Welcome to this webinar on AARP's BankSafe training. I'm Heidi Tennant, NAMPFA's Senior Coordinator of Membership and Continuing Ed. I'd like to introduce our presenter today, Jalene Gunther, National Director of AARP BankSafe. Jalene has authored two books on consumer rights and elder law and is National Director of the award-winning BankSafe program. She led the development of the game-changing financial exploitation prevention training you'll hear more about today, which has already impacted over 13 million consumers. Thank you for joining us, Jalene. Thank you so much. I really appreciate the invitation to speak to your organization and some of your members about this really groundbreaking BankSafe training that we've put together. Jalene Gunther, I wanted to talk to you a little bit about how I got started in the area of preventing financial exploitation. My grandfather had worked in the financial industry for his entire career, but it wasn't until his 90s that my uncle discovered something. My grandfather had now been retired, just barely. My uncle saw the red flags of exploitation. My uncle also spent his career in the financial industry as well. What he saw were the red flags of exploitation. Somebody was taking money out of my grandfather's wallet. He talked to my other uncle. They decided to set a trap, actually using dye packs, and caught the thief red-handed. My family was lucky. My grandfather only lost a few hundred dollars, but the average victim isn't so lucky, losing up to $120,000 on average. I wanted to talk a little bit about what is the problem of financial exploitation, who's on the front lines, and how can we work together to outsmart the perpetrators effectively? I mentioned this, that the average victim is losing about $120,000, but they're not the only entity that's losing money. The financial industry also loses about a billion dollars a year due to this type of crime. What we're seeing is there's a rise in the population of older adults. With that, we're also seeing a rise in the number of complaints of this type of crime being reported. People often ask me, they're like, well, who are the perpetrators? If you read the newspaper, you're going to think it's strangers purporting scams, but if you look at the data, what you'll see on SARS reports and other representative samples of studies is it's family members. Not only are they stealing more often than strangers, but the percentage of cases where people are exploited by family members is 60 to 90% depending on what study you're looking at. Not only that, but on the other hand, is that you're seeing family members are stealing twice the amount of money than strangers, and people are like, well, why is that? There's a couple reasons. One is that there is an automatic trust already established with your family, whereas strangers have to try to get into that arena. They have to try to build that trust. Family members are already there. The other thing is family members typically, when you think about it, you typically know what their assets are, and so family members that are perpetrators typically will have more than one hand in the cookie jar. So who's on the front lines, and that's really you guys. One of the investment news survey research, and they asked people how many times in your career have you seen suspected financial abuse of an older adult, and what you'll see from this graph is that the majority of advisors have seen this. It's usually one to two times throughout their career, but you can see there are times where it's three to four times or five times that people are seeing this. What also makes someone particularly vulnerable can also be diminished capacity, and what people are also seeing is that financial advisors are also on the front lines with this as well, and what we see with perpetrators is that when someone, the more vulnerable they are, if they have health issues, if they have diminished capacity, I mean, think about the people that are in your life. How many people do you know that are isolated? Probably most of us during this pandemic, one point or another, but people who just recently lost a spouse, who've been hospitalized or have health issues, and what you see is just like in the wild, predators are going after those people that they deem to be vulnerable, and that's really where advisors come in as a second pair of eyes to see that exploitation may be going on and then help to prevent it. So I wanted to talk a little bit about how do we get ahead of this problem? At AARP, we first started with research with consumers, not only with our 38 million members, but also with those older adults who are not our members, and we asked people, surveyed people specifically that had an account within the financial industry, and we asked them about 20 different things that they may want, and they said some really interesting things. We asked them anywhere, would you be interested in accessibility issues, specialized help on loans, and accessibility, discounts, and one of the top things that they said they wanted more than anything else is that they wanted people on the front lines to be thoroughly trained to tax and prevent financial exploitation, and they wanted this more than discounts on a product or service, and I think it's really smart. They know the value of protecting their assets far outweighs the value of getting a discount. Not only did we ask that, but we also asked them about where they would prefer to establish accounts, what could sway them, and what people said was, four out of five said really this is so important they prefer to establish an account at a financial institution or a firm that had at least one exploitation prevention service, and with that, we also asked them this really interesting question. We asked them if they had ever been financially exploited, if the financial industry was involved in protecting in that situation, and whether their trust increases or decreases, as we