AIB

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Course Descriptions

Analyzing Bank Performance

Provides participants with all of the tools needed to analyze their bank's financial performance. During this class, participants will analyze their own bank's performance.

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Analyzing Financial Statements

A practical introduction to financial analysis from the viewpoint of the commercial loan officer. This course gives you the skills you need to effectively assess a borrower's ability to repay loans.

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The Bank Card Business: Today and Tomorrow

The Bank Card Business: Today and Tomorrow will examine the bankcard issuing business, in all its complexity, and describe the strategies, tactics, and management skills required for success in terms understandable to both novices and experts alike. This course is designed for financial institution personnel with no or minimal exposure to the bank card industry such as existing personnel who interact with their financial institution's bank card division and entry-level personnel who work in a financial institution's bank card division.

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Bankers Guide to Searching the Internet

This course teaches students effective techniques for searching--and finding--information at a general or specific level on the World Wide Web. After a tour of popular information retrieval services including directories, search and metasearch engines, and a look at how they work, students will visit various services, compare their ease of use and the quantity and quality of their results, and perform increasingly complex searches using simple and advanced search queries. The examples used in this course will provide students with ideas on how to use the Internet to accomplish some of the tasks they face as a banker, such as shopping the competition, gathering information about the size of specific financial services markets, and gathering information about a prospective small business customer.

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Banking Today

This program will give you an orientation to the essential principles, concepts and operations of banking and a firm grounding in the business of banking.

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Bank Secrecy Act

This course introduces employees of financial institutions to the Bank Secrecy Act and the reporting responsibilities that come with it. Students will learn to complete and submit required Bank Secrecy Act reports, explain the timeframes and procedures for maintaining Bank Secrecy Act reports, and finally, how to explain to clients why Bank Secrecy Act reports are required.

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Building and Retaining Customer Relationships

Building and Retaining Customer Relationships teaches students the knowledge and skills necessary to start, organize, maintain, and execute a sales portfolio The course prepares and prompts students to implement a sales portfolio comprised of client records at their work as a final step. Throughout the course, students will have opportunities to practice what they are learning through a series of exercises and projects.

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Building Trust Expertise - Complete

Building Trust Expertise offers training for entry-level trust professionals. The program is specifically designed to help your new professionals identify key issues and use common trust terminology appropriately. It consists of eight modules: Introduction to Trust Administration, Acceptance and Termination, Discretionary Distributions, Banking Laws and Fiduciary Activities, Income Tax, Introduction to Transfer Taxes, Basic Estate Planning, and Investment Basics. Students complete one of these modules each week under the guidance of an online instructor. In addition to the online materials, students receive a separate video that covers key points and provides case studies for students to work on in the online version of the class. Building Trust Expertise is also available as self-paced courses divided into three components - Administration, Taxation & Estate Planning, and Investment Management.

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Building Trust Expertise- Investment Management

In Building Trust Expertise- Investment Management, students will learn trust investment basics. They will enhance their professionalism by increasing their comfort level in discussing a trust investment portfolio with clients and beneficiaries. Students will learn about the investment types commonly used in trusts, the methods for stock and bond selection and analysis, and the economic influences and legal considerations regarding trust investments. Students will also examine the various considerations and tools for portfolio management.

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Building Trust Expertise - Taxation and Estate Planning

Building Trust Expertise - Taxation and Estate Planning introduces students to basic fiduciary income tax and estate planning concepts. It begins with tax basics, including terminology and how income tax is calculated. The trust taxation discussion covers the tax implications for grantor and charitable trusts, as well as trust accounting income. Students will also learn about distributable net income (DNI)-what it is and how to calculate it for simple and complex trusts. Students will move on to transfer taxes, including gift, estate, and generation skipping transfer taxes. This covers special rules for these taxes, ways to minimize taxes, and how to calculate the various taxes. Next, students will learn about basic estate planning, including why estate planning is important, things to consider, and advantages and disadvantages of making lifetime gifts. Finally, students will learn about estate planning with the marital deduction.

