Wisconsin Bankers Foundation Recognizes Financial Education Initiative of
Wolf River Community Bank
MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Bankers Foundation (WBF) has named Wolf River Community Bank the recipient of the 2025 WBF Financial Education Innovation Award, recognizing the bank’s humorous and highly effective fraud education video series, Spencer’s 2¢. The award was presented February 5, 2026 during the Wisconsin Bankers Association (WBA) Bank Executives Conference in Wisconsin Dells.
“Innovation in financial education is all about how well people remember and act on information,” said Rose Oswald Poels, WBF chair, treasurer, and executive director. “Wolf River Community Bank found a creative way to break through the noise by using humor and storytelling to help people recognize scams.”
At the center of the program is Spencer’s 2¢, a short-form video series led by a Wolf River Community Bank electronic banking specialist who delivers fraud prevention tips through deadpan humor, cartoon visuals, and quippy storytelling. Each episode focuses on a single scam — including phishing, spoofing, and catfishing — using playful props and imagery to simplify fraud tactics without minimizing the devastation they can cause. Spencer’s straight-faced delivery, practical tips, and signature line — “And that’s my two cents!” — resonate with fellow 20-somethings and senior customers alike.
The WBF Financial Education Innovation Award is a prestigious category of the WBF Excellence in Financial Education Awards. Submissions for the 2025 WBF Excellence in Financial Education Awards encompassed over 1,340 financial education presentations — including Teach Children to Save Day presentations, homeownership workshops, and elder financial abuse prevention seminars, among other initiatives — given by more than 450 Wisconsin bank employees, reaching approximately 40,000 Wisconsin community members.
