Main Street Matters Blog

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

With U.S. consumers paying approximately 15 billion bills valued at $4 trillion annually, nearly 30 percent of all consumer spending comes in the form of bill payment. This market presents significant opportunities for community banks.

Crisis response is not a new concept for community banks that have weathered economic recessions, natural and man-made disasters, and previous pandemics—all of which presented unique challenges that tested the industry’s resiliency and provided valuable lessons