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Building Trust Expertise: Trust Administration

Building Trust Expertise: Trust Administration provides an overview of trust administration for personal trusts, and teaches students to use common trust terminology appropriately. Students will learn trust basics, including terminology and concepts, and gain an understanding of why clients benefit from trusts, as well as common types of personal trusts. The course also covers account acceptance and termination, and discretionary distributions.

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Business Etiquette

This course introduces new employees to the four guiding principles of business etiquette. Students will learn to introduce themselves or others appropriately to reflect professional hierarchy, describe professional dress code and the effect of not following the code, explain how workplace behavior can affect others, and finally, understand how the rules of business etiquette apply to work situations out of the office.

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Calling on Small Business Customers

Calling on Small Business Customers teaches students how to plan effective calls with small business clients. It begins with an exploration of small business fundamentals including business legal structures/characteristics, types, needs/expectations, and operating/life cycles. Students then learn the Call Planning Model steps, and practice applying them with fictitious clients.

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Coaching for Success

Coaching for Success provides managers, supervisors, team leads and mentors with the knowledge and skills necessary to assess, plan, and carry out a performance coaching dialogue with an employee or person being mentored. Additionally, this course provides techniques for ongoing performance feedback and skills for recognizing a coaching opportunity. It will encourage students to become involved, on an ongoing basis, with the performance growth of other employees to develop and enhance their skills. At the end of the course, students will participate in a simulated coaching dialogue to practice applying these skills in a typical coaching situation.

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Commercial Lending

This course will give you the knowledge and skills you need to be an effective commercial lender. Commercial Lending covers both the technical side of lending and the important human relations skills all successful lenders must have.

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Consumer Credit Products

Consumer Credit Products provides students with the knowledge and skills necessary to discuss and sell consumer loan products to clients. After defining credit terminology and product features and benefits, the course reviews the two primary consumer loan categories - secured and unsecured - and the various loan products associated with each category. The course also covers the importance of bank regulations for consumer credit products in the lending process. Students learn how to use their product knowledge by matching consumer credit products and services to their client's needs.

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Consumer Lending

This up-to-date, insider's view of consumer lending offers essential information about the maze of regulations governing credit practices and reviews loan processing, cross-selling, and collections.

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Corrective Action

In Corrective Action, students will learn how to facilitate their employees' improvement, instead of merely disciplining them. The course covers when and how to apply corrective action, and provides strategies for motivating employees to improve. Students will learn to use a range of corrective modes in a balanced and objective manner, including applying the progressive disciplinary model, documenting corrective action through a standard documentation template, and counseling employees towards improvement in a professional manner.

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Credit Products for Small Businesses

Credit Products for Small Businesses teaches students how to recognize the factors that drive the need for small business credit products, the primary credit products used by small businesses, and how to match credit products to client needs. Students will learn techniques for communicating the credit decision effectively, and the Federal laws relating to small business credit products.

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Cross-Selling Deposit Products

Teaches students how to sell deposit products effectively. Students will learn how to conduct sales interactions with clients, and how to prepare for effective cross-selling to maximize sales of deposit products and ensure client satisfaction. Course exercises provide opportunities for students to practice cross-selling concepts through realistic client scenarios.

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Dealing Effectively with Co-Workers

Dealing Effectively with Co-Workers focuses primarily on behavior among co-workers. This course introduces information about social behavioral styles and how the different styles affect communication among co-workers. Students will identify their own base preference group and learn what creates the challenges with his/her behavioral opposite. Students will also learn strategies and guidelines for dealing with difficult co-workers and the resulting conflict.

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E-Commerce Fundamentals for Bankers

E-Commerce Fundamentals for Bankers is designed to teach students the basics of conducting business online. The course begins with a discussion about e-commerce and how it impacts traditional business and banking models. It then discusses the similarities and differences between traditional and electronic commerce, the role each participant plays, and how to prepare a business for e-business. Students also learn the legal issues surrounding this new medium. After discussing the technologies used to place orders and process payments, the course covers security protections offered for Web-based banking, as well as for businesses and their customers.

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Economics for Bankers

This course introduces you to the fundamental principles of economics. Special emphasis is placed on macroeconomics and topics of importance to you as a banker. The course covers the basics of economic theory and includes examples of the application of economics to banking.

