We’ve seen a lot of shifts and change this year—the continued uptick in check fraud, the election, credit union acquisitions, etc.—but we community bankers are as steadfast, scrappy and resilient as ever.
As the holidays approach, it’s time to stay even more vigilant against fraud. That’s because fraudsters are more likely to seek out vulnerable, lonely or busy people at the end of the year. How can community bankers get ahead of year-end fraud and raise awareness among consumers?
Check fraud isn’t new, but it has re-emerged as an appealing way for fraudsters to target community banks and their customers. That’s why ICBA has brought check fraud to the forefront of its conversation with its members, to discuss the ways they can band together to solve this issue.
Former ICBA chairman Brad Bolton and Lindsay LaNore, ICBA’s senior executive vice president, chief learning and experience officer, join Charles Potts to talk about their experiences at ICBA LIVE and some advice for new and returning attendees.
Former ICBA chairman Brad Bolton and Lindsay LaNore, ICBA’s senior executive vice president, chief learning and experience officer, join Charles Potts to talk about their experiences at ICBA LIVE and some advice for new and returning attendees.
Technology is ever advancing, and it’s critical for community bankers to stay ahead of it. According to Dharmesh Mistry of FinTech Futures, a media platform dedicated to global banking and the fintech industry, three of those trends are generative AI, faster payments and the cloud.
Connection is at the heart of what community bankers do. That’s one of the reasons that the social networking platform ICBA Community was created. And it’s not only creating online connections, it’s helping bankers build relationships with each other outside of the forum.
AI technology is growing exponentially. While it can bring many advantages to community banks, some bankers may have concerns about possible security issues. So, why take the risk if your bank is performing well?
“I think when you’re looking to buy any kind of a product, a data product,” says Kim Snyder, CEO of the fintech KlariVis, “you need to make sure that the vendor that you’re purchasing it from understands your industry and understands how that technology is going to be utilized in your industry.”
“You can go anywhere and get a loan,” says Dan Schopp, president and CEO of First Security Bank in Mackinaw, Ill. “I always say we don't want to be an ATM— just dollar dispensers. The biggest challenge is showing your customer, what value am I adding to you or your operation?”
Ann Buckmiller, director of compliance at Reliabank Dakota in South Dakota, and her fellow Independent Banker 40 Under 40 winner, Carolyn Watson, marketing officer at Ambler Savings Bank in Pennsylvania, talk to ICBA’s Lindsay LaNore and host Charles Potts about what they look for in a workplace culture and why community banking has turned into a dream career for them.
In this episode, Patel tells host Charles Potts why this immigrant-founded community bank has thrived by cornering the hospitality lending market and capitalizing on its leaders’ and board members’ own experience in the hotel industry.
The president and CEO of Georgia’s Century Bank and Trust and newly minted ICBA chairman believes that the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in late March are an opportunity—an opportunity to show that community banks’ relationship-based business model sets them poles apart from the risky practices of megabanks like SVB.
We started focusing on our employees and what they need as much as what we need,” says Steve Farbstein, Blue Ridge Bank’s chief revenue and development officer. Since the Great Resignation, the Virginia community bank has shifted its approach to recruitment, taking things like flexibility and wellness into account, along with 401(k)s and PTO.
Vendor relationships can be purely transactional, but the really high-value ones work more like partnerships. That’s certainly what Bob Fisher, president and CEO of Tioga State Bank in Spencer, N.Y., found when his bank hired cybersecurity fintech Beauceron Security of New Brunswick, Canada.
Anne Balcer talks to host Charles Potts, ICBA’s chief innovation officer, about the value of her background as a community banker, the advocacy wins community banks saw last year, the issues she and her team are targeting in 2023, the critical role community bankers themselves play in advocacy….and even a little lacrosse.
In late 2022, ICBA announced it was bringing the Accelerator and all innovation activities in house. In this episode, our guests reveal the reasons behind this move and give a glimpse of how the association will develop initiatives that help community banks flourish.
In this episode, Tim (a 40 Under 40 winner) joins host Charles Potts to discuss his role as an innovator — leading implementation of an online platform that overhauled the bank’s customer experience.
