Information Technology Certification and Training

The improper handling of Death Notification Entries (DNE), Government Reclamations, and Garnishments can expose financial institutions to potential significant dollar losses. This session will cover the proper procedures for handling ACH Government Reclamations and the garnishment of accounts receiving federal government ACH benefit payments.

Hear from several ag tech solutions providers during this quick-hitting, 2-hour session to learn how they can help your bank keep pace with the competition. See five-minute pitches with five minutes of Q&A from our esteemed banker panel as they help distill the value these partners can bring to your bank.

ICBA Members: Free to ICBA Members

Faster payments are happening. Don’t get left behind. Hear from several faster payment solutions during this quick-hitting, 90-minute session to learn how they can help your bank keep pace with the competition.

ICBA Members: Free to ICBA Members

Learn the framework for assessing and managing credit risk. Throughout this newly updated six-part series, we address financial statement analysis, qualitative analysis, cash flow, proper credit structure, and discuss best practices for managing the credit risk of your credit portfolio.

Managing credit risk does not stop at closing, it is only beginning. By staying close to your client, inspecting what you expect and working to solve their problems, you will enhance the relationship.

Bankers are not order takers. We add value by solving our clients' problems. Fully analyzing the loan request and recognizing that each request starts with a cash shortfall is crucial.

A term loan request requires multiple layers of analysis by the banker to properly assess the repayment viability of the borrower. It is more than just adherence to credit policy. Understanding that today’s loan is repaid with tomorrow’s cash is critical. This requires a keen recognition of how the self-liquidating asset should work.

In assessing a line of credit loan request the banker must understand where the repayment is coming from. This requires identifying the cause of the cash shortfall as well as the characteristics of the self-liquidating asset that will repay the loan.

The risks of a line of credit are not in the financial statements, but in the reasons for how the financial statements appear. We receive an excessive quantity of numbers in financial statements. However, it is actually the events that produce the numbers that contain the risks.

To properly assess the risks associated with loan repayment, we need to understand how the business has performed over the past several periods. This is called trending. The data needed for this process is several years of financial statements, also known as the borrower’s story about how they have managed their business activities.

Discover negotiation strategies that will lead to success and influence in your job. These skills can easily transfer to other areas of your life. Learn how to strategically ask for what you want; prioritize what you want before asking; be clear as to why you want/need what you are asking for; and successfully close a negotiation. 

Many institutions invested heavily in developing and implementing a new, compliant reserve methodology. These new models are more complex than their predecessors by not only having more quantitative calculations and assumptions, but also requiring more education and oversight by management.

During this 60-minute webinar, examine the current regulatory priorities in safety and soundness. The speaker will describe how to mitigate risk associated with those priorities and stay ahead of regulatory hot buttons in exams and in transactions.

This webinar answers common questions such as: What is Fair Banking? Is it the same as Fair Lending? What does it have to do with Marketing? Learn more about Fair Banking or what some call “Fair and Responsible Banking.”

Regulation E protects consumers from unauthorized electronic funds transfers (EFTs). The regulation establishes the rights and liabilities of consumers and financial institutions regarding these unauthorized EFTs.

Emerging threats and financial crimes are presenting challenges to community banks’ BSA program. It’s important to stay informed and vigilant to protect your bank and its financial transactions. Dive into the hottest trends regarding BSA, discuss traditional scams and    emerging scams, and examine the new Beneficial Ownership Rule – what you need to know and how it affects community banks.

Knock out your annual training requirements in one 90-minute webinar! This webinar is for seasoned bankers and senior staff. You’ve trained for years in these areas, now let us walk you through this refresher to meet all the annual requirements that will have you back in your routine in just 90 minutes. 

Many community bank holding companies use share repurchase transactions as the primary avenue of liquidity for their common stock. These types of transactions have  myriad considerations, including those related to program structure, pricing, funding, regulatory, and corporate approvals.

New to IRAs? Prepare to build a foundation of the most common IRA transactions and rules. Learn the fundamentals of Traditional and Roth IRAs from contributions and distributions to portability—including the rules associated with rollovers between employer plans and IRAs.

The rules and regulations governing IRAs, HSAs, and other tax favored savings accounts are constantly evolving. This can prove to  be challenging to keep up with. Rely on our industry experts to bring you up to date on recently proposed legislation and regulatory changes that may affect your organization and your clients.

