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Tips for Better Community Bank CMS Testing
By understanding and leveraging compliance management system testing, community banks can limit potential risk.
How Banks Can Approach Cannabis Compliance
For community banks that are interested in or are already working with cannabis-related businesses, understanding compliance guidelines surrounding that sector is vital. We spoke with experts on...
Q&A: Computer-Security Incident Notifications
To prevent cyber incidents, new computer-security incident notification requirements were established in late 2021, changing the way community banks need to react in case of a cybersecurity event.
How Community Banks Can Better Protect Their ATMs
Branches aren’t the only bank properties that bad actors target. The number of ATM robberies is steadily increasing, and your security around them should, too.
A Risk Management Clinic for Community Bankers
Risk management is as important a function of community banking as are loans and deposits. But are there better ways of keeping on top of risks that are constantly emerging and changing? Step into...
How Community Banks Can Fight Synthetic Identity Fraud
Community banks need to be on the lookout for synthetic identity fraud, a growing problem since the pandemic. Here’s how tools and solutions can detect, prevent and solve this type of fraud
Compliance Vault: The Ultimate Compliance Resource
With a vast library of Q&As, select online courses and informational documents, Compliance Vault is a valuable resource for all your regulatory compliance questions.
Protect your community bank from business payments fraud
Multiple types of business payments fraud are on the rise. We spoke with experts on how to effectively protect your community bank and its customers.
Strengthening your compliance management program
Wells Fargo was heavily fined for mismanagement of multiple functions, demonstrating the importance of having an effective compliance management system.
Are your community bank's BSA/AML programs up to date?
FinCEN recently reported that a bank willfully violated the Bank Secrecy Act, highlighting the importance of community banks updating their BSA/AML programs.
Listen Up: Partners in fraud prevention
Episode 4 of the Independent Banker podcast features Pioneer Trust Bank’s Betsy Steinberg and ICBA Bancard’s Rebecca Kruse discussing the many ways you can protect your financial institution from...
Phishing solutions for community banks
Phishing has been around almost as long as email itself, which means hackers have had plenty of time to perfect their practices. It’s more likely than not that community bank staff will fall for a...
Updates to the beneficial ownership rules
Starting in 2024, banks will be required to collect beneficial ownership information on accounts they maintain. Here’s what’s changing and what it means for community banks.
Navigating new overdraft fee guidance for community banks
The CFPB recently issued new guidance on overdraft fees that was unanticipated by community banks. Learn what this means for the industry and how community banks can stay in compliance.
Biometrics: Security technology for community banks
The field of biometrics is evolving every day, incorporating new technology that could enhance community banks’ defenses against fraud. Industry experts explain how this technology works and its...
Member Benefits: Fighting elder financial exploitation
Billions of dollars are lost to elder financial exploitation each year. Equip your team with the skills needed to protect your customers.
Compliance changes to watch in 2023
From new fee practices to peer-to-peer fraud, keep an eye on what regulatory changes could be developing in the new year.
Maintaining momentum in an unpredictable lending landscape
In the past few years, the lending landscape was unpredictable, to say the least. Community bankers look back at what happened in 2022 and what’s on the road ahead.
2022 regulatory compliance review
While the creation of new compliance regulations was slow this year compared with years past, some regulations were implemented as expected, and some continue to evolve.
How fraudsters target different generations
Financial fraud and cyber attacks aren’t a one-age-fits-all scenario. By identifying the banking and spending habits of different generations, scammers tailor how they reach their targets. We look...
Data privacy: How to keep customer data safe
Shielding sensitive customer information remains an industry challenge. But as the prevalence of security breaches grows, so do opportunities for community banks to position themselves as guardians...
Brad M. Bolton: Protect customers against fraud
The knowledge we have cultivated over years of circumventing attacks means that we have a depth of understanding about cyber and data security that the general population doesn’t—and those...
More With Less: Managing Risks With Limited Resources
SPONSORED | With risk teams often facing resource constraints, digitizing the risk management process is a great way to improve efficiency because it improves risk managers’ ability to focus on the...
Brad M. Bolton: Compliance as a focal point
Managing compliance is a role that community bankers take more seriously than any other segment of the financial services industry.
How to reach customers with disabilities
Some people living with disabilities eschew banking services because they feel financially underserved or physically barred. Through sensitive customer service and ADA-compliant accessibility,...
9 ways to manage credit risk
Effects of the pandemic and other factors creating unpredictability have changed how community banks approach their credit and lending operations. These experts share nine tips and credit risk best...
Can staying vigilant prevent fraud?
By staying vigilant to consumer guidelines and establishing their own security safeguards, community banks can stay ahead of today's ever-evolving threat of fraudulent activity and erroneous...
Ensure your community bank is inclusive
For a workplace to be truly inclusive, its employees should feel accepted for who they are and valued for their unique perspectives and backgrounds. We asked community bankers and experts for their...
Preventing Synthetic Identity Fraud
SPONSORED | How regional institutions can originate more accounts while building defenses for digital channels.
How community banks can address cybercrime
Fraud and cyber attacks are on the rise, and at great expense to the industry. Community banks have a choice about addressing the problem: Remain vulnerable or be vigilant. Here are some ideas for...
