March 18, 2008

Teach Children to Save Day (April 29th)
April 29th marks the AmBA Education Foundation’s twelfth annual Teach Children to Save Day. On this day, thousands of bankers across the country visit classrooms, after-school groups, and anywhere else children and teens gather, and teach K-12 students financial lessons on the fundamentals of saving and budgeting. The program is a great way for bankers to get involved with students and schools in their community. So far, more than 2,737 bankers are registered for Teach Children to Save Day. Click here to see which banks in your area are registered. For more information, contact the AmBA Education Foundation staff at edufoun@aba.com or 1-800-BANKERS. To read more about initiatives to save and other outreach efforts, read the latest issue of AmBA's The Spirit of Banking.

IRS to Start Sending Economic Stimulus Payments on May 2
The Internal Revenue Service on May 2 will start sending out more than 130 million economic stimulus payments, the agency said. The first round of weekly payments will be completed by early July, officials said. They added that the IRS also will provide a new online calculator to help people determine the amount of their stimulus payments. Read more. 

February 20, 2008

OCC Lowers Assessment Fees
National banks will pay slightly lower assessment fees starting March 31 because the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has recalibrated its assessment structure, the agency said.

Changes include reducing rates for each current assessment bracket, and adding two new large-bank brackets -- one for banks with assets between $40 billion and $250 billion, and another for institutions with assets exceeding $250 billion. The changes will reduce overall assessment income by about 2.5 percent, the OCC said. An interim final rule creating the new brackets was published in the Federal Register and is effective immediately. Read more.  Read the interim rule.  Read the OCC's revised fee notice.