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Through the Fire and Flames: The Road Ahead for Community Banks

Through the Fire and Flames: The Road Ahead for Community Banks Economic security rapidly evaporated for many households in 2020 as the coronavirus imposed an indelible mark on our nation’s...

Feb 01, 2021
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Article
Advocacy Crisis Preparedness Lending

Simple Steps to Start Saving for Your Financial Future

Simple Steps to Start Saving for Your Financial Future Studies show most Americans have too much debt and not enough savings. Being prepared doesn’t have to be a chore or a burden. With a few...

Feb 23, 2021
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Article

Continuing the Conversation: What You Need to Know about Today’s Credit Card Rewards Programs

Continuing the Conversation: What You Need to Know about Today’s Credit Card Rewards Programs Recently, ICBA Bancard, in partnership with TCM Bank, released the white paper, “Cultivating the...

Mar 11, 2021
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Article

Community Bank Innovative Solutions for Customer-Centric Experiences

Community Bank Innovative Solutions for Customer-Centric Experiences In a world where technology has made it possible for instant gratification in customer and business relationships, community...

Mar 12, 2021
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Article

How My Bank’s Team Delivered and Received Value from the ICBA ThinkTECH Accelerator Experience

How My Bank’s Team Delivered and Received Value from the ICBA ThinkTECH Accelerator Experience Last year I flew to Little Rock, Ark. to participate in the ICBA ThinkTECH Accelerator program and...

Mar 18, 2021
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Article

A Fresh Focus on Innovative Solutions for Community Bank Back-Office Operations

A Fresh Focus on Innovative Solutions for Community Bank Back-Office Operations ICBA and The Venture Center gave particular attention to identifying innovative back-office solution providers for...

Mar 19, 2021
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Article

Digital Dollar Digest: What Is a CBDC?

Digital Dollar Digest: What Is a CBDC? Countries are racing to create central bank digital currencies, or so it appears from the constant stream of reports, articles, and speeches by officials....

Mar 30, 2021
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Article
Digital Assets

Crypto Chronicles: What is a stablecoin and what do community bankers need to know?

Crypto Chronicles: What is a stablecoin and what do community bankers need to know? Since its debut, Bitcoin has experienced spectacular fluctuations in value. While some accept the risks that come...

Apr 15, 2021
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Article
Digital Assets

Employing Financial Literacy as a Tool to Attract Gen Z Bank Customers

Employing Financial Literacy as a Tool to Attract Gen Z Bank Customers Generation Z already outnumbers millennials and baby boomers and in a matter of years they’ll become the most financially...

Apr 29, 2021
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Article

Regulators Discuss the Future of Community Bank Innovation at Fintech Symposium

Regulators Discuss the Future of Community Bank Innovation at Fintech Symposium Community banks’ focus on next-generation digital solutions was on full display during a recent symposium hosted by...

Apr 30, 2021
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Article
Technology Fintech Innovation

How Community Banks Can Help Customers Evaluate Buy Now, Pay Later Offerings

How Community Banks Can Help Customers Evaluate Buy Now, Pay Later Offerings Buy now, pay later or BNPL, is the latest cautionary payments tale for community banks. Much like digital wallets, its...

May 06, 2021
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Article
Payments Payments

Why we need Black-owned banks

Why we need Black-owned banks Black-owned community banks have a long history of serving Americans historically left out of the mainstream banking system. Many well-established community banks...

Jun 01, 2021
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Article
Minority Owned Depository Institutions (MDI)

How Community Banks Can Continue to Fight Elder Financial Exploitation and Abuse

How Community Banks Can Continue to Fight Elder Financial Exploitation and Abuse The past year has been a trying time for our nation, particularly for America’s elderly population who were...

Jun 07, 2021
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Article

Crypto Chronicles: Agencies Coordinate Crypto Approach Amid Ransomware Escalation

Crypto Chronicles: Agencies Coordinate Crypto Approach Amid Ransomware Escalation In the past several months, bad actors have escalated their attacks against critical infrastructure and industries....

Jun 16, 2021
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Article
Digital Assets

Community Banker Perspective: The Importance of Financial Literacy for Teens

Community Banker Perspective: The Importance of Financial Literacy for Teens April may be Financial Literacy Month, but at Community Spirit Bank our focus on providing young people with a strong...

Apr 27, 2021
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Article
Financial Literacy

Digital Dollar Digest: Catalysts for Exploring a Central Bank Digital Currency

Digital Dollar Digest: Catalysts for Exploring a Central Bank Digital Currency What is galvanizing the world market to pursue central bank digital currencies? The factors are varied. In this...

Jun 03, 2021
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Article
Digital Assets

Community Bank Guide to Managing Core Processor Relationships

Community Bank Guide to Managing Core Processor Relationships For community banks looking to strike a balance between high-touch services and high-tech capabilities, selecting the right technology...

May 10, 2021
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Article
Technology Fintech Innovation

Enhancements Community Banks Can Make To Improve Email Deliverability and Defend Against Phishing

Enhancements Community Banks Can Make To Improve Email Deliverability and Defend Against Phishing To better protect their institutions and customers from email scams, community banks can make...

May 13, 2021
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Article

The Problem with Public Banking

The Problem with Public Banking While community banks have again proven their importance to local communities as Paycheck Protection Program leaders, public banking proponents in some states and...

May 13, 2021
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Article
Government Banks Postal Service Banking State-Owned/Public Banks

Crypto Chronicles: Bitcoin 101 for Community Bankers

Crypto Chronicles: Bitcoin 101 for Community Bankers The payments industry is abuzz with excitement as one topic continues capturing headlines, with profound implications for community banks:...