SECURE 2.0 contains significant changes for retirement plans, plan sponsors, and retirement plan providers. Review key provisions, identify what’s most relevant to your financial institution, and discover optimal timing of when your organization should be ready for change.

The National Labor Relations Board’s renewed interest in employee handbooks and related policies requires employers to be more vigilant than ever.  In this program, we will examine core policies that all institutions should include in their employee manuals, as well as those that may raise a red flag and approaches to avoid potential liability.

From remote work policies to higher salaries and demands for social justice work, the workplace has radically evolved since the pandemic. Join Jackson Lewis P.C. attorneys for a discussion on why employees are leaving their jobs, what employers can do to recruit and retain talent, and how to plan for potential RIFs.

Brokered deposits provide an important source of funding for community banks.  Recent changes to FDIC rules and guidance have offered clarity in certain areas of the brokered deposit regulatory regime while creating uncertainties in other areas. 

This program cover all the necessary steps your staff needs to sustain a safe workplace in your financial institution. Protect your people, prevent vulnerability, and reassure your customers that their money is safe.

With every loan request comes a plethora of numbers: financial statements, taxes, and various schedules. All this information, can cause many deals to quickly languish due to analysis paralysis.  

Building an accurate income assessment of a multiple entity borrower has always been challenging. Determining the cash generated by individual businesses while also understanding the condition of each borrower's holdings can be a struggle even with complete information.

Navigating tax returns has never been enjoyable. The complexity of the various forms, the flow of information, as well as the size of many borrowers' returns can be intimidating. This webinar will assist you in understanding the core information you need to accurately assess the cash income of your borrower. 

Learn how to develop a simple yet comprehensive Vendor Management Program based on best practices from the FFIEC IT Examination Handbook. Go beyond the basics, with a step-by-step analysis of guidance outlined in the OCC SR Letter 11-7 on Model Risk Management to understand how Vendor Management and Model Risk Management fit within your overall Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) program.

Nearly every sales, marketing, or promotion idea in banking today is influenced by emerging technologies and regulatory compliance. This places specific demands on how advertising, promotions, and relationship development activities are deployed by financial institutions. 

Prepare employees and managers to respond appropriately to an active shooter incident. Review concepts endorsed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and learn what to expect when law enforcement responds.

Every bank has three essential assets they should be managing. Like any asset within the organization, proactive management of each asset generates superior results. Among these essential assets we find a mix of employees, relationships, and the bank’s trade area reputation: all the ingredients necessary to attract and retain customers. 

Reg. O is an insider abuse regulation which draws significant regulatory attention and scrutiny in the best of times. Economic concerns related to inflation and high interest rates, among other matters, will increase the regulatory attention and scrutiny on these issues.

Inflation has dramatically changed stress testing. Liquidity, cost of funding, cap rates, appraisal evaluations, and other factors are changing the way capital adequacy is tested. Explore how banks think about such matters as well as what capital planning looks like today.

Elder Fraud is projected to be  one of the biggest growing segments of crime in our country! Criminals know who to target and have found ways to get close to control and exploit their victims. Learn how your bank can serve as the last line of defense to protect the criminals’ target, your account holders!   

Welcome to banking! There is hardly a vocation that touches more lives than the finance industry. To fully realize what we do, one needs to understand the banking industry.

Commercial lending is one of the most challenging aspects of banking. You must have a good understanding of your borrower, the reason for the financing request, as well as how to accurately assess the repayment source. Explore various industries that you will work with, sources of cash shortfall, analyzing financial statements, using the right structure, negotiations as well as after closing monitoring. 

Presenting before your credit committee does not have to be a daunting task. All strong credit committee presentations begin with a comprehensive write-up. You need to understand the reason for the borrower's cash shortfall, the self-liquidating asset that will repay the financing, as well as the risks that are central to the repayment capability.

No credit committee wants to read an epic non-fiction piece of work. The key to effective credit write ups is to focus on the core key risks of the credit. Each credit request begins with a problem: the borrower has a cash shortfall. As a banker your role is to uncover the source of the cash shortfall and understand the characteristics of how the self-liquidating asset will repay the debt. 

Attend the ICBA’s Quarterly Regulatory Compliance Webinars for the very latest regulatory compliance guidance, upcoming deadlines, resources, and more.

The aftermath of the pandemic, new and emerging technologies, evolving consumer preferences and other market shifts highlight the need for community banks to develop a strategic plan that is fluid.

