Terms of Use

Terms of Use for American Bankers Association Internet Properties (Including ABA.com)

Revised December 18, 2024

By accessing, interacting with, or using any of the American Bankers Association’s ("ABA") Internet properties including, without limitation,, www.aba.com, mobile websites, microsites, mobile applications, ABA profiles on social media sites and any other digital services or properties operated or used, and any others released by the ABA from time to time (collectively referred to as the "ABA Sites"), you agree to comply with and be bound by these Terms of Use ("Terms of Use"), the ABA Privacy Policy, and the ABA Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy (collectively, the “ABA User Policies”). Please read these Terms of Use carefully as well as the ABA User Policies. If you do not agree to these Terms of Use or the ABA User Policies, you must immediately terminate use of the ABA Sites.

1. License Grant. The ABA Sites are owned by ABA. You are granted a personal, revocable, limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access and use the ABA Sites conditioned on your continued acceptance and compliance with these Terms of Use. You may use the ABA Sites and the ABA Content (as defined in Section 2) for your noncommercial personal use and for no other purpose. ABA reserves the right to bar, restrict or suspend any user's access to the ABA Sites, and/or to terminate this license at any time for any reason. ABA reserves any rights not explicitly granted in these Terms of Use.

2. Proprietary Rights. The content of the ABA Sites includes, without limitation, (i) ABA's trademarks, service marks, logos, brands, and brand names, trade dress and trade names and other distinctive identification (collectively "ABA Marks"); (ii) information, data, materials, interfaces, computer code, databases, products, services, software applications and tools, text, images, photographs, audio and video material, including podcasts, and artwork, (iii) the design, structure, selection, compilation, assembly, coordination, expression, functionalities, applications, look and feel, and arrangement of any content contained in or available through the ABA Sites (the items identified in subsections (i) (ii) and (iii) shall be collectively referred to herein as "ABA Content"). ABA Content is the property of ABA, its licensors, sponsors, partners, advertisers, content providers or other third parties and is protected in all media now existing or hereafter developed, by law including, but not limited to, copyright, trade secret, patent, and trademark law, as well as other state, national, and international laws, treaties, and regulations. The reproduction, transmission, distribution, sale, publication, broadcast, circulation, or dissemination of any ABA Content by you, or by you through any other person or entity, is prohibited unless express written consent is separately obtained from the ABA. For reprint requests, please complete ABA’s Copyright Reprint Permission Request Form. Any use of the ABA Marks without ABA's express written consent is strictly prohibited. You may not alter, delete, obscure, or conceal any copyright or other notices appearing in the ABA Content, including any such notices appearing on any ABA Content.

3. License Restrictions. Unless otherwise expressly stated in these Terms of Use or you receive ABA's prior written consent, you may not modify, translate, create derivative works of, copy, distribute, market, display, remove or alter any proprietary notices or labels from, lease, sell, sublicense, clone, transfer, decompile, reverse engineer, or incorporate into any information retrieval system (electronic or mechanical), the ABA Sites, any ABA Content, or any portion thereof. Further, you may not (i) use the ABA Sites for any unauthorized or illegal purpose or activity including, but not limited to, any activity to obtain or attempt to obtain unauthorized access to the ABA Sites, including ABA Content; (ii) interfere with the proper working of the ABA Sites including, but not limited to, the transmission of any virus, worm, trap door, back door, timer, clock, Trojan horse, denial of service attack or other limiting routine, instruction or design; or (iii) interfere with any other person's use and enjoyment of the ABA Sites.

4. Your Acceptance; Revisions to Terms of Use. The ABA Sites are available only to individuals who can enter into legally binding contracts under applicable law. These Terms of Use constitute a legally binding agreement between you and the ABA regarding your use and access to the ABA Sites. By using the ABA Sites, you agree to the Terms of Use.

ABA reserves the right to revise these Terms of Use at any time in its sole discretion by posting revised Terms of Use to the ABA Sites. Your use of the ABA Sites signifies your acceptance of all the terms and conditions contained within the Terms of Use posted at the time of your use. You will be responsible for regularly reviewing the Terms of Use posted to the ABA Sites. No revision to these Terms of Use shall apply to a controversy or claim for which you had actual notice on or before the date of any such revision.

