the area.

 

Some of the successful Cluster Programs in 2006 include:

 

	West - 4 banks, 85 people			Kenedy - 5 banks, 105 people
	Hondo - 8 banks, 150 people			Georgetown - 4 banks, 140 people
	Yoakum - 5 banks, 120 people			Kerrville - 7 banks, 165 people

 

 Bank Secrecy Act

 Fraud Detection

 Security Breach - Response Plan of Action

 Check Truncation Act

 Counterfeit Check Strategies: Spotting the Suspect, Large Dollar Accounts, Imaging, etc.

 Fatal Document Errors

 Internal Auditing

 Patriot Act, OFAC & More

 Humorous and Instructive Look At Business Communication/Email

 Real Estate Loans & Federal Regulations

 Account Documentation

 Texas Credit Code

 Customer Service

 Much, much, more... Call us for more info.

Testimonials:  Why does the cluster program work for your bank, and why would you recommend it to other banks?

 

“The cluster program worked very well for us.   It allowed us to train many of our people at one time and you cannot beat the cost.” - Jeannine Dohnalik, Senior Vice President, Citizens National Bank-Cameron

 

“The cluster program is very cost effective for our bank.  We were able to have over 30 employees and directors attend for about the same cost it would have taken to send 2 employees to Austin or San Antonio for a full day of training.  The speaker was able to cover a lot of good material in a short period of time.  I think the BSA program is especially effective in Director training.” - Dennis Kutach, President, First State Bank-Yoakum

 

“Union State Bank attended the BSA Cluster Program on April 20, 2006. We had 50+ employees and directors attend.  The cost of the program averaged out to around $12.50 per person. It was in a convenient location and was a fair drive for all 5 of our branches. The guest speaker, Linda Borunda was very knowledgeable and covered a lot of information. She kept our audience very involved.” - Mary King, Union State Bank-Florence

 

“The First National Bank of Beeville is a strong advocate of personnel training through both individual and group training opportunities.  FNBB conducts monthly meetings, offers individual on-line training, participates in various telephone/webcast seminars, and attends other outsourced training events.  After attending the BSA Kenedy Cluster program in 2005,  FNBB bank officers were so pleased with the speaker and materials presented that the bank opted to attend again in 2006 and extended the opportunity to all bank personnel and Board of Director members.  Of those that took advantage of this opportunity the bank has had only positive response.  For The First National Bank of Beeville the IBAT cluster program has proven to be an excellent and economical resource for providing regulatory training.” - Debi Bledsoe, First National Bank of Beeville

 

If you are interested in hosting an in-house program, customized to your needs, call IBAT at 800/749-4228 and ask for Julie Courtney or e-mail jcourtney@ibat.org.