all know on this call and as being a third generation, both my father and grandfather working in the financial industry, we know that trust is the foundation of the industry, and what we saw was that 41%, some people remained the same, but 41% of consumers better trusted that their financial industry representative based on how it handled that exploitation situation. I wanted to talk next about what can we do to outsmart and outwit these perpetrators who are taking advantage of not only our clients, but our consumers, as well as those within our own personal circles, our friends and family, so the first thing that AARP really hopes to do with the industry is we ask people who are leaders within the financial industry who are fighting the fight against financial exploitation, really what's the business justification for doing this? And what we found were a couple of commonalities across the board within the United States and then with some of our cousins across the pond in the United Kingdom, as well. What we found was that, of course, it helps with reputational risk, it prevents losses when they're losing assets that's less advantaged, it also creates stronger client relationships and trust. What we also heard from consumers, as I just mentioned, is that trust increases, but it also helps that advisor to create a better relationship of trust. What we also heard, too, was that it helps with improving employee morale and performance. So, it's a great tool that people want to give to the greater good. What we heard from a UK firm was an increased brand distinction, and they measure that between the before and after they rolled out their program to prevent financial exploitation in terms of who would refer their friends and family for their services. We found also that it saves money and that it meets regulatory guidance, and one of the things I'll get to in a little bit is that by launching this program, we've been able to save and stop about $104 million from ever leaving the accounts of older adults in conjunction with financial advisors, bankers, and credit unions who are now trained to better detect and stop exploitation. So, I wanted to talk a little bit about what this Bank Saves training is, why is it different than other training that you might have had. One of the things that we spent a lot of time talking to and putting together focus groups with the industry really to creating something that would work for the industry, and we put together over 30 different workshops with over 200 people from professions that was then tested by 2,000 people within the industry. And one of the things we put together was this award-winning training that makes it different than other trainings that you've taken. One of the things that I'll talk a little bit about is the award-winning is very interactive, it's gamified, it will test skills and respond to real-life scenarios that people actually see because they're actual real stories from those people who helped us create this training. It's also something you can complete at your own pace. What we heard from people is they're very busy, they don't always have time to sit down for 30 to 45 minutes, and so we built it so people can go in and out at their own pace. And we also wanted to show real stories from people that are actual victims to provide that empathy, but also the tools to feel empowered so you know how to stop it when you see it. And then, of course, we didn't want to create, we didn't want to have any financial barrier, so we actually provided at no cost to the industry. With that, one of the things that we did is, because AARP is providing this at no cost to the industry, is we wanted to make sure it fit within AARP's mission of protecting the financial resilience and the assets of older Americans, and so we partnered with Virginia Tech to determine if the BankSafe training is effective in preventing financial exploitation. They did a six-month research study before we did our national launch. We had 11 states involved in this research, with that 2,000 financial employees taking the course. And we had half of them that were involved in taking the course, and then the other half did take it. So it's kind of like a, basically, a random, what they call a random control study trial. You have some people who took it, some people don't, who get the placebo, and then you measure what the effect is. They asked three questions. First is, did the BankSafe training increase knowledge, did the BankSafe training increase confidence, and did the BankSafe training group save consumers' money? So the first question is really what you would standardly ask, did people's knowledge increase? And what we found was that it did. It increased phenomenally, by 133%. Does the BankSafe training increase confidence? It's one thing for me to read a book about how to change a carburetor. It will tell you it will not increase my confidence to change a carburetor. And what we found, so we really wanted to make sure that people had the confidence, they were getting these skills, that they felt confident in practicing these skills. And what we found is those who took the BankSafe training, their confidence grew four times as much as those who did not take the training. And one of the things to also mention is, you know, we had people that took the training, people who did take the training, both groups that had some sort of other type of training they had taken within the past year. So this really remarks that the effectiveness of not just training, but the specific training that we built with the industry. The last question was really about, did the BankSafe training group save consumers money? And we thought we had something really good, but these results really blew me out of the water. The BankSafe training group reported exploitation four times higher than the control group. Oh, no, sorry. they reported four times as much through exploitation, and what you saw was that they