5. ABA User Policies; Additional Terms and Conditions. All additional terms and conditions applicable to certain portions of the ABA Sites (collectively "Additional Terms and Conditions"), are incorporated herein by this reference. To the extent that there is a conflict between these Terms of Use and any Additional Terms and Conditions for the activity in which you choose to participate, the Additional Terms and Conditions shall govern.

6. Click-Through Agreements. Before using certain areas of the ABA Sites, you may be asked to indicate your acceptance of additional special terms and conditions by clicking a button marked "I Accept" "I Agree" "Okay" "I Consent" or other words or actions that similarly acknowledge your consent or acceptance of a Click-Through Agreement. To the extent there is a conflict between these Terms of Use and any Click-Through Agreement for the activity in which you choose to participate, the Click- Through Agreement will govern.

7. Personal Login Information. Certain features and areas of the ABA Sites are available only with registration, login, or a paid subscription. If you are required to register and select a unique login and password ("Personal Login Information"), you must keep your Personal Login Information confidential, including taking appropriate measures to maintain the confidentiality, such as logging off and closing the Internet browser, especially when you are connected to the Internet through an unsecured network or when using a public computer. Your Personal Login Information is personal to you and you may not allow any third party to use it under any circumstances. ABA is not liable for any harm caused by or related to the theft, misappropriation, disclosure, or unauthorized use of your Personal Login Information. You must contact ABA immediately if you become aware of or believe there is or may have been any unauthorized use of your Personal Login Information, or otherwise wish to deactivate your Personal Login Information due to security concerns.

8. Privacy Policy. For information about ABA's data protection practices and ABA's use and protection of your personal information, please read the ABA's Privacy Policy ,which is incorporated into and made a part of these Terms of Use.

9. User Obligations. You warrant that you will abide by, without limitation, all applicable local, state, national, and international laws and regulations with respect to your use of the ABA Sites and not interfere with the use and enjoyment of the ABA Sites by other users or with ABA’s operation and management of the Sites. You further warrant that your use of the ABA Sites and of any data input into or generated by the ABA Sites shall comply with all applicable laws, regulations, and ordinances. You agree and acknowledge that you are solely responsible for any liabilities, fines, penalties, or forfeitures occasioned by any such violations or lack of rights. You must, at all times, provide true, accurate, current, authorized, and complete information when submitting information or materials on the ABA Sites, including, without limitation, information required to be provided through an online ABA registration form. If any false, inaccurate, untrue, unauthorized, or incomplete information is submitted by you, ABA reserves the right to terminate your access and use of the ABA Sites. You warrant that you will not impersonate any other person or entity, whether actual or fictitious, when using the ABA Sites, or defame or otherwise harm any party through your use of the ABA Sites.

In addition, you also agree that you will not use the ABA Sites for the following purposes:

(i) to upload, download, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any content, including through any attachments thereto, that:

(ii) anything that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable;

(iii) make available information protected under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as, but not limited to, inside information, proprietary and confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under nondisclosure agreements);

(iv) to infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party;

(v) to post, submit or display any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, “junk mail,” “spam,” “chain letters,” “pyramid schemes,” or any other form of solicitation;

(vi) to post, submit or display any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;

(b) to collect or store personal data of other users of the ABA Sites;

(c) to intentionally disrupt or interfere, whether directly or indirectly, with the ABA Sites in any manner

(d) to intentionally or unintentionally violate any applicable local, state, national or international law.

10. User-Generated Content. ABA welcomes your views, comments and other communications, pictures, track back URLs, or videos on our ABA Sites or in interacting with the ABA Sites, which may include discussion boards, blogs and other services that allow users to provide feedback, comment or content ("User-Generated Content"). By contributing User-Generated Content to any of the ABA Sites or social media profiles, users understand and acknowledge that this information is available to the public and grant ABA a nonexclusive license to display, reproduce, transmit, modify such User-Generated Content and that the ABA may use the User-Generated Content for internal and external marketing purposes. You are solely responsible for the User-Generated Content you submit. If you believe any User-Generated Content infringes on your proprietary rights, contact ABA’s Office of the General Counsel as identified in these Terms of Use (see Section 14 below). ABA does not approve, endorse, or adopt any User-Generated Content, and ABA assumes no liability for any User-Generated Content submitted by you or others. You agree to indemnify ABA against all claims and liabilities resulting from User-Generated Content. Users who do not wish to have information they have made available via these sites used, published, copied and/or reprinted, should not post on the ABA Sites. Please note that other participants may use posted information beyond the control of ABA. All User-Generated Content is read at your own risk, and ABA recommends that you not rely on the information or advice in any of these postings.

