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Build a Better Banking App With These 5 Tips
If you want your app to be a cut above the rest and give your customers the ideal experience, take note of accessibility, gamification, demographics and other appealing features.
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.
Jim Reber and Ron Haynie: Fannie and Freddie 3.0
The Trump administration shows interest in reprivatizing the housing GSEs.
First National Bank: Redefining Retail Banking
First National Bank’s eStore aims for customer convenience, delivering personalized banking through a high-tech customer experience.
ACT Deposit Program Can Help Improve Your Bank’s CRA Rating
Discover a new, innovative way for bankers to boost their CRA rating while enjoying safety and returns for large cash balances.
The Data Advantage: Key Strategies for Community Bank Success
With larger regional banks increasingly viewing community financial institutions as rising competition, the time to tap into your data advantage is now.
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.
OneUnited Bank Uses Tech to Bridge the Racial Wealth Gap
OneUnited Bank’s AI-powered financial wellness tool is enabling the bank’s customers to make better financial decisions and build generational wealth.
How to Balance Human and Machine While Using Chatbots
Community banks’ reputations are built on personal connection. But with an effective chatbot, banks can free up staff to focus on customers’ more complex needs. It just takes effective training.
Charles Potts: Banking and Staffing Gen Z Into the Future
As Gen Z graduates into the full-time workforce, they are looking to community banks as financial partners as well as potential employers.
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.
Gen Z's Top 5 Financial Goals and How You Can Help
Many Gen Zers are now in their 20s, which means they're facing new financial tasks and dilemmas.
Charles Potts: Driving Strategy With AI as a Tool
Artificial intelligence has become the buzzword for financial services, but it’s moved beyond just hype.
How Can Community Banks Attract Gen Z Customers?
While youth accounts are a great value-add for parents, younger customers are looking for offerings with a few key characteristics.
Rethink Your Digital Banking Experience to Retain Customers
Retain customers, enhance efficiencies, and compete effectively by leveraging cutting-edge technology and a powerful digital banking experience.
Tips For Sending Transactions Over The FedNow® Service
By enabling customers to send instant payments via the FedNow® Service versus only receive, banks can gain a faster, stronger ROI.
How Community Banks Can Nurture Relationships With Next-Gen Customers
With the “great wealth transfer” approaching, now’s the time for community banks to plan with individuals passing on their generational wealth and to connect with those who will receive it.
Charles Potts: Making the Case for Responsible Innovation
The rapid pace of today’s financial services landscape pulls community banks in varied directions. You must balance technology upgrades with budgetary constraints and identify pressing priorities.
Charles Potts: Setting the Stage for Banking the Next Generation
In recent years, community bankers have embraced constant change to drive the future of banking.
Practical Tips for Community Bank Innovation
Innovation doesn’t just happen. It takes forethought, planning and follow-through.
Jim Reber: Whole lotta thinkin’ going on
I hope the readers of this column will excuse the lack of decorum in the title, but in reading and listening to the words of the Federal Reserve Board’s members over the past month, I hear a lot of...
Jim Reber: What’s next for investments
Looking to make changes to your investments this year? Bond opportunities abound in 2021.
Revealed: ICBA’s best-performing community banks 2018
Our annual coast-to-coast roster of high achievers is here! Read on to see the 75 community banks that made the cut, and hear from nine we’ve highlighted for their consistent high performance and...
The Key to People-Focused Insurance Strategies
People make mistakes, but insurance can help ensure the bank doesn’t foot the bill for them.
Evaluating Credit Card Rewards in Modern Banking
Younger generations prefer debit to credit, but consumers’ appetite for card rewards is still strong. Learn how your community bank can integrate rewards as part of its payments strategy.
Jim Reber: Shop Talk 2024
Another conversation with our consummate community banker, Charlie Brown.
Jim Reber: Give Credit Where It's Due
Secondary market for whole loans is deep and active.
The Lending Outlook for 2024
A pullback in lending from some institutions creates opportunities for community banks to pick up new customers.
CEO Roundtable 2024: The Year Ahead
With the economic uncertainty that defined most of 2023 showing signs of easing, community bankers are optimistic about the year ahead.
Jim Reber: Pushing the Boundaries
Cost of funds is putting pressure on bond portfolio’s net margins.
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?
Banking the Nonprofit Way
Helping their communities: It’s the community bank way, but it’s not always done through volunteering. These banks tell us how they support nonprofits in their areas, helping organizations amplify...
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.
How Community Banks Can Support Self-Employed and Gig Workers
Gig workers and self-employed individuals make up a growing sector of the workforce in the U.S. This group of workers has specific needs when it comes to banking. Here’s how community banks are...
Jim Reber: Don't Discount Discounts
Below-market coupons could be your friends in 2024.
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.
What Does Pay by Bank Mean for Community Banks?
Now that FedNow has launched, it’s time to put some focus on a new payments form: Pay by Bank.
Jim Reber: Monetary Policy for the WIN
The Fed was battling inflation 50 years ago, too.
Primis Bank Brings Banking to Your Front Door
Inspired by a fateful food delivery, Primis Bank launched V1BE, a banking delivery service that serves both individuals and businesses.
CFOs' Tips on a Changing Environment
Community bank chief financial officers are currently facing one of the most challenging environments in decades. Independent Banker recently spoke with community bank CFOs to see how they are...
8 Ways to Improve a Customer's Digital Banking Experience
Your customers expect a lot from your website, your app and other digital experiences. But how can community banks focus on what will really be useful to customers, rather than the latest shiny...
How Cloud Banking Benefits Customers
Customers don’t often see the inner workings of how cloud technology simplifies the banking process, but they can certainly experience the perks that come with it.
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.
Jim Reber: Returns, in Total
A wide range of market prices requires analysis.
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.
How to Get Ready for the FedNow Service
The Federal Reserve’s FedNowSM Service is launching in July 2023. Find tips and resources in this article that can support you on your way to instant payments.
Jim Reber: Price stability or yield? Here's both
Cash-management instruments have relative value today.
American Commerce Bank's digital-only branch
American Commerce Bank in Georgia recently launched Monesty, a “digital branch” focused on security and customer engagement.
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...
Member Benefits: TCM Bank's suite of credit programs
Need help building or expanding your bank’s credit services? TCM Bank, N.A. can help your community bank grow with a well-rounded selection of personal and business credit cards.
ICBA's top-performing community banks of 2023
Through creativity, local knowledge and dedication to their customers, community banks continued to demonstrate the value of their relationship-based model in the past year.
BankOnBuffalo redefines mobile banking
BankOnBuffalo has hit the road with its new mobile bank, BankOnWheels, to meet the needs of underserved communities.
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.
Community banks’ guide to FedNow resources
The time has come for the long-awaited FedNow launch. As community banks navigate this process, there are plenty of resources available to answer questions and provide guidance.
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.