The Academy aims to be recognised as the premier educational and professional body for retail banking worldwide.

We believe that retail banking should be a recognised profession like accountancy and law. We are committed to:

• Making the Certified International Retail Banker qualification (CIRB) the recognised standard for professional retail bankers worldwide
• Thought leadership and research
• Having a global reach and the infrastructure to support it
• Being the voice of the profession
• Working in alliance with the retail banking industry
• Working closely with our members and students through fraternity and alumni networks, including an annual conference

Demand for structured education for professionals in the retail banking industry has been a lively topic of discussion at Lafferty Council meetings and conferences as far back as the 1980s.

The anomaly of having a vast, global industry handling the finances of the world’s banked population without formal professional education came to a head as the global financial crisis swept across the globe in 2008. Soon regulators, central banks, politicians and the public at large were calling for retail banking practices to be reformed and for the ring-fencing of retail banking activities within universal banks.

Lafferty Group decided that it could make a contribution. With the help of like-minded retail bankers around the world the concept of an International Academy of Retail Banking emerged, a curriculum was developed, textbooks were commissioned, and pilot programmes were launched. Retail banks all over the world were keen to talk.

The academy activities were transferred to a dedicated company in June 2012 with a board of directors consisting of:

• Dick Harryvan, former CEO of ING Direct, Amsterdam – as Co-Chairman
• Dr. Abdul Rahman, Professor of Finance at Ottawa University in Montreal – as Academic Director
• Michael Lafferty, chairman of Lafferty Group – as Co-chairman
• Evelyn Hunter-Jordan, general manager of Lafferty Group, as Executive Director

The Lafferty name has been synonymous with retail banking for 31 years - ever since Michael Lafferty left the Financial Times in London as banking correspondent to embark on the development of an organisation primarily focused on the provision of knowledge services to the retail banking and consumer financial services industries worldwide.

Lafferty Group, which started out publishing newsletters and reports and organising training seminars and conferences, is today an advanced knowledge group of companies providing education, councils, industry intelligence and benchmarking research on some 70 countries, in the fields of retail banking and cards and payments.

Retail bankers who have successfully completed their studies via the standard or honorary curriculum and passed the Expert examination of the Academy will become members of the International Academy of Retail Banking and become entitled to use the designation CIRB - certified international retail banker.

All IARB members will receive the following membership benefits:

1. A monthly briefing on key industry developments
2. Bi-monthly member conference calls where major industry issues will be discussed and debated
3. The annual IARB Retail Banking Yearbook
4. Access to the IARB secretariat for guidance on professional issues and career development