Consumer & Business Response

Disasters are unpredictable and can be devastating to a community. But there is a lot your bank can do to help prepare your customers for these events.

Help Consumers Prepare for a Natural Disaster

Disasters are unpredictable and can be devastating to a community. But there is a lot your bank can do to help prepare your customers for these events.

Share these tips:

  • Store important documents such as proof of identity, property ownership, insurance policies, bank and investment account information, and three years of tax returns in a bank safe-deposit box. Encase these items in plastic bags to prevent moisture.
  • Prepare additional copies of critical documents such as birth certificates, adoption papers, marriage licenses and the deed to your home for safekeeping and inform a trustee, relative or attorney of their location.
  • Print out key contact information for executors, trustees and guardians and store it in a secure location, either in your safe-deposit box or with a close relative.
  • Inventory personal and household valuables (take photos and keep receipts) to help evaluate replacement costs.
  • Include surplus cash, preferably small bills, in your home emergency kit. The kit should also include a three-day supply of food and water, a first aid kit, can opener, radio, flashlights and batteries.
  • Create digital copies, which can serve as a supplement or backup to paper documents.  Scanned or electronic documents can be uploaded with secure online backup services.
  • Contact your insurance agent or visit the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s website to determine if a flood insurance policy is right for you.

Agencies respond to ICBA push on asset thresholds

Nov. 23, 2020

Federal regulators announced ICBA-advocated relief from regulatory burdens caused by participating in federal coronavirus response programs.

Under the interim final rule, community banks that have crossed certain regulatory asset thresholds will be able to calculate their asset size during calendar years 2020 and 2021 based on the lower of either total assets as of Dec. 31, 2019, or total assets as of the normal measurement date.

The rule applies to the community bank leverage ratio, the Fed’s debit card interchange and routing rule, management interlocks, call reports, examination frequency rules, the Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement, and other thresholds. It applies to institutions with less than $10 billion in total assets as of Dec. 31, 2019.

ICBA has told policymakers since August that the surge of PPP loans has swelled community banks' balance sheets, inadvertently subjecting them to additional regulatory burdens.

Meanwhile, ICBA continues encouraging community bankers to keep urging Congress to include needed PPP and other reforms in the next economic stimulus package.