ABA Relaunches #BanksNeverAskThat and #PracticeSafeChecks Campaigns
- The ABA has relaunched campaigns to educate consumers
- The new theme is "Snap Out of It"
- Some of the video messaging may be misconstrued
The American Bankers Association (ABA) has relaunched its award-winning consumer protection campaigns, #BanksNeverAskThat and #PracticeSafeChecks, in 2025 to bolster the fight against fraud. These initiatives, involving over 2,500 banks across the U.S., focus on educating consumers and small businesses about ways to recognize and avoid scams.
Now in its second year, the #PracticeSafeChecks campaign returns with a renewed focus on small businesses—frequent targets for fraud due to the higher values of business checks. This year’s initiative urges small businesses to embrace digital payment methods whenever possible and provides actionable guidance for safer check practices, including enrolling in Positive Pay and leveraging other fraud prevention tools.
This year, #BanksNeverAskThat introduces the new theme -- “Snap Out of It!” -- to help individuals spot red flags and resist the psychological tactics scammers use for manipulation. The campaign features interactive videos, quizzes, and social media content, encouraging the public to trust their instincts against suspicious messages and "urgent requests."
New Video Content from ABA
Last year, the ABA produced two videos for their Practice Safe Checks campaign. This year, they've matched it:
Additionally, the ABA produced 6 videos for their #BanksNeverAskThat campaign:
The Right Messaging?
The #PracticeSafeChecks campaign concentrates on small businesses, encouraging digital payment adoption, safer check handling, and the use of fraud prevention services like Positive Pay.
“Banks remain committed to winning the fight against fraud and the best way to do that is to help bank customers spot scams before they can do any damage,” said Rob Nichols, ABA president and CEO. “The #BanksNeverAskThat and #PracticeSafeChecks campaigns have helped millions of consumers protect themselves from bad actors, and with the help of banks across the country, we’re confident this year’s campaigns will be even more successful.”
But, do the videos portray the right messaging?
The two videos describe two common scenarios for stolen checks, and the actors encourage the business owners to switch to digital payments -- glamorizing digital payments. In essence, the videos are telling businesses not to "practice safe checks" but to utilize a different payment method.
While we applaud the efforts of the ABA and the partnering banks, the messaging portrayed in the videos can be misconstrued. For instance, a portion of viewers may interpret them as saying banks are unable to protect their funds when using checks. Additionally, digital payments suffer their own security issues with Account Take Overs (ATOs) and stolen credentials -- both major issues that lead towards instant loss of funds.
Education is an important component to stopping fraud, but financial institutions need to provide the right materials for their customer base. Simply telling them to switch from one payment method to another is not the answer. From securing their checkbooks to ensuring that the checks are dropped off at the post office, consumers and businesses should understand potential check payment risks -- and better understand how they can protect their payments.