Frustrated by a lack of political power and fed up with blindly donating to politicians who consistently vote against the industry's interests, a handful of leaders are determined to shake things up.
They have formed the industry's first SuperPAC — dubbed Friends of Traditional Banking — that is designed to target the industry's enemies and support its friends in Congress.
"It comes back to the old philosophy of walking softly and carrying a big stick," says Howard Headlee, the president and chief executive officer of the Utah Bankers Association. "But we've got no big stick. And we should. We have the capacity to have one, we just aren't organized."
Think of it as an Emily's List for bankers and their allies.
"Congress isn't afraid of bankers," adds Roger Beverage, the president and CEO of the Oklahoma Bankers Association. "They don't think we'll do anything to kick them out of office. We are trying to change that perception."
Unlike traditional banking PACs, which target hundreds of House and Senate races, the SuperPAC instead is focusing on making a big difference in just a handful of close elections.
SuperPACs are the latest campaign finance innovation, made possible by two 2010 court decisions. They are officially known as "independent-expenditure only committees" because they are not allowed to coordinate their activities with candidates. SuperPACs are attractive because there are no limits on contributions or expenditures.
With a regular political action committee, like the American Bankers Association's BankPAC, an individual may donate no more than $5,000 a year. Then the PAC may contribute up to $10,000 to any one candidate in an election cycle — $5,000 for the primary and another $5,000 for the general election.
But Friends of Traditional Banking can direct as much money as it can raise to certain races without such restrictions. Matt Packard, the SuperPAC's chairman and president and CEO of $670 million-asset Central Bank in Provo, Utah, views the SuperPAC as a complement to BankPAC.
"BankPAC is much broader and covers lots of different candidates. This is much more surgical," Packard says. "If someone says I am going to give your opponent $5,000 or $10,000, you might say, 'Yea, okay.' But if you say the bankers are going to put in $100,000 or $500,000 or $1 million into your opponent's campaign, that starts to draw some attention.
"That's why I think this is much more instrumental than BankPAC in a close race."
Friends of Traditional Banking will ask contributors to pledge from $150 to $500 to two congressional races each election cycle. An advisory council will research races and select the candidates to be targeted. A board of directors will sign off on the selections, and then information will be sent to those who pledged funding explaining how to donate to a particular candidate.
The SuperPAC itself will not touch the money. Unlike Emily's List, which raises money for female candidates, Friends of Traditional Banking will merely point its supporters toward the races and the candidates considered key to the future of traditional banking.
If 10,000 supporters sign up at the minimum pledge level — not a high bar considering 2.1 million people work in the banking industry — Friends of Traditional Banking would be channeling more than $1 million. That's enough to make a difference in a tight race.
"My short-term goal is to get to the $1 million mark," Headlee says. "I have a lot of confidence that once we get there we will get way beyond there. People will see how effective it is and they will jump on board."
Tired of WHAT? What, prey tell, has been done to banks by Congress other than permitting them to rob us all blind with impunity?