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The Key to Winning Over SMBs With Merchant Services
Local businesses appreciate having resources that will give them the boost they need to succeed. With merchant services, community banks can offer those resources and stay competitive.
What Innovative Advantage Does Cloud Lending Give Community Banks?
Community banks are using cloud technology to improve efficiency and enhance customer convenience. See how cloud lending is transforming operations for banks and borrowers alike.
Community Banks Propel Multi-Family Home Growth
During a housing shortage, community banks are using their agility, relationships and market insight to support apartment developments when larger lenders fall short.
Michael Benedict: The Resilience of Agency MBS in a Shifting Financial Landscape
Agency mortgage-backed securities rise above the rest in this relative value update.
CFG Bank Uplifts Baltimore's Resilience Following Local Tragedy
From donations to innovative money market accounts, CFG Bank is supporting Baltimore as it rebuilds and recovers from the 2024 Key Bridge collapse.
What Every Community Bank Needs to Fight Fraud
When it comes to fraud, everything old is new again—and then some.
Rebeca Romero Rainey: Coming Together to Address Fraud
When it comes to fraud, it takes a village. That may be in part because fraudsters continue to get more sophisticated, and fraud’s effect on banking is skyrocketing.
What's Attracting Small Businesses to Small-Dollar SBA Loans?
Lenders are seeing an increase in small-dollar loans as demand from small business customers surges due to new SBA 7(a) program reforms and higher interest rates.
Powering Potential: ICBA Welcomes Peter Nelson
In February 2025, ICBA welcomed Peter Nelson as senior EVP of member engagement. As a long-time community banker, Nelson brings with him a history of robust involvement with ICBA.
Rebeca Romero Rainey: Your Advocacy Impact
Sometimes in life, we’re fortunate enough to see our labor yield results, and that’s precisely what’s been happening with our advocacy efforts.
Workplace Culture: A Make or Break for Community Bank Employees?
Culture keeps a workplace and its employees running—whether they know it or not. From values and practices to the way colleagues interact, culture drives a community bank from the inside out.
Strengthening Work Relations Through Bank Employee Surveys
Are your employees happy? Staff surveys are a great way to find out. The key, say community bankers and experts, is following up on what you hear.
Fighting Fraud Under the USA PATRIOT Act Section 314(b)
Information sharing, permitted under the USA PATRIOT Act Section 314(b), presents opportunities for banks to work together and combat suspicious bank activity.
Bank of Zachary: Building Financial Foundations
The Bank of Zachary is equipping high school students with real-world banking skills to shape a financially literate future.
What Makes Customers Trust Community Banks?
Trustworthiness is integral to the success of a bank. And for community banks, it’s more than table stakes—it’s your competitive edge.
Oxford Bank Celebrates 140 Years of Community Support
Oxford Bank in Oxford, Mich., celebrated its 140th anniversary by building relationships, investing in the community and exercising purposeful giving.
Michael Benedict: Community Bank Growth in a New Rate Environment
A steeper yield curve brings growth strategies back into the fold.
Optimize Your Community Bank's Treasury Management Offerings
These four community banks compared the costs and use cases for adding treasury management to their services and streamlining them. Now, they’re seeing the benefits.
Rebeca Romero Rainey: Amplifying the Community Bank Difference
Our 2025 Community Bank CEO Outlook survey revealed that 77% of bank executives believe their greatest opportunity this year will be differentiating their community bank from other financial firms.
40 Under 40: 2025's Community Bank Leaders
Our seventh annual 40 Under 40 community bank leaders awards shine a light on inspiring people who take bettering their workplaces to the next level.
What Makes a Leader Truly Great? Experts Weigh In
Good leadership is about much more than one individual’s impact on the bottom line. It’s about how effective leaders use these skills both internally and in the community to build a stronger bank.
How Can Legal Expertise Smooth Succession Transitions?
Succession planning is complicated in all sorts of ways. An attorney or legal team can help iron out the issues and lay out documents that ensure long-term continuity for community banks.
Building Stronger Futures Through the Heartland Bank Community Foundation
Focused on youth development and family enrichment, Heartland Bank’s charitable foundation delivers meaningful results through strategic giving and community partnerships.
Meet ICBA’s 2025/26 Board of Directors
ICBA’s 2025/26 board members hail from all corners of the country and are ready to fight for the continued success of the community banking industry.
Why Your Community Bank Needs a Disaster Recovery Plan
Community banks like Countybank face and overcome challenges every day, but what about the events banks don’t expect?
Incoming 2025/26 ICBA Chairman Jack E. Hopkins Will Bring Small-Town Sensibility to Washington
Jack E. Hopkins, president and CEO of CorTrust Bank in Sioux Falls, S.D., has been a strong voice for community banking for years.
Tips for Winning the Retail Banking Game
Technology continues to evolve, and community banks must do the same. To cater to and better support young, tech-savvy customers, these local banks are partnering with fintechs to revamp their...
Rebeca Romero Rainey: Marching to the Beat of Community Banking
There’s a rhythm to community banking, a steadiness amid a sea of change that keeps us centered and focused on the customers and communities we serve.
Fine Tuning the Fine Print for Bank Disclosures
As regulators continue to go through financial institution messaging with a fine-tooth comb, community banks must be diligent about maintaining best compliance and regulatory practices.
Who are ICBA's Top Lenders of 2024?
Whether it’s navigating tumultuous markets or providing employees with remote work options, flexibility is a key component in the success of this year’s ICBA top lenders.
Securing Your Cloud Banking Network
Cloud banking is rising in popularity. And as with every new technology, community bankers must learn how to limit risk and secure the platform to protect bank customers and their data.
Generative AI Fraud: How to Fight It
Generative AI allows fraudsters to easily impersonate real people and makes phishing emails even harder to detect—but your community bank can still dodge these attacks by staying vigilant.
Community Banks Financing Lake Country
In lake regions across the U.S., vacation homes, boats and other watersports vehicles abound—all of which present an undeniable opportunity for community banks.
Rebeca Romero Rainey: Change Is Hard, Good Leadership Is Critical
The mere mention of change can send pulses racing and blood pressure rising. But while change can be hard, it’s unavoidable, and it’s only going to continue to accelerate in our evolving marketplace.
Opportunities in Infrastructure Lending for Community Banks
With $1 trillion in federal infrastructure funding rolling out across the U.S., community banks have a rare opportunity to enter or deepen their involvement in this dynamic sector.
b1Bank Paves the Way for New Businesses
Entrepreneurs find education and capital through b1Bank’s b1 Foundation, furthering its small business relationships and the community’s economic development.
Extend Customer Relationships With Better Business Payments
Consistently fulfilling commercial customers’ payments needs can make community banks indispensable to small businesses.
4 CFPB Rules to Watch for This Year
From limitations on fee practices to personal financial data rights, these proposed and final Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rules could have a significant impact on the community bank industry.
Rebeca Romero Rainey: A New Tool For Your Team's Career Development
As community bankers, we each wear multiple hats and have throughout the course of our careers.
RESPA and HMDA Violations: What to Know
In the second half of 2023, the CFPB penalized Freedom Mortgage for violating both RESPA and HMDA. Here’s what community banks need to know about complying with these acts.