ABA retains the right to remove any content for any reason, including but not limited to, content that it deems threatening, demeaning, profane, obscene, a violation of intellectual property rights or privacy laws, off-topic, commercial or promotion of organizations or programs, or otherwise injurious or illegal. ABA also retains the right to ban or block a user from posting on ABA social media profiles without notice for a pattern of inappropriate postings or as it deems necessary.

You acknowledge, consent and agree that ABA may access, preserve and disclose your account information and the User-Generated Content you have posted if required to do so by law or in a good faith belief that such access preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary in the sole opinion of ABA to: (a) comply with legal process; (b) enforce this Terms of Use; (c) respond to claims that any User- Generated Content violates the rights of third parties; (d) respond to your requests for customer service; or (e) protect the rights, property or personal safety of ABA, ABA members, Users of the ABA Sites and the public.

11. Responsibility for Use of the Internet and the ABA Sites and Exclusion of Liability. Use of the Internet and the ABA Sites is solely at your risk and is subject to, without limitation, all applicable local, state, national and international laws and regulations. Unless expressly required by law, ABA does not guarantee the confidentiality or security of any communication or other material transmitted to or from the ABA Sites over the Internet or other communication network. ABA shall not be obligated to correct or update the ABA Sites, the ABA Content, the User-Generated Content, and shall not be liable for omissions, typographical errors, or out-of-date information which may appear on the ABA Sites. 3

12. No Legal Advice and Disclaimer as to Accuracy of Information. The information contained in the ABA Sites and ABA Content are for informational purposes only and may or may not reflect the most current developments; accordingly, information on the ABA Sites is not promised or guaranteed to be correct or complete, and should not be relied upon as such. The materials on the ABA Sites and ABA Content do not constitute business or legal advice and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of ABA. You acknowledge and agree ABA shall not be liable to you or any other party for any act or failure to act relating thereto, in addition to the limitation of liability claims contained in this Terms of Use.

14. Notice for Claims of Intellectual Property or Copyright Infringement. ABA respects the intellectual property of others, and, particularly as to User-Generated Content (as defined above) in comments, discussion boards or in other user contributed content, as applicable, we ask our users to do the same. If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, or your intellectual property rights have been otherwise violated, please provide the following information to the ABA Office of the General Counsel (contact information below):

(a) an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright or other intellectual property interest;

(b) a description of the copyrighted work or other intellectual property that you claim has been infringed;

(c) a description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the ABA Sites;

(d) your address, telephone number, and email address;

(e) a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and

(f) a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright or intellectual property owner or authorized to act on the copyright or intellectual property owner’s behalf.

For notice of claims of copyright or other intellectual property infringement:

By mail: American Bankers Association

1333 New Hampshire Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20036 Attn:

Office of the General Counsel

By email: Seth Rappaport, Vice President & Senior Counsel, Intellectual Property (srappaport@aba.com); with a copy to copyright@aba.com

By phone: (202) 663-7637

15. Advertisers. The ABA Sites may contain advertisements. The inclusion of advertisements on the ABA Sites does not imply endorsement of the advertised products or services. ABA shall not be responsible for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the presence of such advertisements on the Sites. Further, ABA shall not be responsible or liable for the statements or conduct of any thirdparty advertisers appearing on the ABA Sites. You shall be solely responsible for any correspondence or transactions you have with any third-party advertisers.

16. Links to Third-Party Websites. The ABA Sites may provide links (including any link through an online banner advertisement) to other sites on the Internet for your convenience. These other sites are maintained by third parties over which ABA exercises no control. The appearance of any such third-party links is not intended to endorse any organization, company, or product. If you decide to access any of the third-party sites linked to the ABA Sites, you do so entirely at your own risk. ABA makes no representations or warranties with respect to any linked site. On such sites, you are subject to the various terms of services associated with using such sites, including, but not limited to, the third-party sites’ terms of use, privacy policy, copyright policy. For more information, consult the host website user policies. Information (comments, photos, videos, etc.) you share with or post to ABA social media profiles/accounts/pages is also subject to the terms of service of the host sites and may be used by the owners of the host sites for their own purposes under the host site user policies.

