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How to Build an AI Policy at Your Community Bank
Artificial intelligence is here to stay, whether it’s generative AI, part of your bank’s neural network or both. That’s why having an AI policy is important.
Drive Efficiency With These 9 Back Office Upgrades
Much of a community bank’s technical success starts behind the curtain: in the back office. By optimizing this area of operations, a bank can run like a well-oiled machine.
Streamline Your Bank’s Appraisal and Vendor Management with ValuTrac
Tired of juggling spreadsheets, emails, and phone calls to manage appraisals and vendors? ValuTrac offers a unified workspace that transforms how banks manage their appraisal and valuation processes.
Strategies for Consumer-Centric Banking: an Exclusive Bud Webinar
Bud Financial has joined community bankers for an Independent Banker webinar where we’ve explored the actions they would take to drive success, revenue and customer engagement.
Tips to Better Bank Vendor Management
The more services you add for customers, the more vendors you’re likely to work with. Managing what could be hundreds of relationships calls for organization and the personal touch.
Ease Reporting with Automation
Routine reporting can be time- and paper-intensive—but automation can take mundane tasks off your team’s plate and create all kinds of other efficiencies.
Practical Tips for Community Bank Innovation
Innovation doesn’t just happen. It takes forethought, planning and follow-through.
What Makes a Good Manager?
Even though taking on managerial duties often comes part and parcel with a promotion, not everyone is suited to it.
How Important Are Brick-And-Mortar Branches?
Despite the growing use of online banking and mobile apps, the branch remains an important part of community banks' retail strategy. But how are these branches changing?
How to Successfully Negotiate a Fintech Partnership
Partnering with one or more fintechs can help community banks keep up with the pace of technological development. Community bankers and other experts give us their tips for finding the right fit.
Member Benefits: Tips for IT Outsourcing
For community banks that are considering or are already working with a third-party IT vendor, ICBA’s IT Outsourcing Toolkit has a collection of resources that address the process and considerations.
How to See the Value of Customer Complaints
No one likes customer complaints, but they can provide a wealth of information that can improve both your community bank and your customers’ experience.
Step-by-Step Succession Planning for Community Banks
Community bankers and other experts offer a guide to succession planning that'll ensure a seamless transition and future success for the bank and its customers for years to come.
Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust and the Road to Succession
Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust’s succession planning professionals have built up their expertise to better serve the community bank’s retail business customers.
Jim Reber: Price stability or yield? Here's both
Cash-management instruments have relative value today.
General counsel strategies for community banks
Having general counsel is critical for community banks, but what’s the right balance between in-house and external counsel? Community bankers and legal experts weigh in on how to create the right...
The benefits of offering virtual advisor services
Spurred by social distancing and shutdowns during the pandemic, many community banks turned to virtual financial advisory services, and these new practices are expected to stick around.
Excel Disasters: 5 spreadsheet mistakes that cost billions
Learn how your team can fight the hidden danger lurking between the columns: human error.
Community banks that weathered Hurricane Ian
Following the damage of Hurricane Ian last fall, Florida’s community banks rallied to help affected employees and customers, providing above-and-beyond service without missing a beat.
Charles Potts: Assesing potential fintech partners
Maximizing each step in the innovation journey, including the fintech evaluation process, will set you on the right path to a fruitful fintech partnership.
Expanding horizons with cross-country branches
Community banks across the nation are breaking into markets outside their typical areas of operation. Here’s how four banks are successfully finding new locations, acquiring new customers and...
7 smart strategies during economic uncertainty
Community bank leaders and other industry professionals provide tips for proactively tightening up your community bank’s finances, increasing revenue streams and preparing customers for what's...
Can AI assist in vendor management challenges?
As community banks grow, their vendor partnerships usually also do, which can lead to challenges with organization, data security and more. To address these issues, some community banks have turned...
Efficiency now: 8 smart strategy tips
Fallout from recent global events presents an obstacle to generating revenue for community banks. How can they counteract these effects and maximize financial efficiency? As we enter budgeting...
The DIY banking services customers expect
Prompted by the pandemic, DIY banking service offerings have grown quickly. And as consumers—especially Gen Z and millennials—continue calling for more mobile options, community banks...
How gamification can be a boon for community banks
Community banks are getting into gamification—and it’s been better for business. Introducing gaming elements into apps and company training tools can result in cost savings, increased...
Customer Understanding Deepens Relationships
SPONSORED | Investing in your tech stack has never been more important. Hear from Horicon Bank how they have positioned themselves to grow using the Total Expert platform.
Stealthy shopping for better service
It’s no secret why Alpine Bank’s mystery shopper program has helped the community bank meet and exceed customer expectations over the past two decades.
How thrift and mutual banks are benefiting their customers
Thrift banks, otherwise known as savings and loans, focus on turning deposits into consumer mortgage loans. We take a deep dive into what lies at the heart of these community banks’ business models...
Rhonda Thomas-Whitley: Defending overdraft protection for consumers
Overdraft programs and policies are once again in the sights of officials in Washington. ICBA takes on the fight.
Charles Potts: Back-office innovation
Community bankers are embracing innovation like never before—with impressive results. But with so much emphasis placed on customer-facing products and technologies, innovating back-office...
Technology your remote and hybrid employees need
Remote and hybrid working was once the exception but, for some community bank employees, it’s now the norm. What technology is needed to keep remote workers productive, connected and, most of all,...
The future of workplace flexibility
The pandemic forced the issue of remote and hybrid working for many employees, and though challenges remain, many companies are looking to accommodate employees’ expectations. We asked how banks...
A community bank-fueled payments rail
A secure, open-loop, cost-saving, customer-accessible, multiplatform P2P payments network might sound too good to be true, but community bank consortium Alloy Labs Alliance hopes to achieve just...
Southern Bancorp is building wealth for everyone
As CEO of Southern Bancorp, Darrin Williams wants to promote relationships between community banks and CDFIs to create more prosperous communities.
De novos in the time of COVID
The 2008 financial crisis kept the number of de novos low for years but had started to rebound. Then, the pandemic happened. Today, de novos and beginner banks face a unique set of challenges and...
Inside the evolving roles of community bank tellers
Today’s tellers meet very different customer needs than they did just a decade ago. In the wake of trends like falling in-branch transactions and rising digital services, some community banks are...
Why community banks form charitable foundations
Supporting local causes and charities is a core differentiator of community banks. To that end, some community banks have elected to form foundations to be lasting stewards of their charitable...
Jim Reber: Bill Shakespeare, community banker
The Bard had some thoughts on balance sheet management.