saved 16 times more than those who did not take the training. So you're looking at the people that were in the intervention group saved almost about $1 million, whereas those who didn't take the training saved about $54,000 and change. So with that, one of the ways that we try to push the training out that's really unique to this particular program at AARP is that if a financial advisor, 80% at a firm or if you're a solo practitioner, if 80% advisors complete the course, they're in good standing with regulators, and there's a policy to report exploitation in place, we allow you to use a AARP Bank Save train seal on your website, within social media, which is a real rarity for AARP to do, especially to do for free. The one other thing I mentioned is that the multi, we're a multi-award winning training. I think we've got about 12 now, actually about 15 now, we just got two and additional Brandon Hall Group Gold Awards this year. You can register at aarp.org forward slash Bank Save. And with that, I'm gonna switch over and I'm gonna show you what the training looks like. And then after this, we'll take some questions. So what you're seeing here is what you'll see if you take the training. One of the things I mentioned is we try to put these in bite-sized pieces. So you'll see there are five modules will tell you how long each module is, the activities and the videos in there. And that's how people can go in and out at their own leisure. And you'll start back up exactly where you left off. The first section is really about just the basics of what exploitation is. But we really start by providing that glimpse into the empathy of what it looks like to be a family member, a victim. And so it's a real story from a real person out in Utah about her stepfather who was a victim of a romance scam and how it not only impacted their family, but her immediate family as well. The next section is really about what is financial exploitation? It's both people that you know, but it's also people that are strangers as well. And what we try to do is we try to make this as interactive. What you'll see on the right-hand side as I open these things up is gamified. So you're earning points for opening things up to make things a little bit more fun. And there's also a lot of clickables. But there's also audio and video and real stories because one of the, and games. Because one of the things that we know is that when something is interactive, you tend to remember it more often than if something is in a classroom one-on-one session. We also have some information about COVID-19 to get ahead of what some of these perpetrators are doing to exploit what's going on in the world these days. The next section is really about recognizing the red flags. When you know your client as much as those who are on the call today, it helps you better recognize what those red flags are. We have a little bit about recognizing cognitive decline, what are the red flags there? Because we know it's such a risk factor that can lead towards financial exploitation. I mentioned that we had games in here. This is one of my favorite games. I'm gonna date myself a little bit here. When I was a kid, I played the 1980s game Duck Hunt. This is the same concept. Instead of ducks flying up, you have statements. You have statements by a client, and you have to decide which ones are suspicious, which ones are not. You have to do it before they float off of the screen. If I get three wrong, I lose the game. You can see I'm, and then it will give you that instant feedback of whether you got it right or not. At the end, it kind of tells you some more deep details of why each one was wrong or right. The next section is actually my favorite section. It's about standing up and speaking out. What do you do when you see it? One of the things is, in looking at other trainings, what we saw was it's more about compliance. It's about recognizing it and then reporting it. But it missed this middle ground of, okay, I see it. What do I do? How do I help my client? And when I say that, one of the things we know from research, a new research paper that just came out, is that it's very altruistic that financial advisors have a relationship with their clients. This paper actually says the reason why advisors stop exploitation is because of that relationship, and it actually negated regulation in the area, which I actually really like coming from a family of people that have been in the financial industry. So one of the things we really wanted to do is spend that time in the middle about how do you, when you see it, how do you take action? What works? And that's some of the things we learned from the Virginia Tech study is they ask the questions of, okay, if you spot it, how did you stop it? When we're actually successful in stopping the money, what was it you did? And what I can tell you that was probably the most helpful is when there's a delay in the process, when there's a temporary hold, and when you're asking additional questions. And not only did we discover some of this from Virginia Tech, but we dove even deeper into kind of content interviews that we did with financial advisors who had been successful in stopping the exploitation, which led to this content. We also have some other interactivity. This is what I call kind of choose your own adventure that we're starting to see. And what this is is you basically get a choice between two things that you would want us to say to kind of a client. And you kind of pick on which one that you think is the better thing to say. And this, and you get that instant feedback. And what this does, and then you'll get the next scenario and you have to decide, should I ask another question? Should I report this? What it's really teaching is not only how to probe for additional questions, but how to do it in the right way so that you're building trust with that client that we know is so vital and important to the industry. So one of the things