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Effective Referrals

This course provides branch or operations personnel with the skills to provide confident and effective referrals. By the end of the course, students will be able to identify sales and service opportunities and use benefits statements to make the referral.

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Equal Credit Opportunity Act - Regulation B

Equal Credit Opportunity Act - Regulation B teaches students to evaluate an applicant's creditworthiness within the boundaries of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The course begins by describing the purpose and coverage of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and then reviews what a bank and its employees must do regarding the taking and processing of loan applications, including acceptable factors. Students will learn about prohibited bases for evaluating an application and required notifications. The course concludes with a discussion of other bank compliance issues, including the requirements for reporting credit information, record keeping, and the consequences of noncompliance.

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Ethical Issues for Bankers

Ethical Issues for Bankers prepares students to meet the ethical standards expected of financial services professionals. Students will learn the general guidelines that determine banking ethics, gain the knowledge and skills needed to perform ethical decision-making, and be prepared to observe their institution's code of conduct and Federal laws.

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Fair Credit Reporting Act

Fair Credit Reporting Act covers compliance requirements under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Students will learn about the purpose of the FCRA, and review the types of transactions and exemptions covered under it. The course also teaches students the requirements, responsibilities and rights outlined under the Act, including special guidelines for the sharing of consumer information between affiliates, as well as the actions students must take to help ensure compliance with the FCRA.

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Fair Lending

This course introduces students to the practices and principles of fair lending, and demonstrates how to avoid discriminatory and unfair lending practices when interacting with clients. Students will learn about the relationship between unfair treatment and illegal discrimination, as well as the essential points of the five federal fair-lending laws and the Joint Policy Statement on Discrimination in Lending. Throughout the course, students will have opportunities to practice standard client interaction scenarios that help ensure compliance with fair-lending laws.

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Financial Accounting

Financial Accounting emphasizes current practices of accounting procedures and includes coverage of the latest principles set forth by the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

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Fundamentals of Consumer Lending

Covers the basics of consumer credit including terminology, categories of credit, credit worthiness. Students will learn the applications process and the actions required to ensure bank compliance with regulations. By the end of the course, students should have a higher comfort level with consumer credit and feel an increase in credibility when interacting with clients who apply for consumer credit.

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Fundamentals of Mortgage Lending

Fundamentals of Mortgage Lending provides students with the knowledge and skills necessary to discuss or sell real estate credit products with clients. The course covers the importance of mortgage lending to financial institutions and the affect of the secondary market on the lending process. It also gives an overview of real estate basics; why a client might want a real estate loan, mortgage terminology, the calculation of loan to value ratios. The loan process is discussed from the client perspective and the functions of the various financial services personnel involved. Regulations that affect the mortgage lending process are introduced at relevant points in the course.

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Fundamentals of Small Business Banking

Teaches students to build successful relationships with small business clients by gaining knowledge of the small business market. Students will learn the operating and business cycles of small businesses, and will learn to apply their knowledge to meet the financial needs of small business clients.

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General Accounting

Provides a complete foundation in basic accounting procedures. This course presents the fundamentals of accounting in a practical, up-to-date, and easy-to-comprehend manner. The goal is to provide students with a strong basic knowledge of accounting terms, concepts, and procedures. Emphasis is placed on developing a firm foundation of fundamental procedures with appropriate repetition of content through the use of examples and color-coded illustrations.

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Hiring the Best

Hiring the Best presents employees who participate in the hiring process with a structured process for identifying, evaluating and hiring the best candidate for a job. Students learn to identify job requirements, measure and rate skills, and conduct an interview that is legal and useful. Students will also learn to identify potential interview pitfalls, evaluate candidates and use reference checks. At the end of the course, students have an opportunity to apply what they've learned in a course project.

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Home Mortgage Disclosure Act/Regulation C (HMDA)

The information provided in this course will give lenders the knowledge needed to explain the regulation's purpose and scope, reporting requirements, and penalties for not adhering to the requirements. It will provide examples and definitions for completing the Loan Application Register (LAR).