17. Links to Websites, Content, Sharing of Content. Links posted by third parties to the ABA Sites and/or ABA Content may not use the ABA trademark or logo and shall not suggest that ABA promotes or otherwise endorses any third-party products, business relationships, services, causes, campaigns, websites, content, or information. Any links to any portion of the ABA Sites shall be the responsibility of the linking party. ABA reserves the right to require any linking party to disable or remove any link that violates ABA's policies, rights, or causes interruption or deterioration of ABA Content.

Sharing of Content. You may download, copy, or embed ABA Content and other downloadable items displayed on the ABA Sites for personal use only, provided that you maintain all copyright and other notices contained therein. Copying or storing of any ABA Content for any purpose other than personal use is expressly prohibited without prior written permission from the ABA. To request this permission, please complete the Copyright Reprint Permission Request Form or contact the copyright holder identified in the copyright notice contained in the ABA Content. ABA reserves the right to require any party sharing ABA content to disable or remove the content should its use violate ABA's policies, rights, or cause interruption or deterioration of ABA Content.

18. Warranties Disclaimed. The ABA Sites and ABA Content are provided "as is" and "as available." Neither ABA, its affiliates, subsidiaries, employees, officers, members, or trustees nor any of its agents, representatives, suppliers, advertisers, contractors, promotional partners, or licensors (collectively "ABA Parties") provide any express or implied representation or warranty of any kind, including without limitation, any representation or warranty that (i) the ABA Sites or ABA Content, or any results that may be obtained by you, are complete, accurate, reliable or non-infringing; (ii) access to the ABA Sites will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error free; (iii) the quality of any products, services, information or other material purchased or obtained by you through the ABA Sites will meet your expectations; or (iv) ABA Content will remain unchanged or accessible on the ABA Sites. All warranties, express or implied, are disclaimed to the fullest extent permitted by law including, without limitation, any warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and/or non-infringement of intellectual property. You understand and acknowledge that your sole and exclusive remedy with respect to any defect in or dissatisfaction with the ABA Sites or ABA Content is to cease using the ABA Sites and ABA Content.

19. Exclusion of and Limitation of Liability. The ABA Parties shall not be liable, and disclaim any liability, for any claim, loss or damage, direct or indirect, including, without limitation, compensatory, consequential, incidental, indirect, special, exemplary or punitive damages of any kind whatsoever in connection with, as a result of, or arising (i) out of the use of or inability to use the ABA Sites and/or any ABA Content; (ii) from any interruption in the availability of the ABA Sites and/or ABA Content; (iii) from any loss of data and/or from any equipment failure; (iv) out of the procurement of substitute goods or services resulting from any problems with the goods, content and/or services purchased or obtained from the ABA Sites, or transactions entered into, through or from the ABA Sites; (v) from unauthorized access to or alteration of your transmissions or data; (vi) from statements or conduct of any third party on the ABA Sites; (vii) from any delay or failure of the ABA Sites arising out of causes beyond ABA’s control; (viii) out of the use of, reference to, or reliance on, the ABA Content; (ix) out of any third party materials, information, products and services contained on, or accessed through, the ABA Sites (x) out of any content, materials, accuracy of information, and/or quality of the products, services or materials provided by or advertised on third party websites; or (xi) out of any other matter relating to the ABA Sites or ABA Content.

20. Exclusions permitted by law. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or conditions or the limitation or exclusion of liability for loss or damage caused by negligence, breach of contract or breach of implied terms, or incidental or consequential damages. Accordingly, only the above limitations in Sections 18 and 19 that are lawful in your jurisdiction will apply to you and ABA's liability will be limited to the maximum extent permitted by law.

21. Indemnification. To the fullest extent permitted by law, you shall defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the ABA Parties from and against all claims arising from or in any way related to your use of the ABA Sites and/or ABA Content, a violation by you of these Terms of Use or the ABA Code of Conduct, or any other actions connected with your use of the ABA Sites and/or ABA Content, including any liability or expense, losses, damages (actual and consequential), suits, judgments, litigation costs and attorneys’ fees. ABA will provide prompt written notice of any such claims, but failure to provide such notice will not release you from any of your obligations pursuant to this Section except to the extent that you are actually prejudiced by such failure, and will not relieve you from any other liability that you may have to the ABA Parties other than under this Section.

