Download the prospectus here

Greetings!

I want you to be among the first to know that it will be possible to study the curriculum of the International Academy of Retail Banking online, via e-learning from March this year.

This means that retail bankers all over the world will be able to prepare for the professional examinations and become Certified International Retail Bankers (CIRBs) in their own time without interfering with their everyday work schedules.

Our aim is to make it possible for ambitious retail bankers everywhere to embark on a programme to professionalise retail banking with the over-riding objective of delivering far better banking services to people across the world. Members and students will be bound by the Academy’s ethical code. We are confident that the status of retail bankers will soon be vastly improved as a result.

Programme fees for 2013, which include course books and examinations, range from $650 for Retail Banking I (the foundation level), to $850 for Retail Banking II (intermediate) and $1,150 for Retail Banking III (expert level).

Demands for change
Governments, regulators and the public at large worldwide are now demanding that retail bankers should be properly educated and bound by demanding professional standards like accountants and lawyers. Retail bankers are being told that they must act in clients’ interests rather than push products.

The International Academy of Retail Banking is the only educational body in the world offering specialised post-graduate training in the retail banking field – both to qualification level and on an ongoing, continuous basis. Lafferty Group, of which the Academy is part, has provided industry research and intelligence to retail banks for more than 30 years.

A great deal has happened since we announced the launch of the Academy back in late 2011, including: 

• The appointment of the distinguished retail banking academic,Abdul Rahman (Professor of Finance at the University of Ottawa) as academic director

• The appointment of Dick Harryvan, former CEO of ING Direct, the world-famous retail-only bank, as co-chairman

• The creation of an Awards Body with a majority of independent board members to administer the examinations and CIRB qualification. The five-person board is chaired by Norman Gealy, a prominent international educationalist and also includes Ian Lindsey, former CEO of Robert Fleming Retail Bank, and Godfrey Banks, a former senior executive with HSBC and Midland Bank.

We are thrilled with the response that the Academy has generated around the world. Over the past 15 months we have delivered numerous in-bank and open programmes and examinations in classrooms from Johannesburg to Lagos, from Cairo to Abu Dhabi and from London to Kuala Lumpur. Our focus, which has initially been on Africa, the Middle East and Asia is now being extended to the entire world via e-learning. Classroom learning will no longer be a barrier to entry.

Please let us know directly if you would like to become a Certified International Retail Banker and study for the three examinations – Retail Banking I, Retail Banking II and Retail Banking III – by completing the registration form and emailing it to Evelyn Hunter-Jordan, our executive director:evelyn.hunter-jordan@lafferty.com.

We would also be grateful if you would alert your management colleagues – including heads of human resources, learning and development – to the unlimited potential that e-learning now offers for retail banking education at all levels. Licences are available to every bank that wants to provide the IARB e-learning programmes to an unlimited number of staff members.

Many banks have already committed to putting their best and brightest retail bankers through the Academy programmes and we expect many more to join now that e-learning is available.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Regards


Michael Lafferty
Executive Chairman

PS. As a registered student of the Academy you will also receive a personal copy of Dr Stefan Kaminsky’s famous book – Real Banks for Real People – and the monthly journal, Lafferty Retail Banking Insights. You will also be able to participate in and access Academy webcasts.PPS. Students registering for e-learning programmes before the end of February 2013 will also receive a complimentary copy of the Lafferty Retail Banking Yearbook 2013 valued at $1,297.