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Improving Productivity

Improving Productivity teaches students how to evaluate and improve productivity in the workplace. Students will learn how to consistently and systematically apply a six-step process to resolving productivity problems in the work environment. These steps will keep students focused on what needs to be done to resolve the problem and enhance current productivity levels.

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Introduction to Financial Planning Products

Introduction to Financial Planning Products is designed to teach students about financial planning products and how they can fit into a specific client's financial planning strategy. After a thorough overview of planning products, students will learn three key elements in assessing their advantages and disadvantages: liquidity, risk, and return. Students will also learn to identify licensing requirements relevant to selling certain financial planning products.

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Introduction to the Internet for Bankers

Introduction to the Internet for Bankers introduces students to the fundamentals of the Internet, and demonstrates what it can do for them. Students will learn about the technology behind the Internet, how to connect to it, and how to take advantage of its two key components: email and the World Wide Web. As employees of financial institutions, students are expected to have a basic knowledge of the workings of the Internet to provide good service to their clients.

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Introduction to Mortgage Lending

This course provides an introduction to construction lending and other areas of commercial real estate finance, with particular emphasis on managing credit risk. Real estate law, appraisal, and investment analysis are also covered. This course introduces principles of finance related to the following real estate categories: condominiums, multifamily rental property, retail property, office, warehouse, and lodging property.

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Introduction to Relationship Selling

Introduction to Relationship Selling introduces students to the relationship selling process, and the skills and techniques that support a client needs-focused sales approach. Students will learn how to prepare for the sale and conduct an effective sales interaction with clients, and an overview of each step in the relationship selling process to guide sales interactions with clients.

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Law and Banking: Applications

This course is an introduction to check processing, bank collections, consumer lending and secured transactions.

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Law and Banking: Principles

This course is your guide to legal and regulatory issues, with special emphasis on the Uniform Commercial Code.

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Managing Change

Managing Change covers the typical effects that change events can have on individuals and organizations. This course will teach strategies for demonstrating change leadership. Through honing communication skills and applying them to a four-step change communication process, students will be prepared to manage the effects of the change. Throughout the course, students will have several opportunities to observe effective and ineffective change communication techniques. These examples are set in real-world change scenarios and offer solutions that can be applied immediately in the workplace.

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Managing Employee Relations

Managing Employee Relations provides managers and supervisors with a four-step strategy for managing employee relations--compliance with legislation, managing diversity, handling work and personal issues and fostering open communications. After an overview of the importance of employee relations and their impact on the workplace, the course reviews the legislation that protects employees from discriminatory and unfair practices. Students will learn how to identify diversity issues in a team, how to respond to personal issues that affect the work environment, how to promote open communications and how to establish formal and informal problem resolution processes.

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Managing Interest Rate Risk

Managing Interest Rate Risk provides participants with the tools to measure and manage their banks' interest rate risk. This is a rigorous course designed for individuals involved in asset liability management or line managers making pricing, investment, or funding decisions that impact interest rate risk.

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Managing the Bank's Investment Portfolio

Managing the Bank's Investment Portfolio provides participants with the key concepts needed to effectively manage the bank's portfolio. This course is designed for individuals involved in managing the bank's investment portfolio.

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Managing Time at Work

Managing Time at Work teaches students how to effectively manage their time to be more productive during the workday. Students will learn to create daily plans, as well as manage work areas, interruptions, phone calls, and other daily activities that take valuable time. Through scenario-based examples, students will be able to customize these techniques into a daily planning system that works specifically for them.

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Marketing Financial Services

Marketing Financial Services looks at what motivates customers to purchase financial services and teaches you how to develop a successful marketing plan. Topics include: developing a marketing plan, promotion, delivery channels, sales and sales management, product development, research techniques, communications and public relations, and future trends. There's also a special focus on customer satisfaction and service quality, and on advancements in technology (such as the Internet) for new products, new delivery systems, and new advertising forms. Plus, the text describes the increasing importance of social responsibility, community support, and concern for the natural environment.

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Money and Banking

As a banker, your stock in trade is money. This course presents a fundamental treatment of how money functions in the U.S. and world economies. Topics include the concept of money supply and the role your bank plays as a money creator and participant in the nation's payment mechanism. Money and Banking also explains how the various types of financial institutions operate, the workings of monetary and fiscal policies, the functions and powers of the Federal Reserve, and more.

