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Main Street Matters Blog

Find out what's happening in communities across America, from grassroots advocacy efforts, to fintech innovations and everyday successes of Main Street banks.

Main Street Matters

SimplyBank’s Take on Fostering Community Bank Innovation

Aug 25, 2020
In an environment where innovation needs to be continual, how can community banks succeed? Blake Swafford, senior innovation officer at SimplyBank, sums it up well. “It’s about being really committed to innovation."

Continuing the ThinkTECH Accelerator Journey

Aug 21, 2020
Growth is the synthesis of change and continuity, which is why we recently kicked off its application period for our third ICBA ThinkTECH Accelerator cohort--to maintain the program's momentum and ongoing quest to identify technology solutions that solve for community bank pain points.

Brave New Housing Market: Challenges and Opportunities for Community Banks

Aug 18, 2020
While policymakers continue debating new approaches to mitigate the coronavirus' ongoing impact, one issue has attracted newfound scrutiny as the pandemic’s economic consequences unfold: How will these financial pressures affect the U.S. housing market?

When Fintech Meets Regtech

Aug 12, 2020
Unless you have been living on a desert island for the past few years, you would be hard-pressed to miss the technological revolution that is sweeping our nation’s financial system and the larger global economy.

7 Tips for Mitigating Synthetic Identity Fraud Risk

Aug 11, 2020
Catching synthetic identity fraudsters remains difficult, and the fall-out of not detecting it, is substantial. AI company Coalesce estimates that synthetic identities account for more than 20 percent of losses in a loan portfolio, and for credit, they average 4.6 times the typical loss.

Strengthening Small-Business Relationships with Payments

Aug 5, 2020
Community banks have long served the small-business market, but given the pandemic impact, new opportunities have emerged to support these customers’ payments needs and address areas of friction.

Customer Data Sharing: What you (and your customers) should know

Jul 28, 2020
When I think about customer-permissioned data sharing, I am reminded of the scene from the movie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off where Ferris and his best friend, Cameron, leave the keys to a Ferrari with an attendant only to discover later that the valet has taken the luxury sports car out for a joy-ride.

When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Lending

Jul 22, 2020
Well before coronavirus saturated our headlines, community banks accounted for 60 percent of small-business lending, served 58 percent of small businesses nationwide as their primary lender, and lent over $1.5 trillion to small businesses in 2019 alone.

Falls Fintech: A Case Study in Launching a Bank-Based Accelerator

Jul 20, 2020
Central Payments, the payments arm of the $238 million-asset Central Bank of Kansas City (CBKC) never imagined that a few days into their Falls Fintech accelerator program, they’d have to transition to a fully virtual experience. But due to COVID-19, that’s exactly what happened.

Stats Offer Perspective on Community Bank PPP Loan Impact

Jul 17, 2020
It’s no surprise that community banks have been financial first responders during the coronavirus pandemic. Their mission, vision and commitment to community is well-known, but research reveals the true extent of their impact.