Banking shouldn’t lead to financial risks for anyone, regardless of age. Nevertheless, seniors are often more vulnerable to fraud than any other age group, facing as much as $2.9 billion in losses annually.

As a response to that long-lingering problem, the American Bankers Association (ABA) is working on a new endeavor to discourage the risk of financial fraud among seniors.

The ABA Foundation’s new Safe Banking for Seniors program, announced last week, hopes to educate seniors and their caretakers about the risk of fraud.

“Our goal with this campaign is to provide bankers with turnkey educational materials, so they can arm their customers with the tools they need to fight fraud,” noted Corey Carlisle, the foundation’s executive director, in a statement. “Since announcing this program, we’ve received tremendous response from our members who are eager to team up with local senior groups and other organizations to educate the greatest number of consumers possible.”

ABA is teaming up with more than 30 different state banking organizations to address the issue. Among ABA’s strategies: a guide offering a variety of approaches on how to bring up the topic on social media. This guide includes sample posts that bankers can share with their customers on Twitter, Facebook, and other outlets.

The ABA Foundation will also hold a free webinar Wednesday, February 24, as part of the campaign launch. Those interested can learn more at the Safe Banking for Seniors landing page.

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