Review the primary Treasury Management services available in the market. Learn about strategies to offer the right Treasury Management services your business customers need, based on the value these services provide to businesses. 

Every company, regardless of industry, is trying to figure out how to attract and retain the right talent. Organizations are also striving to achieve their goals and fulfill the vision described in their strategic plan. But how do you achieve all — attracting and retaining talent while achieving your objectives and fulfilling your vision?

Attend the ICBA’s Quarterly Regulatory Compliance Webinars for the very latest regulatory compliance guidance, upcoming deadlines, resources, and more.

Every company, regardless of industry, is trying to figure out how to attract and retain the right talent. Organizations are also striving to achieve their goals and fulfill the vision described in their strategic plan. But how do you achieve all — attracting and retaining talent while achieving your objectives and fulfilling your vision?

Community banks are well accustomed to operating subject to an ever-evolving set of standards imposed by their regulatory agencies. One area that has undergone significant changes is the expenses incurred by community banks. 

Over the last decade, one of the most significant challenges facing community banks has been attracting and retaining new directors and banking talent.

The FedNow Service is a new instant payment service from Federal Reserve that will enable financial institutions of every size, and in every community across the U.S., to provide safe and efficient instant payment services in real time, around the clock, every day of the year.

Many community banks are contemplating the future of digital assets and the role they will play in the financial services industry. The various possibilities and issues related to virtual currencies, non-fungible tokens, and other digital assets are endless.

How prepared is your financial institution for internal theft and fraud? Review what every Security Officer should know to combat internal fraud. Discover where the internal thief will spend the stolen funds and how they keep their stealing from being found. 

Learn how to switch from having a static Business Continuity Plan (BCP) to an ongoing dynamic Business Continuity Management (BCM) system and how to integrate it into your Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Program. 

Domestic abuse is not a crime that can  be ignored by the victim’s employer. Employers must recognize that personal, real-life problems affect job performance and job performance affects the bottom line. Nearly 1/3 of women in this country claim to have been the victims of physical or sexual abuse. 

As banks risk rate clients, banks are also being risk rated under the CAMELS system. Understanding how the examiners will be reviewing bank performance is important for bankers to prepare for their next exam.

When it comes to lending on commercial real estate, rent rolls and cash flow are just the tip of the iceberg. With the real estate market undergoing significant upheaval, whether it's owner-occupied, investment, or development, it's essential to know what to look for in terms of credit risk. This webinar aims to help you avoid headaches and losses in the future.

Strategic planning is an essential aspect of every community bank’s operations. Its importance becomes more apparent when community banks face challenges such as the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and present economic struggles.

Are you creating your first ERM Program for your bank? Do you want to ensure your current program is complete yet keep it simple? If yes to either question this webinar is for you!

Attend ICBA’s Quarterly Regulatory Compliance Webinars for the very latest regulatory compliance guidance, upcoming deadlines, resources, and more.

Banks are committed to serving the families and businesses in their communities and proudly supply the financial products and services that provide important economic opportunities for individuals, families, and small business owners. It follows that banks support fair, objective, and transparent enforcement of civil rights and fair lending laws. However, we cannot support the CFPB's recent actions, taken without legislative authority, to extend fair lending laws beyond the bounds carefully set by Congress.

Ultimately, tax and regulatory reform will determine the character of American economic life in future generations. A tax and regulatory system that promotes consolidation, implicitly or explicitly, not only in the financial industry but also across the economy, will result in fewer and larger businesses, less consumer choice and commodified product offerings. Local businesses, decision making and values will continue to be displaced by nationally-owned corporations that are remote from individual communities.

Commerce based on one-off transactions will displace relationship-based partnerships. Tax reform, accomplished thoughtfully and in conjunction with regulatory reform, could help to thwart these trends and preserve and strengthen local businesses and communities

Community banks have served as America’s engines of local economic growth since our nation’s founding, and the United States remains the only country in the world served by a broadly based, vibrant community banking sector. As our economy and financial system continue to evolve, community banking must be preserved and strengthened. The empowerment of community banks is a sure route to rekindling America’s economic vitality.