22. Term and Termination. These Terms of Use will take effect at the time you begin using the ABA Sites. The ABA reserves the right, with or without notice, at any time, and for any reason to deny you access to the ABA Sites or to any portion thereof, and to terminate these Terms of Use. These Terms of Use will terminate automatically if you fail to comply with the terms set forth herein. You may terminate these Terms of Use at any time by ceasing to use the ABA Sites, but all applicable provisions of these Terms of Use will survive such termination. Upon termination, you must destroy all copies of any portion of the ABA Sites, including any ABA Content, in your possession.

23. Arbitration; Venue. Any controversy or claim (“Claim") you have arising out of or relating to these Terms of Use shall be resolved by a single impartial arbitrator pursuant to proceedings administered by the American Arbitration Association under its rules for resolution of commercial disputes. Any such Claim shall be brought solely by you as an individual and not as part of, or as a representative of, a class. The arbitration shall be held in Washington, DC. All submissions to the arbitrator, the proceedings and the award shall be confidential. The arbitration shall be conducted on an expedited basis with minimal discovery. The arbitrator’s award shall be final and binding. The courts of the District of Columbia and/or the United States District Court for the District of Columbia shall have exclusive jurisdiction and venue over (i) any action concerning the enforcement of an arbitration award, or (ii) if arbitration is not permitted by law, then any Claim you have arising out of or relating to these Terms of Use. You agree to unconditionally and irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of such courts and you will not object to such jurisdiction and venue on the grounds of lack of personal jurisdiction, inconvenient forum or otherwise. EACH PARTY IRREVOCABLY WAIVES ANY AND ALL RIGHT TO TRIAL BY JURY IN ANY LEGAL PROCEEDING ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THESE TERMS OF USE. ABA reserves all rights and remedies available to it, in law or equity, with respect to any matter relating to these Terms of Use.

Neither party consents or agrees to any arbitration on a class or representative basis, and the arbitrator shall have no authority to proceed with an arbitration on a class or representative basis. No arbitration will be consolidated with any other arbitration proceeding without the consent of all parties. Any claim or controversy as to the enforceability of this arbitration provision’s restriction on your right to participate in or pursue a class action or class-wide arbitration shall be brought only in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia or any State of court located in Washington, DC.

24. Governing Law. These Terms of Use and all matters regarding your use of the ABA Sites shall be governed by, construed in accordance with, and enforced under the laws of the State of applicable to contracts made and executed and wholly performed in the District of Columbia, without regard to choice of law principles. Neither the Uniform Computer Information Transaction Act nor the United Nations Convention on Contracts for International Sale of Goods apply and their applicability is expressly excluded. Printed copies of any and all agreements and/or notices in electronic form shall be admissible in any legal, investigative or regulatory proceedings.

25. Waiver and Severability. The failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision in these Terms of Use shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of these Terms of Use is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, such provision shall be enforced to the fullest extent of the law, and all other provisions shall remain in full force and effect.

26. Complete Agreement. These Terms of Use, together with any revision, any Additional Terms or Conditions incorporated by reference, and any Click-through Agreements, constitutes the entire agreement between you and the relating to the ABA Sites and its use by you, and supersedes any previous written or oral communication regarding use of the ABA Sites.

27. Statute of Limitations. Regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to your use of the ABA Sites must be filed by you within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.

28. Use of Websites and Content outside of the United States. ABA makes no claims regarding access or use of the ABA Sites or the ABA Content outside of the United States. If you use or access the ABA Sites or the ABA Content outside of the United States, you do so at your own risk and are responsible for compliance with the laws and regulations of your jurisdiction as well as these Terms of Use.

29. Social Media Non-Endorsement. ABA provides opportunities for user interaction within its ABA Sites and on its social media profiles on sites such as Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), LinkedIn, Instagram, and other sites/platforms. On those social media accounts, content and links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the organizations, entities, views, or content contained therein. ABA is not responsible for content or links posted by others.

30. Contact Information. If you have any questions or concerns regarding these Terms of Use or the ABA Sites, please visit our Contact Us page.

This Terms of Use is subject to amendment or modification at any time.