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ICBA Research Reveals Characteristics of Today’s Community Bank Customers
he actions and activities of customers you have known have evolved, and potential new customers are now seeking different products and services than they would have just two years ago.
Three Proven Factors in Fintech Success with Community Banks
In this latest blog, ICBA senior vice president and chief innovation officer Charles Potts, writes about the key factors that lead fintechs to success in the community banking space.
IRS Reporting Grassroots Campaign Evolves with Congressional Debate
ICBA’s campaign against Washington’s IRS reporting proposal helped consumers speak out against the plan. As the debate evolves, the campaign now demands that community bankers increase their outreach.
PPP Data Show Community Banks Acted Expeditiously to Save Small Businesses
The Paycheck Protection Program originated its final loans nearly three months ago. Over the preceding year, this Marshall Plan for small businesses provided critical financial assistance to nearly...
How Open Banking Can Help Community Banks Deliver on Digital Expectations
Have you ever been ready to jump into your next meeting only to notice you didn’t have your mobile phone? If so, I’m betting you felt a sense of panic. Because without it, you’d lost your lifeline.
PPP Data Show Community Bank Pandemic Response Outperformed Larger Lenders
The Paycheck Protection Program offered millions of small businesses a critical financial lifeline to weather an extraordinary economic downturn engendered by the coronavirus pandemic.
PPP Data Show Community Banks Served Those Most in Need
Paycheck Protection Program lending data continue to demonstrate that community banks are justifiably recognized as leaders of the financial response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Challenges and Risks of Smart Contracts
Smart contracts — blockchain-based programs that operate when predetermined conditions are met — offer potential use cases as well as risks for community banks evaluating their payments processing...
2021: The Year of Community Bank Innovation—with More to Come
In the innovation world, 2021 may go down in history as the year of community bank innovation. Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and associated challenges thrown in our path, community banks...
Is Your Community Bank Watching Social Payments? Five Questions to Guide Your Path Forward
The average person spends nearly two and a half hours on social media per day, so it’s no wonder social payments have started to infiltrate the financial services industry.
Trust in Code? Smart Contracts, DeFi, and Use Cases for Community Banking
Smart contracts — computer programs that automatically execute specific actions — are becoming increasingly relevant to community banks. Here’s a breakdown of smart contracts and how they could...
Three Principles to Drive Community Bank Innovation
For $200 million-asset First Community Bank and Trust in Beecher, Ill., having an innovation mindset means being open to explore new ways to solve for business challenges and opportunities.
Reconciliation Update: IRS Reporting, Tax Hikes, and Needed Grassroots
Community bankers are witnessing the fruits of their labor in ICBA’s months-long campaign opposing the onerous IRS bank reporting proposal. However, the grassroots push must continue.
4 Ways Community Banks Can Attract Gen Z Customers
With the eldest members of Gen Z clocking in at age 24, they represent a market ripe for targeting with banking services. But what they are looking for differs from what Millennials and Gen X...
Seven Myths About Central Bank Digital Currencies
In the latest edition of our Digital Dollar Digest series, ICBA is here to help dispel CBDC misconceptions and debunk the most common myths.
How and Why We’re Updating Our Twitter Strategy to Better Serve Members
For more than 90 years, ICBA has provided value to our membership in a wide variety of ways and places. Today, we are refocusing efforts to better serve our members on Twitter.
Putting Innovation to Work in Community Development
While all community banks place a firm focus on serving, when you are a CDFI, serving is at the very core of your business identity. Couple that with an increased desire to think creatively, and...
Why Core Providers Attend the ThinkTECH Accelerator—And Why It Matters
The third quarter of 2021 yielded the second-highest quarter for fintech financing, up 147%. Despite this growth, an analysis by EY research of 45 banks revealed only one-quarter had deep...
Why Core Providers Attend the ThinkTECH Accelerator—And Why It Matters
As more community banks engage with fintechs to support their business plans, due diligence continues to become an even bigger piece of the puzzle. There are several questions every community bank...
Three Reasons First-Time Registrations are Spiking for ICBA LIVE 2022
With time ticking down until ICBA LIVE, schedules are solidifying, speeches are taking shape, details are firming up, and hotel rooms are filling up. The energy and momentum around coming together...
