Fraud and scams continue to be one of the greatest threats facing consumers today. Whether it’s a cryptocurrency investment scam, fake job opportunity, romance scam, family emergency scam, or business email compromise, fraudsters are constantly evolving their tactics to deceive consumers.
While community banks work tirelessly to protect their customers through education, fraud prevention tools, and vigilant frontline staff trained to identify potential scams before money leaves an account, the reality is that anyone can become a victim of a scam—regardless of age, education, or financial experience.
Because scams continue to evolve, customer awareness remains one of the strongest defenses. By learning about common scam tactics and recognizing warning signs, customers can better protect themselves and their finances. This education is often most effective when it comes from peers. People are more likely to engage with and remember messages that are shared in creative and relatable ways by others in their communities. That is why ICBA is proud to support the Spotlight! Payments Video Challenge.
A Collaborative Industry Effort
Standing against scammers requires collaboration across the payments ecosystem. ICBA participates in the Payments Innovation Alliance, a membership program of Nacha, the organization that governs the ACH Network. The alliance brings together financial institutions, payments organizations, and industry stakeholders to develop thought leadership and educational resources that strengthen the payments industry.
As part of this mission, the alliance created the Spotlight! Payments Video Challenge, an initiative designed to empower consumers to create short educational videos that raise awareness about financial scams and fraud prevention.
How Community Banks Can Participate
ICBA encourages member banks to help amplify this important message by sharing information about the contest with customers and communities. Now in its third year, the challenge provides a unique opportunity for consumers to create engaging, informative, and even fun videos that help others recognize and avoid scams.
Industry partners will be promoting the challenge across social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and X. We encourage community banks to add the campaign to their marketing calendars and help spread the word by using the #ICBA, #StandAgainstScammers, and #SpotlightPaymentsVideoChallenge hashtags.
Thank You for Supporting Fraud Awareness
We appreciate the many community banks that have helped promote the Spotlight! Payments Video Challenge in previous years. Your support has strengthened consumer awareness and helped bring attention to the growing threat of scams.
Did one of your customers submit a video in past years that you are particularly proud of? Consider sharing and amplifying their work to inspire others and expand the reach of this important educational initiative. ICBA members have access to videos from previous years as well as details on how to participate in the 2026 challenge via the Nacha website.
Through continued education and outreach, we can help consumers recognize scams, protect their finances, and stand united against fraud.
Kari Neckel is ICBA vice president of payments and technology policy.