May 19, 2021
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Article
Digital Assets

Digital Dollar Digest: What Central Bank Digital Currency Architecture Means for Community Banks

Digital Dollar Digest: What Central Bank Digital Currency Architecture Means for Community Banks CBDCs are taking center stage around the globe, with multiple research projects underway. As central...

Jun 03, 2021
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Article
Digital Assets

Three Ways Community Bankers Can Increase Their Innovative Thinking

Three Ways Community Bankers Can Increase Their Innovative Thinking According to the 2020 Global Innovation Barometer from GE, COVID-19 had a significant downward influence on innovation. However,...

Jun 11, 2021
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Article

ICBA Polling on Strong Community Bank Favorability Fuels Successful Capital Summit

To support community banker meetings with policymakers on top industry issues, ICBA released new polling data affirming the industry’s strong public favorability at the state and national levels.

May 19, 2022
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Article
Community Bank Awareness

Expanding Interchange Price Controls Would Put Fraud Protections at Risk

Maintaining strong risk-mitigation technologies has never been more important for the banking industry, but “big box” merchant lobbyists are attempting to disrupt advances in card fraud mitigation...

Jun 03, 2022
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Article
Payments

How the TerraUSD Collapse Is Affecting Financial Markets

While the collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin has captured the most attention, it was not the only stablecoin to fail during the market downturn. Here’s a look at the impact of the Terra decline on...

Jun 07, 2022
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Article
Digital Assets Technology

How Four Community Banks Recognize and Celebrate Juneteenth

While Juneteenth is the youngest U.S. federal holiday after it became formally recognized in a law enacted last year, it has decades of significance—with June 19, 1865, recognized as the end of...

Jun 16, 2022
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Article
Advocacy

Three Ways Community Banks Can Respond to Generational Digital Payments Needs

When it comes to payments, the generational divide has been shrinking. While Gen Z and Millennials still lead the way in digital payments adoption, Baby Boomers and Seniors (over 76) are increasing...

Jun 22, 2022
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Article

BNPL and the Illogical Argument for Credit Card Interchange Fee Regulation

When a new object comes along like “buy now, pay later,” or BNPL, merchants will gladly pay higher transaction fees than they do for credit cards. But this recent surge in BNPL adoption by...

Jul 11, 2022
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Article
Cards Interchange

Faster Payments Have Arrived — Now What?

Faster Payments Have Arrived — Now What? Faster payments have arrived. Accelerated by the pandemic, the growth in digital and contactless payments has pushed consumer and business expectations...

Jun 17, 2021
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Article
Payments Payments

Community banks must engage customers on new IRS reporting mandates

If community bankers weren’t busy enough continuing their heroic economic response to the pandemic, a proposal to impose IRS reporting mandates on customer bank accounts has become anadvocacy...

Aug 19, 2021
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Article
Taxes & Budget

How Community Bankers Association of Illinois Partnered with ICBA ThinkTECH Accelerator to Further Community Bank Innovation

Community Bankers Association of Illinois (CBAI) is no stranger to fintech collaborations, but the idea of helping shape fintech offerings tailored to community banks was too intriguing an idea to...

May 18, 2022
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Article

How to Digitize the Community Bank Relationship Model

When it comes to community bankers’ technology to-do lists, 35% view investing in digitalization as their top business opportunity. We’ve clearly arrived at a tipping point.

May 24, 2022
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Article

A Community Bank Primer on the TerraUSD Collapse

ICBA has closely watched the growth of stablecoins over the past year and repeatedly raised concerns about the risks these systems may pose. Earlier this month, those concerns manifested with the...

Jun 07, 2022
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Article
Digital Assets Technology

How the TerraUSD Collapse Affects Stablecoin Regulation and Community Banks

The collapse of TerraUSD has affected the crypto sector and broader financial markets. But perhaps even more important for community banks, the market instability is fueling the policymaker push...

Jun 07, 2022
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Article
Digital Assets Technology

Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Creating Mutually Beneficial Relationships with Community Banks and Fintechs

Engaging community bankers to think about innovation in new ways continues to be my driving force, but I’m not doing it alone. This year I’m bringing along ICBA ThinkTECH Accelerator alumni

Jul 06, 2022
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Article
Fintech Innovation

The Rise of the Super App… and What Community Banks Can Do About It

Everyone, including big tech and social media players, want a super app. That’s according to a 2022 report, which underscores that the threat is real.

Jul 15, 2022
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Article
Digital Assets Payments

How Agility Bank and Rockland Trust are Leveraging Digital Services to Cultivate Personal Relationships

Relationship banking has entered a new, digital era as confirmed by recent research from Cornerstone Advisors that concluded, “There is a human element to mobile banking.”

Aug 10, 2022
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Article
Technology

Why ICBA opposes flawed Marshall-Durbin Amendment expansion legislation

Despite ICBA’s persistent communications on the negative impact of Durbin Amendment interventions on payment card systems, its latest iteration furthers the misguided policies of the past that will...

Aug 25, 2022
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Article
Deposit Insurance Deposit Insurance Payments

How community banks can use cultural-driven engagement and continuous learning to combat the Great Resignation

Talent recruitment and professional development has always been a critical issue for community banks, but today’s job market is different. The impact of the “Great Resignation” has placed the...

Aug 31, 2022
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Article
Community Bank Awareness

Why Instant Payments Should Be on Your Digital Transformation Road Map

Even if you aren’t hearing the words “faster payments” or “instant payments” directly from your customers, trends and research show the demand is there – and rising. Recent Federal Reserve surveys...

Oct 25, 2022
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Article
Instant Payments