One of AMBA’s strengths is the diversity of its members. Our membership includes large banks, small community banks, financial technology companies, and even a marketplace lender. Though diverse, another strength is the fact that you are focused on the same objective: to provide responsible and responsive financial support, education, and services to the military and veteran communities you serve.
Though there is great strength in common purpose, we at AMBA believe it’s only one of the many threads in the fabric that binds us together. Because that fabric is essential to the continued vitality of the military banking program, AMBA’s objective going forward will be to enhance the value and strength of every one of those threads. Whether it’s our work on the Military Lending Act, our efforts to eliminate lease payments for banks on military installations, or our recent initiatives to enhance AMBA’s stature in the federal financial regulator community (to include the Department of Defense), our overarching goal has been and will continue to be to knit these threads into a strong, resilient net that will support not only our individual members but also the military and veteran communities you serve.
It is in this spirit that I’m pleased to announce our “member-to-member” initiative. While we understand that, under normal circumstances, competition among banks is keen, we also know from our experience outside the financial industry that collaboration can also enhance profitability. Since each military bank shares the obligation to serve its entire military community, not just its military customers, we want to serve as a clearinghouse of best practices, financial information tailored to the needs of the military, and other good ideas. Our AMBA website “Member Portal” is our first effort in this area. This blog is intended to serve as a bring your attention to the newest topic in the AMBA forum, Member-to-Member Services, for the exchange of those good ideas. We hope you will use it to share experiences from which you believe other military banks will benefit.
Featured this month in this space is an offer from StreetShares to team with our military banks to use its online lending technology at little or no cost. StreetShares, our newest member, is a marketplace lender focused on the veteran community. Through its online lending platform, StreetShares has harnessed the latest technology to link investors and veteran-owned small businesses. Through its efforts to provide venture capital to an underserved but extremely deserving community, it has demonstrated a commitment to veterans equal to the commitment military banks demonstrate daily toward their military communities. I invite you to contact StreetShares through the advertisement on this page to determine if this offer is right for your bank. Here is a recent American Banker article suggesting why you should consider this opportunity: Banks that fail to adapt to the changing financial landscape are at risk of being left behind. This article describes how banks and marketplace lenders like StreetShares can team for their mutual benefit and for the benefit of the customers they serve.
Steve Lepper
President & CEO