Global Professional Body Launches for Retail Bankers

The Retail Banking Academy (RBA) – a UK educational body formed in 2011 to assist in the development and professionalisation of consumer-oriented retail banking worldwide – is launching a global professional body for retail bankers.

The London-based academy already offers the certified retail banker (CRB) designation, as well as two associate retail banker (ARB) levels – ARB I and ARB II. Building on these, the newly-launched Institute of Retail Banking will be a membership body for all retail bankers who have achieved the CRB designation, having passed the RBA’s examinations.

The RBA adds that the not-for-profit Institute will be governed by an independent board of trustees and will be the custodian of the CRB designation. The aims of the Institute will be to:

• Provide a professional code of conduct and ethics and supply members with continuous professional education.
• Ensure that retail bankers behave in the best interests of customers, rather than pushing products.
• Monitor the behaviour of all members holding the power to suspend and expel members in circumstances where they have brought discredit to themselves, their bank or the Institute.

“Current banking qualifications across the globe are mainly based on the concept of the general bank that used to exist 50 to 100 years ago and are largely focused on corporate banking,” said Evelyn Hunter-Jordan, the RBA’s chief executive officer (CEO).

“Today, retail banking is the dominant banking sector and it has very little in common with wholesale banking. Far from being a step on the road to corporate banking, retail banking today offers a very exciting career in its own right for modern bankers – from relationship managers to CEOs.”

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