How the 8-Digit BIN Standard Impacts Your Community Bank
In less than two months, the ISO standards update for 8-digit Bank Identification Numbers, or BINs, takes effect. This new standard means that card processors must be able to accommodate and manage...
How Expanding the Durbin Amendment Would Further Harm Community Banks and Their Customers
ICBA is reminding policymakers that the Durbin Amendment has distorted the debit card and consumer checking markets to the detriment of community banks and consumers nationwide.
What’s Next in the Stablecoin Debate—and What it Means for Community Banks
While stablecoins have drawn increased scrutiny from policymakers in Washington, the policy response has only just begun. Here’s a look at the policy outlook and what it means for community banks.
Regulators Tout Responsible Innovation, Collaboration at ICBA ThinkTECH Event
Bank innovation continues to be a central focus for regulatory agencies. From the launch of innovation offices and office hours to policy statements encouraging innovative approaches.
A Seat at the Payments Table: How Bancard Is Working for Community Banks
As we usher in 2022, community banks face a new sense of urgency around their payment products.
ICBA ThinkTECH Accelerator Selection Committee: “We need to keep innovating.”
It’s hard to believe that we recently kicked off our fourth ThinkTECH Accelerator and even more astonishing that the caliber of companies applying to help community banks’ greatest pain points...
New Federal Reserve Papers on CBDC: Key Takeaways for Community Banks
The Federal Reserve Board recently released its long-anticipated report on how the U.S. might advance towards an “age of digital transformation” with a future central bank digital currency (CBDC).
ThinkTECH Accelerator Showcase: Taking Innovation to the Profitable Next Level
“There is only one threat, and it’s inaction,” said The Venture Center’s Wayne Miller in his opening remarks at the ThinkTECH Accelerator Showcase. That set the tone for the session, where each...
Stablecoin Expansion Raises Policy Questions in Washington and on Main Street
The volume of stablecoins in circulation has grown rapidly in recent months, drawing increased attention from policymakers and the media. Here’s a breakdown of where this increasingly significant...
As Washington targets overdraft, community banks remain customer-focused
Officials in Washington have in recent months increased their focus on overdraft programs and policies. With community banks already subject to strict overdraft regulations, ICBA and community...
The Year of Hiking Cautiously: What a New Cycle of Interest Rate Hikes Mean for Community Banks
The Federal Reserve recently took a major step toward curbing inflation by raising the effective federal funds rate by 25 basis points. Here’s a look at what this means for community banks and...
Three Post-Pandemic Payments Trends and What They Mean for Community Banks
The pandemic has clearly had a lasting impact on customers’ payment behaviors, marked by an unprecedented rise in ecommerce transactions. Amidst this sea of change, community banks are asking,...
As Payments Grows in Importance, ICBA Actively Engages Key Policymakers
The importance of experienced advocacy of community banks’ payments needs has never been greater, which is why the ICBA Payments and Technology Policy team has imbedded resources into...
Merchants and Consumers Benefit from Credit Card Rewards Programs
The first rewards credit card was introduced by American Airlines in 1934 to help it sell tickets. Ninety years later, merchants accepting credit cards and issuing co-branded rewards cards continue...
How to Avoid the Repercussions of “Friendly Fraud”
Friendly fraud is on the rise, now accounting for up to 75% of all chargebacks. From kids using their parents’ cards to purchase items to flat-out falsification, friendly fraud occurs when a...
A Decade in the Making, FedNow Pushes Faster Payments Forward
The FedNow Service’s launch is a milestone in the Fed’s payments improvement journey, but it does not mark the end of the path. In the near term, ICBA urges community banks to focus on faster...
FedNow is Live. Now What?
FedNow launched on July 20—with eager anticipation from the payments industry. But in the past month, we’ve not heard much about transaction volume, use cases, or user experiences.
Crypto Collapses and Security Concerns Renew Debate Over Digital Assets Policy
Remaining aware of developments in the digital assets industry is critical as crypto entities seek greater access to the traditional financial system and policymakers in Congress deliberate paths...
Four things to know about faster and instant payments
Consumers and businesses are increasingly using payment platforms that allow them to pay or transfer money faster than ever before, with U.S. faster payments transactions topping $900 billion in 2020.
Why Small Business See a (Use) Case for Instant Payments
According to the Federal Reserve, nine in 10 businesses (or 29.25 million) expect to be able to send and receive instant payments by 2023. Fortunately, in many cases, community-based financial...