Search Articles
How your bank can build its construction loan portfolio
The pandemic significantly changed the landscape for construction lending, but with the possibility of economic recovery on the way, there are opportunities to grow your community bank’s...
Lindsay LaNore: Making effective meetings
Meetings are a great opportunity to reinforce a team’s collective identity and establish a leader’s personal presence. They also offer participants a chance to find their voices. When organized and...
Rebeca Romero Rainey: Lead with purpose
Our approach to service is not about checking something off the list for today. It’s about making incremental positive change over time.
Robert Fisher: Creating strong culture
Culture is more than just how bank staff interact with one another; it’s about how we convey who we are to our customers.
Mark Scanlan: Fighting for ag and rural tax relief
ICBA is pushing for the Enhancing Credit Opportunities in Rural America Act, legislation that would help rural borrowers and level the playing field against unfair competition.
ICBA’s 2021/22 executive committee: Close the distance (part 2)
These online-exclusive interviews with the 2021/22 ICBA executive members gets their thoughts on their goals, on innovation at their banks, and on effective advocacy.
4 ways to conquer compliance challenges
For community banks, regulatory burdens and compliance costs are constant challenges. But by taking steps including building a culture of compliance, they’re challenges that can be met.
Fighting fraud with education
COVID-19 has exacerbated vulnerabilities to fraud. To combat this trend, Tompkins VIST Bank has been delivering valuable education to its small business customers to keep them informed and protected.
Rebeca Romero Rainey: Focusing on our communities
Unlike our credit union counterparts, we pay taxes, and those tax dollars are spent at home to ensure our communities grow.
Here are the benefits of bank-owned life insurance
Over the past two decades, banks have increasingly dabbled in BOLI, or bank-owned life insurance. While there are downsides to consider, experts say the benefits of these policies can generate...
Improve your next marketing campaign with data
Using data from your community bank, an ad campaign or public sources allows your marketing efforts to find potential or existing customers who’ve already shown interest in your brand.
Jim Reber: The big "if"
General market munis have gained favor among community bankers.
How 4 community banks came through for customers
The past year has put community banks’ local missions to the test, and they came through with flying colors. In the spirit of Community Banking Month, here are stories from several community banks...
Are real-time international payments the future?
Two rising technologies, faster payments and cross-border payments, are coalescing as more countries lay foundations to make such transactions possible. Experts say the U.S. is on a path to...
Going Through a Data Conversion Project Doesn’t Have to Be Painful
With mergers, acquisitions and other changes affecting the industry, ensuring your data is effectively converted has never been more critical. we’ve compiled a toolkit of what to consider before,...
Out of Office: Dave Wise
The senior vice president for business banking at $406 million-asset TS Bank in Council Bluffs, Iowa, picked up gravel riding, or biking on rural gravel roads and trails, during the pandemic to...
Robert Fisher: The importance of engagement
In today’s climate, our voices are vital not only to the future of financial services, but to the millions of small businesses and consumers who depend upon us.
New ICBA chairman Robert Fisher is in the driver’s seat
Faced with the unexpected and unexplainable, it’s hard to stay on course. But Robert Fisher is an expert at just that. ICBA’s next chairman is ready to help community banks and the customers they...
6 ways to boost your social media strategy
Community banks are building relationships through an active, thoughtful presence on social media, and these platforms are an extension of the relationships that community banks foster. Experts...
How going green can help the planet and your bank
Study after study shows that consumers—especially younger people—expect the brands they support to commit to sustainability. How can community banks put eco‑friendly strategies to work?