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Overview of Financial Statements

Overview of Financial Statements introduces students to small business financial statements. This course provides a solid foundation for understanding balance sheets, income statements, cash flow statements and tax return forms, and their typical uses in lending. Students will learn how each statement presents information about a business and contributes to meaningful conclusions about the health and stability of the business.

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Payment Systems Today

Payment Systems Today provides new entrants to the banking industry with a broad understanding of the key payment systems, including: their functions in the economy -- customer service requirements and benefits—processes--- security concerns and protections ---- regulations for operations and safety. This course is designed for entry level and new bank managers, front line or back office.

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Performance Management

This program provides participants with a proactive approach to performance management. By focusing on setting clear expectations, specific performance feedback and objective performance evaluation, this course will help resolve many common performance problems.

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Personal Tax Return Analysis

Personal Tax Return Analysis is designed to teach students the basics of analyzing tax returns. The course begins with a discussion about analyzing returns to determine a projected income. Students will learn about income trends, recurring versus non-recurring income, and how tax returns can be used as a sales tool. By the end of the course students should be confident in analyzing personal tax returns.

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Principles of Banking

Long recognized as the standard introduction to the banking industry, this course touches on nearly every aspect of banking, from the fundamentals of negotiable instruments to contemporary issues and developments within the industry. It is the foundation for all AIB training.

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Privacy for Customer Contact Personnel

Privacy for Customer Contact Personnel explores the everyday privacy issues that customer contact staff are faced with on a regular basis. It covers the existing Right to Financial Privacy Act as well as Regulation P, the newest consumer privacy guidelines resulting from the passage of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. Students will learn the terminology used to discuss the privacy issue, including opt-out, consumer vs. customer and how to answer consumer questions about their privacy rights.

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Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act

Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act helps students identify activities, disclosures and specific job responsibilities that are required by the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), one of the many consumer protection laws that govern financial institutions and mortgage lenders. After an overview of the history of the law, its purpose, and the extent of it coverage, the course identifies the eight RESPA disclosures required at different stages of the home buying process and provides examples of each form. After completing this course, students will be able to protect themselves, their financial services institution, and, most importantly, the consumers they assist in the home buying process.

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Referring Insurance and Annuities Customers

Referring Insurance and Annuities Customers introduces students to the features and benefits of various insurance and annuity products. The course begins with a discussion of a bank's role in selling insurance and annuities, including the student's responsibilities as an unlicensed employee. Students will then learn about different forms of life insurance and why people need them, as well as other insurance products including disability insurance, healthcare insurance, property and casualty insurance, and liability insurance. Finally, students will learn about annuities and making referrals to a licensed representative.

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Referring Mutual Funds and Securities Customers

Referring Mutual Funds and Securities Customers teaches students a professional and effective process for referring clients to a licensed securities specialist. After an overview of securities products commonly offered by banks, students will learn how to use a variety of clues to identify a clients' recognized and unrecognized financial needs, and how to gather information that a licensed investment specialist will find helpful as they work with a referred client. Students will also learn how to use the H.E.L.P. tool to make effective and professional referrals.

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Referring Trust Customers

Referring Trust Customers teaches students how to identify and refer potential trust clients. The course explores the basic elements of a trust and the five primary reasons why clients want or need a trust. Students will learn trust terminology, common trust products and how they apply to a typical client, and the skills and techniques that support a client-benefit-focused referral approach.

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Retirement Products for Small Businesses

Retirement Products for Small Businesses teaches students how to refer small business clients to retirement product specialists successfully, by learning about retirement products, small business needs and the referral process. The course begins with an overview of the small business market and the opportunities that exist to sell retirement products to small business owners. Students will learn referral process steps, how to match client needs, and how to refer them to a retirement specialist using the H.E.L.P. tool.

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Revitalizing Customer Service

Revitalizing Customer Service presents the ten basic customer service skills that clients expect from any business interaction. Students will learn three communication methods for sharing information with clients, as well as the keys to effective listening that can have a positive influence on a client. The course also covers basic guidelines for understanding and helping angry clients. After taking this course, students will recognize how customer service impacts all phases of their job responsibilities.