These Asian-American led banks are helping their communities
May marks Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month—and these Asian American-led community banks are adding to that heritage every single day by helping bring dreams within reach.
UDAAP policy update for 2022
With a recent executive push for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to resume its enforcement efforts, we look at how banks can increase prevention, mitigate risk and, most important,...
Taking Bold and Brave Action for Community Banks – with Rebeca Romero Rainey, President and CEO of ICBA
Rebeca Romero Rainey, President and CEO of ICBA, talks with host Charles Potts, Chief Innovation Officer, about how and why ICBA made the decision to stand alone in public opposition to the...
Compliance changes coming this year
Driven by uncertainty around the pandemic, few compliance reforms were realized in 2021. This year, regulators are considering reforms centered on the Community Reinvestment Act, the Fair Housing...
How did compliance change in 2021?
This year has largely been a quiet time for regulatory and compliance reform. But while community banks were focused on the economic recovery of their communities, a few changes came during 2021.
Strategies for fighting remote authentication fraud
As more customers moved online, fraudsters took advantage of new and increasingly inventive opportunities to commit authentication fraud. Experts say community banks can use education, biometrics...
How to do a cybersecurity risk assessment
The way community banks gauge cybersecurity risk is the same as for any other risk, but it’s becoming more important as the industry adopts the latest digital tools and practices. Here’s why...
Tips for a successful PPP audit
Many community banks embraced the Paycheck Protection Program, building new relationships and deepening existing ones. While the onus of forgiveness is on the borrowers, PPP lenders need to be...
Your 2021 physical security assessment checklist
Social distancing measures had a large effect on branch security over the past year. Here’s what to look for when doing a physical security assessment to account for the latest trends in...
What’s a special-purpose credit program?
In an effort to help financial institutions expand access to credit, the CFPB recently addressed regulatory uncertainty around special-purpose credit programs, or SPCPs. These programs are intended...
Stop elder financial abuse with data analytics
Elder financial abuse has been on the rise for the past decade, but so has data analytics technology, which banks can use to fight this fraud. Experts share strategies for community banks to...
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.
The advertising regulations you need to know
Like any business marketing its products and services, a community bank must keep its advertising truthful. There are plenty of regulations specific to financial institutions under the FDIC, CFPB...
Responding to the SolarWinds breach
All institutions, even those with a solid cybersecurity defense, were vulnerable to 2020’s SolarWinds Orion cyberattack. Community banks should be ready for a future cyber event.
The overdraft regulations that you need to know
This past year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) fined a national bank for misinforming its accountholders about its overdraft services fees. A handful of regulations apply to banks...
How community banks serve immigrants
When people move to the U.S. from other countries, they often don’t have an American credit history, identification or other typical requirements of the account-opening or loan process.
Fraudsters’ latest target? UI benefits
Criminals have stolen more than half a billion dollars by taking advantage of the surge in unemployment claims during the pandemic. Luckily, most of this money has been recovered. Here’s what you...
Safe deposit boxes can have benefits beyond revenue
Safe deposit boxes aren’t big revenue drivers at most community banks, but for some customers, they can be an important service. They provide peace of mind when breaches and hacks have eroded trust...
Why diversity and inclusion matters to regulators
This year, many businesses have prioritized diversity and inclusion. But what are regulatory agencies doing to track and enforce diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the financial industry?
7 best practices to help avoid audit missteps
An audit tells a community bank whether it’s adhering to regulations and objectives. However, a lack of preparation and poor scoping techniques, among other factors, can lead to wasted time. Here’s...
What you can do now to prepare for CECL
Community banks won’t have to implement current expected credit losses, or CECL, standards until 2023, but it’s never too early to start getting ready. Here’s what industry experts say you should...
How branch security is catching up with branch design
As the design of the branch has advanced, so, too, have the measures that community banks use to keep their branches secure.
How your bank can fight first-party fraud
First-party fraud puts banks in the tough position of deciding which account applicants are synthetic and which are real. But experts agree that there are ways to can use technology and...
Preventing and detecting mortgage fraud
Many compliance functions are needed to detect mortgage fraud, from FACTA and FCRA to the SAFE Act. Here’s a look at the requirements.
How your bank should handle consumer complaints
It’s important for community banks to understand and respond to customer complaints. But what should a complaint program include, and how might complaint data be an opportunity to improve your...
How your bank can stay compliant on social media
It’s common for community banks to have a presence on one, two or up to half a dozen social media platforms to engage with customers. But what does being an active social media user mean for...
Protect your bank from remote deposit capture risks
Despite the advancements of today’s banking industry, checks remain a common part of the customer experience, and remote deposit capture (RDC) has followed. What risk management strategies should...
Five steps to building an effective deposit strategy plan
SPONSORED | Building an effective deposit strategy plan is an integral tool to acquiring new, and retaining existing, deposits. Here are the five steps for designing, organizing and implementing a...
Ways to avoid flood insurance compliance violations
Avoiding flood insurance-related violations requires understanding loans, notifying customers and/or assessing insurance coverage requirements.
Site visits still matter. Here’s why
Site visits are the key to protecting your community bank’s commercial and industrial portfolio. Here’s why.