Information Technology Certification and Training

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

FREE for members

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

FREE for members

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

FREE for members

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.

FREE for members

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.

FREE for members

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.

FREE for members

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.

FREE for members

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.

FREE for members

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

FREE for members

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.

ICBA has brought together a panel of industry experts from the Federal Reserve and the Bank for International Settlements to define CBDC and provide sought after answers. Recorded Oct. 26

ICBA Members: $99
Nonmembers: $199
Unlimited Webinar Pass subscription: $0

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.

FREE for members

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.

FREE for members

Explore the use and business case for crypto, how crypto can help you acquire new customers and deepen your relationships plus an overview on the future of cryptocurrency. Recorded May 14, 2021

ICBA Members: $219
Nonmembers: $319
Unlimited Webinar Pass subscription: $0

Recorded April 22, 2021

ICBA Members: $219
Nonmembers: $319
Unlimited Webinar Pass subscription: $0

ICBA Member - $180.00
Non-Member - $200.00

ICBA Member - $355.50
Non-Member - $395.00

ICBA Members: $219
Non-Members: $319

The demand for a focused and smart understanding of cyber risks is mission-critical for community bank leaders today. In this rapidly-changing cyber environment, leaders must be able to effectively manage a bank’s cyber strategy while providing for uninterrupted products and service to customers.

ICBA Members: $219
Non-Members: $319

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.

FREE for members