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Rewards and Recognition

Rewards and Recognition provides students with the knowledge and skills necessary to recognize, reward, and motivate employees toward continued and improved performance. Students will learn the core principles and characteristics of recognition, and understand the benefits that giving rewards and recognition can bring to individual employees, departments and the institution. The course covers how to choose and convey effective rewards and recognition, including selecting an appropriate reward and the time and place to communicate recognition to employee. Students will get hands-on practice in planning a reward and recognition program using planning and recording forms included in the course.

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Sales Coaching in the Bank

Sales Coaching in the Bank will help students identify sales coaching opportunities and basic techniques used to incorporate knowledge and skill building into a team's workday routine. Students will learn skills needed to support a team and develop a strategy to support knowledge and skill building for each job function. Students will also examine the common types of goals used in the banking industry and address specific factors to consider when setting goals for a specific team and individual team members. Finally, students will explore how to support team members in reaching their sales goals.

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Servicing and Growing Small Business Relationships

In Servicing and Growing Small Business Relationships, students will learn techniques to nurture a business relationship with a small business once it has been established. This course begins with an overview of small business fundamentals, including the different legal structures of small businesses, types of small businesses, and the needs and expectations of small businesses. From there, students will learn different types of information to monitor a relationship with a small business: financial information, client records, and other resources. Finally, students will learn why site visits are important and how to uncover different kinds of information on a site visit.

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Successful Sales Campaigns

In Successful Sales Campaigns, students will learn to effectively run a sales campaign using step-by-step techniques for involving each staff member in various aspects of the sales campaign. Students will learn how to set campaign objectives and use demographic information to help identify clients who are in need of the product that is being promoted. The course also provides students with methods to handle working on simultaneous campaigns, and for shopping competitive banks and incorporating this into campaign methods.

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Supervision

This course helps you, as a new or potential supervisor, become a better manager by emphasizing broad perspectives and by combining fresh insights with the interpersonal relations required of today's successful managers.

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Supervisor Certificate

This course prepares new and potential first-level supervisors to handle people management duties. Among the topics covered are hiring, performance management, coaching, rewards and recognition, corrective action, managing employee relations and managing change. Students who complete this course and the Banking Today course will receive the ABA Performance Training Series Supervisor Certificate.

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Today's Teller

Developing Basic Skills provides participants with the basic tools to effectively handle the responsibilities of today's teller. This course is designed for entry-level tellers.

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Teller Training: Basic

This course focuses on the skills new tellers need in today's banking industry. The course reflects the changing responsibility of today's teller and includes the most recent compliance information.

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Trust Basics

This course provides you with an overview of the trust department, including how it fits into the bank's overall operations, the services it provides, and generally how those services are delivered.

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Trust Operations

In addition to providing you with basic trust terminology, this course discusses the concepts and ideas comprising the various trust functions and translates them into workable procedures.

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Truth in Lending Act - Regulation Z

Truth in Lending Act - Regulation Z shows students how to comply with Regulation Z. Students will learn about the conditions that led to the enactment of Regulation Z, and how to properly disclose the terms of various loan types, advertise loan rates, disclose the cost of credit, and calculate and disclose a loan's rescission period. The course teaches students how to adhere to the technical requirements of Regulation Z, including how to present required documentation and explain terms in a way that clients will understand. The course also covers how Regulation Z is enforced, and the penalties for non-compliance with Regulation Z.

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Understanding Financial Planning

Introduces students to the importance of financial planning. Students will gain general knowledge of various financial products, and learn to assess a client's financial needs by evaluating their current financial situation using net worth, rate of savings, and cash flow. Students will also examine how personal factors such as risk tolerance, goals, and time frame, affect a client™s investment decisions.

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Writing Bank Correspondence

Writing Bank Correspondence provides students with the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively communicate in writing with peers and managers within their bank, and with their clients. Students will learn how to use a written document as a tool for achieving a specific goal through a four-step process: planning, drafting, revising, and polishing.

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