that is really quite, and especially in your role, that I'm sure is probably quite frustrating is there are so many different laws. Let me pick on Illinois, since that's where NAPFA's headquartered in. And there's so many different laws on reporting exploitation, different community laws, holding laws, training requirements. And so to really kind of help within this area, what we put together is a map that tells you, okay, am I a required reporter in this state? So here you see Illinois permissive reporting. Is there immunity for reporting? Yes, there is. Is there a temporary hold law? No, and there's no training requirement. But so it gives you that top line glance on what those requirements are. Then we also have the local number for Adult Protective Services that you can report exploitation to some additional local resources within that specific state to help your client. But then also a few national resources, one of which is our Fraud Watch Network that provides consultations directly with consumers. So the other thing is, and this is my favorite video, and this is from a fraud manager who was able to stop exploitation. And she's talked to the story about being able to kind of intervene with that and seeing that they were actually able to save money for the client. So in terms of our last section, which is your next steps, is we have some videos of putting together. This is a shot in someone's actual firm played by actors, and what it does is it goes through a scenario. It stops at just about right here. See if I can get it to, and then we'll ask you some questions, and ask you a question. So it's not throwing everything at you at the same time, but has that pause, and then the video will continue. Everybody gets a chance to ask a question. Everybody gets their certificate for completing it. There are resources at the end that you can share with your clients. There's also tip sheets. So spotting, you know, what are the red flags? There's also investment firm resources. If you're looking to create a better program and preventing financial exploitation, there's some tips there on what to do. But anything that's relevant in this area that we really put into this resource library. So again, the training's free. You can go to ARP.org forward slash bank safe to sign up for it, and with that, I'll turn it back over to you guys for questions. Wonderful, thanks. We do have a couple, and if you'd like to ask more, please use the questions tab and then go to webinar control, Pam. The first question is, is it possible to preview the bank safe training before we sign up? Usually what you'll do is just, there's no obligation when you sign up. You fill out a form, and then you immediately get access to it, so there's really no obligation. So you can kind of preview it without taking it. Okay, and what does my organization need to do to qualify for the AARP Bank Safe Training seal? Yeah, that's a really good question. It's pretty easy. There's an application every year. It actually opens up, timely enough, around October 1st, closes two weeks later on October 15th. And with that, you'll fill out the application. You'll want to make sure that 80% of the financial advisors within your organization have completed it, have gotten their certificate, pass the quiz at the end. And then on our side, we do a check to make sure there's no kind of regulatory issues there. You'll want to, you'll check up the box in the application that says you have some sort of policy to report exploitation, and that's what we do. And that's as simple as it gets. Okay, great. 80%, you said, of the advisors? Yep, correct. Okay. Okay, and then we have another question. Does the program give me materials and resources to educate clients, and are there any other sources you recommend? Yeah, so that's kind of our resource library at the end. There are specific resources that we have. One of them is our Fraud Watch Network guide. I'll show those to you again for clients. That, you know, we also have an AARP scam tracking map so that if someone sees something, they can report it, and then people can view what's going on in their area as well. There are some regulators that have put together some really great information about managing someone else's money, especially when there's a power of attorney, guardian, or conservatorship. That's a really great document to provide people. And then there's also Money Smart for Older Adults, which I highly recommend as well. Some of kind of the key resources, I think, in this area. Okay, and then we had a question about a basic template for starting to create the reporting policy, but I'm guessing that would be with the compliance person at the firm. Yeah, that's probably where I would start is kind of the compliance area, see what other firms, and then also talking to other firms of what they're using to kind of create that too. And you might also work with Adult Protective Services in your area, might have some ideas as well, but one of those would be reporting quickly to the right authorities, and then how you escalate that within your firm. All right, terrific. That wraps up all the questions, Delaine. Did you have any final comments for us? No, just thank you so much, everybody, for your time. The fact that you're on this webinar with your busy schedules is something we really appreciate AARP. We need more people out there like you that are willing to spot this and stop it on behalf of their clients, so we very much appreciate everybody's time today. Absolutely. All right, and this recording will be available in the online store when it's available again to, in case you wanna have anybody else in your firms take a look at it. Thanks for such a great program, Delaine, and thanks, everybody, for attending. Have a great afternoon. Bye now. Bye.

AARP BankSafe training

financial exploitation prevention

older adults

family members as perpetrators

gamified interactive program

Virginia Tech study results