Today we have an opportunity to comprehensively rethink, restructure, and modernize the regulation of the American financial services industry to ensure that it promotes economic growth, prosperity, and job creation. Regulatory relief for community banks is a critical part of this effort. The purpose of this paper is to describe what is unique about American community banks, survey the regulatory environment in which they operate, identify regulatory barriers, and recommend solutions that will allow them to serve as engines of economic growth and prosperity for generations to come

In September 2008, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and the Treasury Department placed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs) into conservatorship. Described at the time to the public as a temporary “time out” to allow both companies to stabilize, the plan of those policymakers who put the GSEs into conservatorship was to release both institutions from this “time out” once they were financially sound again. More than eight years have passed, and a third administration has inherited these conservatorships.

Unfortunately, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have less capital today than when they were placed under control of their regulator and the Treasury. Yet, both companies have returned to profitability and have worked through the majority of their defaulted loans, all while continuing to provide the liquidity to the housing market that’s been critical for its recovery from the worst recession in more than 80 years

Community banks are, and always have been, innovators focused on the prosperity of the customers and local communities they serve. Community banks are not strangers to change. For more than 150 years, community banks have evolved in step with the technological changes occurring within the financial services industry

With customer preferences changing at an expeditious rate and expectations from users for a seamless omni-channel experience on the rise, disruption is occurring within numerous industries including financial services. The latest wave of rapid transformation is bringing financial technology or fintech to the forefront of the financial services conversation.

The farm bill plays an important role in stabilizing our nation’s farmers and ranchers, assisting many rural communities, and meeting the nutritional needs of millions of lower-income Americans. Thousands of community banks and their agricultural and rural customers are also significantly affected by farm bill policies. This white paper outlines important policies and solutions to ensure the new farm bill allows community banks to continue meeting the needs of farmers, ranchers and others in rural America.

In today’s world, it is imperative that financial institutions, law enforcement, and our government work together to combat and prevent financial crime, money laundering, and terrorist financing. Community bankers are committed to supporting balanced, effective measures that will prevent terrorists from using the financial system to fund their operations and prevent money launderers from hiding the proceeds of criminal activities.

However, anti-money laundering/combatting the financing of terrorism and Bank Secrecy Act compliance programs consume a growing share of community banks’ scarce resources.

The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) commends the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP) for initiating a wholistic review of its operations, and inviting dialogue and the pursuit of innovation through the publication of 12 requests for information (RFI).

ICBA responded to each RFI with the hope that the bureau uses the comments to reorient itself and focus on what it was intended to accomplish: facilitating greater consumer choice and efficient markets, while still vigorously enforcing consumer financial law in a way that guarantees due process. This paper is a summary of ICBA’s response to each RFI.

Credit unions have fallen short in fulfilling the terms of their original mandate, which once warranted a lucrative tax subsidy. This sentiment is felt by many individuals and organizations across the financial services industry but has failed to reach Washington policymakers in the form of equitable policy resolutions that persuade credit unions to return to their governing principles.

Credit unions were not intended to act as an alternative to banks but to complement their activities through offering safe and subsidized financial services to a specific clientele of financially underserved individuals.

Instead, credit unions have deviated from this mandate by competing for the same customers as regular for-profit banks at the expense of these vulnerable communities while engaging in high-risk operating practices that have etched away at their once distinctive niche in the world of financial services.

If credit unions cannot abide by their original mandate deserving of a tax subsidy, then taxpayers are financing an unequal playing field that leaves behind the financially underserved, cheats federal and state tax authorities, and unfairly disadvantages legitimate for-profit institutions like community banks.

ICBA urges Congress to pass an amendment to the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 to permanently close the ILC loophole, just as Congress has closed past banking loopholes that threatened to undermine consolidated supervision and the separation of banking and commerce

The 2022 Crowe Bank Compensation and Benefits Survey provides salary and bonus benchmarks for 271 job positions as well as information regarding employee benefits, incentives, director compensation, and current trends in key human capital management practices.

Approximately 6 percent of Americans are unbanked,1 having no relationship with a bank, and an additional 16 percent are underbanked having used some form of alternative financial service. In this white paper we'll discuss how community banks can close the gap between consumers and the services they need.

This white paper demonstrates that community banks are experts at monitoring the risk of their lending and investment portfolios and do not need more regulation to manage their potential climate risks.

ICBA will oppose any climate risk regulation that adversely impacts community banks and their ability to support their communities and customers.

A community bank’s core processor should be a strategic partner that supports the bank’s long-term business objectives.

The ICBA Core Processor Resource Guide will help community banks with some of the more important aspects of managing this relationship to maximize the return on their technology investments.