Main Street Matters Blog

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

As ICBA’s Executive Brief on digital wallets demonstrated, consumer use of digital payments technology is increasing due to the convenience and speed these options offers. The same rings true when exploring digital payments apps.

Innovators see the world not as it is today but how it can be, which is why ICBA has pledged a three-year commitment to its ThinkTECH Accelerator program--to help community banks foster innovation and address their customers' evolving payment needs.

Launching a new lending initiative during a pandemic was a challenge in itself, but add in closed branches, remote customers, and government provisions, and community banks faced a trifecta of issues in entering this brave new world of lending.

During the pandemic, three types of attacks and scams have risen sharply, and bankers should anticipate seeing more of these threats throughout the pandemic’s duration. This blog explains them and how you can protect your community bank.

With the pandemic representing a turning point in payments, community banks must take steps now to embrace digital channels without sacrificing the personal support customers expect from their community bank relationship.

Necessity truly is the mother of invention. Community banks have all felt that over the past few weeks as they’ve implemented new innovations in response to the Paycheck Protection Program. But now we’ve moved into phase two: servicing these loans, which presents a new set of challenges.

Community banks had to beef up what they had in place and get creative to adequately address how to serve their customers amid a shutdown. And as the pandemic’s reach expanded, so too did the need to highlight the utility and usage of their digital offerings.

The day-to-day workings of a bank do not cease simply because so many new challenges — thanks to COVID-19 — are coming our way. In fact, with customers more concerned than ever about their financial situations, community banks can and have been a primary source of assurance and comfort.