By Andia Dinesen
In 2019, when the Veterans Benefits Banking Program was created, we never conceived it would grow to be what it is today. The VBBP is a partnership between the Department of Veterans Affairs/Veterans Benefits Administration and the Association of Military Banks of America.
The VBBP launched with verbal commitments from four AMBA member banks to offer checking accounts with no minimum balances and no monthly maintenance fees to veterans who brought their VA benefits via direct deposit. In 2025, the program has grown to over 125 financial institutions offering these accounts to not only veterans, but also survivors, VA beneficiaries and caregivers (more commonly grouped together, we call them VA benefit recipients). The program has been credited with converting over 500,000 VA benefit recipients to direct deposit.
This is not all the VBBP has accomplished. In 2022, about 20 months after the program launched, the program started offering one free financial or credit counseling session by Accredited Financial Counselors and Certified Credit Counselors through nonprofit partners. At the same time, a program called VetCents was launched. Relaunched and refreshed in late 2023, VetCents became a tailored financial journey for every user and now also provides VA beneficiaries with personalized information about VA benefits they may qualify for.
More than 1,400 veterans and their families have used the free financial and credit counseling, with that number growing every day. VetCents also has more than 1,750 users since November 2023 providing personalized financial information to Veterans and their families.
What’s more, AMBA and the VA worked together with federal financial regulators in late 2024 to create guidance on how banks can leverage their participation in the VBBP to earn Community Reinvestment Act credit.
If your bank is already participating in the VBBP, please check out the Organizational Resources page on the VBBP website, veteransbenefitsbanking.org, to find the CRA flyer and more information.
AMBA is proud to partner with the ABA Foundation to recruit banks to provide our nation’s veterans access to safe, reliable and flexible financial products and services. To find out more about how to participate in the Veterans Benefits Banking Program, please visit aba.com/foundation.
Andia Dinesen is COO of the Association of Military Banks of America.
Additional helpful links:
- Association of Military Banks of America, ambahq.org/Veterans
- Benefits Banking Program, veteransbenefitsbanking.org
- Department of Veterans Affairs/Veterans Benefits Administration, benefits.va.gov/benefits/banking.asp
