Washington, D.C. (Dec. 15, 2024) — The Independent Community Bankers of America® (ICBA) hosted its first ThinkTECH Connect event, an ICBA event showcasing rapid-fire pitches from 10 emerging fintechs that address community bank pain points and business opportunities.

As part of the highly competitive selection process for the ICBA ThinkTECH Accelerator, hundreds of innovative offerings are considered. Yesterday’s ThinkTECH Connect event offered a preview of solutions under consideration for ICBA innovation programming designed to gauge their market readiness for community bank consumption.

“A key component of ICBA’s mission to create and promote an environment where community banks flourish is listening to our members and responding with appropriate solutions that can solve for the needs and challenges critical to their businesses today,” ICBA Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer Charles Potts said. “Programs like ThinkTECH Connect, our ThinkTECH Accelerator and targeted Solutions Forums provide community bankers with the knowledge, tools and partnerships they need to remain innovative and keep up with the evolving banking landscape.”

In addition to the ThinkTECH Accelerator and ThinkTECH Connect, ICBA has continued to expand its innovation programming with its series of Solutions Forums. These member-exclusive events feature presentations from select providers followed by an informative Q&A from a panel of community bankers. Previous sessions have focused on such topics as Ag Tech, faster payments, and last week’s session on fraud. This informative and timely event featured an impressive line-up, including banker panelists:

• Josh Hofer, chief risk & information security officer at $2.7 billion-asset Stearns Bank in Saint Cloud, Minn.

• Shon Myers, president & CEO of $278 million-asset Farmers & Merchants Bank in Miamisburg, Ohio

• Greg Ohlendorf, president & CEO of $191 million-asset First Community Bank and Trust in Beecher. Ill.

And presenting solutions providers:

• Adlumin Inc. (an ICBA Preferred Service Provider (“PSP”) and ThinkTECH alumni)

• DataSeers

• Effectiv (a Corporate Member)

• FiVerity

• Q6 Cyber

• Jack Henry (a PSP)

• Simplici

• Trust Stamp (part of the AP6 cohort)

Solutions Forum topics are based on community banker feedback and provide additional exposure to promising solutions beyond the accelerator. Fintech companies interested in participating in future innovation programming can apply now for consideration.

Recently announced, the sixth ICBA ThinkTECH Accelerator program (AP6), kicks off Jan. 8, and will feature solutions related to analytics, automation and compliance. The programming has been expanded to include both group as well as one-on-one bank cohort visits, and will include a showcase of the refined solutions during ICBA LIVE in Orlando, Fla. in March 2024.

For more information about ICBA ThinkTECH Innovation programming and upcoming opportunities, please visit icba.org/innovation.

About ICBA

The Independent Community Bankers of America® has one mission: to create and promote an environment where community banks flourish. We power the potential of the nation’s community banks through effective advocacy, education, and innovation.

As local and trusted sources of credit, America’s community banks leverage their relationship-based business model and innovative offerings to channel deposits into the neighborhoods they serve, creating jobs, fostering economic prosperity, and fueling their customers’ financial goals and dreams. For more information, visit ICBA’s website at icba.org.

###