News

On Thursday, February 12, AMOA led by DGA Group, met with 14 different Congressional offices with a focus on Senate Banking Committee leadership and House Financial Services leadership.

Last August, President Trump signed the “Guaranteeing Fair Banking for All Americans” executive order (EO), aiming to stop financial institutions from denying services based upon political, religious or lawful business affiliations. It directs federal regulators to eliminate “reputational risk” guidelines and instead relies on objective, risk-based analysis.

Immediately after the EO was introduced, AMOA reached out to regulatory agencies to ensure our industry is included in any proposed guidance and provided suggested guidance moving forward.

Over the last decade, well over twenty-five percent of AMOA members have been debanked, and in recent years “reputational risk” has been cited as the reason.

As a result of the EO last August, “debanking” has garnered much attention by Congress and although centered mainly around crypto, it certainly has opened the door to deeper conversation on the “debanking” issue overall. AMOA’s active and ongoing advocacy efforts have helped the association build some legislative champions in DC. Discussions included legislation currently being drafted/considered as well as potential updates to regulatory guidance.

In addition to debanking, AMOA expressed strong concerns on the rising cost of health care to small business stating double-digit increases annually to employers is not sustainable.

AMOA encourages members to continue reaching out to the AMOA should they experience bank account closures especially by regional/community banks or credit unions.