Logo of the American Financial Services Association.

The American Financial Services Association (AFSA) is the primary trade association for the American consumer credit industry, protecting access to credit and consumer choice. AFSA provides the consumer credit industry and the consumers it serves with a voice in Washington, D.C., where the association is headquartered. ^[1]

AFSA’s 350 members include consumer and commercial finance companies, vehicle finance/leasing companies, mortgage lenders, credit card issuers, industrial banks and industry suppliers. The association’s members provide consumers with many kinds of credit, including traditional installment loans, mortgages, vehicle finance and cards. However, AFSA members do not provide payday or vehicle title loans.

The association encourages and maintains ethical business practices via a code of ethics and voluntary standards. In November 2008, AFSA adopted a set of guiding principles, which are intended to serve as the foundation for the association’s future policy positions. AFSA is committed to consumer credit education and voluntary credit counseling. ^[1]

AFSA is a founding member of Americans Well-informed on Automobile Retailing Economics.^[2]

The association’s president & CEO is Chris Stinebert.

[edit] History

The association was founded in 1916 as the American Association of Small Loan Brokers. The group formed to promote state laws that would make small cash loans more readily available to average Americans, who had few options at the time to receive small personal loans. The association changed names several times throughout the years before its merger in 1971 with the American Industrial Bankers Association, an organization of industrial banks, thrift and loan companies and sales finance companies. By 1983, the association’s members included diversified financial services firms and consumer credit subsidiaries of retailing firms, prompting another name change to the American Financial Services Association, which it is still known as today. ^[3]

[edit] Major Activities

• Federal Government Affairs – Formulates and actively advocates industry positions in legislative, regulatory and judicial settings. It lobbies both Congress and regulatory agencies to achieve industry’s goals.
• State Government Affairs – Monitors, anticipates, and responds to new legislative and regulatory issues on the state level.
• Legal Affairs – Deals with all aspects of the legal environment facing the industry, including legislative issues, regulatory matters, and litigation.
• Public Affairs – Serves as the industry’s voice to the public and informs media of current industry developments and issues.
• Meetings and Conferences – Hosts five major meetings each year targeting niche sectors of the financial services industry, plus an annual conference. ^[4]
• Committees of Professional Interest – Executives who work within the industry share information and participate in presentations on emerging issues related to their area of professional interest through these 12 committees. ^[5]
• Section and Divisions – AFSA’s section and divisions are made up of senior management executives from specific industry segments, such as personal loans, mortgage lending and vehicle finance. Many of these groups are the driving forces for major AFSA initiatives and activities. ^[6]

[edit] AFSA Education Foundation

The AFSA Education Foundation (AFSAEF) is a non-profit AFSA affiliate with the mission to help consumers realize the benefits of responsible money management, understand the credit process and seek help if credit problems occur. ^[7] AFSAEF offers a number of free publications for consumers on topics from holiday spending to vehicle financing. Several of these publications are available in Spanish.

AFSAEF’s primary initiative is MoneySKILL &reg, a free online personal finance course for high school students on money management fundamentals. The MoneySKILL curriculum consists of 34 “how to” modules covering income, expenses, saving, credit and insurance. The course is designed to be used as all or part of a course in economics, math, social studies or wherever personal finances are taught. Students can access the modules in the classroom or at home, so the material also can be assigned as homework. Built-in quizzes test the students’ grasp of each concept presented. The course includes pre- and post-tests as well as an electronic grade book to record each student’s scores and course grade. ^[8]

Registered teachers are surveyed each year on the curriculum content and technology used to deliver the course to the students. In addition, teacher training workshops familiarize teachers with the course and the administrative site that includes the registration pages for teachers, classes and students, the electronic grade book, and a forum for teachers to make suggestions. Teacher evaluations and initial impressions of the curriculum are collected at each training session and analyzed.

[edit] Publications

AFSA Newsbriefs is the association’s weekly electronic newsletter, with news on what’s happening in AFSA, member companies, and the card, mortgage, personal loan, and vehicle finance industries.

[edit] External links

• American Financial Services Association Web site
• AFSA Education Foundation Web site
• MoneySKILL Web site

[edit] References