ICBA: Accelerating Community Bank Innovation
Dec. 06, 2023
This time of year, we often take stock of our accomplishments and look ahead to the possibilities and opportunities awaiting us in the coming year.
Certainly, when it comes to blazing ICBA’s innovation path for community bankers, we’ve upped the ante significantly in 2023. From the move to bring our ThinkTECH Accelerator in-house to our expanded programming, including our upcoming rapid-fire Solutions Forums and ThinkTECH Connect showcase, this has been a milestone year for the ICBA innovation team. Delivering real-world solutions reflects our commitment to supporting your innovation needs.
As we gear up for the kickoff of our sixth ICBA ThinkTECH Accelerator program (AP6), we’re better positioned than ever to help community banks on their innovation journeys, providing them with the knowledge and resources to power local communities.
Introducing AP6
In seeking out new ways to foster collaboration, community bankers can now sign up for group as well as one-on-one bank cohort visits during AP6. This additional interaction option is a direct reflection of feedback from our members and complements our decision to focus on automation, compliance, and data analytics solutions for this next cohort. We believe these solutions are primed to yield greater productivity for you while elevating your customers’ experiences, so we encourage you to sign up.
On deck for AP6 are:
Azimuth – (Regulatory/ Compliance) in Jacksonville, Fla.
Conductiv – (LOS Decisioning) in New York
HuLoop Automation – (Robotic Process Automation) in Auburn, Calif.
Monit – (SMB Insights/Digital CFO) in Boston
Revio – (Actionable Data Insights) in Austin
Trust Stamp – (Fraud/Identity Management) in Atlanta
Community banks will provide mentorship over the course of the 10-week ThinkTECH Accelerator program as the companies refine their solutions to reflect current market conditions and ready them for community bank consumption. A showcase of their incredible results will be on display at ICBA’s annual convention, ICBA LIVE in Orlando, Fla., this March.
Prime Time Ready
While we support continuous development and advancement with our upcoming accelerator and future Atlanta office opening, we’re ending 2023 with a bang, offering two additional opportunities that feature relevant and future forward solutions for members.
Fraud occurs 365 days a year, and often spikes during the holidays, so ICBA’s next ThinkTECH Solutions Forum will spotlight providers that are helping community banks combat this continuing threat.
Scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 7, we’re featuring five-minute pitches from eight notable companies including our Corporate Members, Preferred Service Providers (PSP), and ThinkTECH cohort—handpicked for their right-sized solution and timely offerings. During the two-hour session we’ll explore pricing models, implementation, regulatory implications, and success stories, with the help of our esteemed banking panel leading the Q&A portion.
Banker panelists include:
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.
Presenters include:
- Adlumin Inc. (a PSP and ThinkTECH alumni)
- Jack Henry (a Corporate Member)
- Dataseers
- FiVerity
- Simplici
- Trust Stamp (part of the AP6 cohort)
- Effectiv (a Corporate Member)
- Q6 Cyber
Looking Ahead
Always on the lookout for new and interesting solutions to share with community bankers, we’re inviting our members to join us next Thursday, Dec. 14, for ICBA ThinkTECH Connect—an informative session featuring fintech companies that were not part of the ThinkTECH Accelerator but may be of interest to community banks across the nation.
The session will feature seven-minute pitches from these promising fintechs designed to help community banks remain efficient, profitable, and competitive.
As you look to the future, remember the enduring strength and resiliency that has served as a mark of distinction and contributed to the prosperity of your communities. As you consider your bank’s 2024 innovation journey, be as bold and resolute
as always and know that in your pursuit of innovation, ICBA remains your trusted advisor and resource you can count on.