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Jack E. Hopkins: How Education and Technology Drive Down Fraud Risks
Community banks are battling increasingly sophisticated forms of fraud.
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.
Lindsay LaNore: Strategic Success Starts with a Thoughtful Plan
It’s hard to believe it’s already May, but since we’re here, let’s talk about planning.
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.
Future Commercial Lending Success Through Consumer Loans
Read Teslar’s white paper to explore why community banks need to engage consumer borrowers to grow and sustain their commercial lending pipeline—and how to do it successfully.
Protect Your Bank From Card Fraud Losses
ICBA Payments helps banks recuperate losses from card fraud with its Fraud Loss Protection Plan, a unique-to-the- industry product designed for and available exclusively to community banks.
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.
Jack E. Hopkins: Marching to the Beat of Community Banking
As I take on the role of ICBA chairman, I do so with humility, honor and pride in this industry and our mission as community bankers.
Live Oak Bank's Office Design Is Rooted in Innovation
In June 2024, $12.9 billion-asset Live Oak Bank in Wilmington, N.C., debuted a new office building constructed with mass timber materials.
How Community Banks Open Doors for Local Restaurants
Restaurants, just like community banks, are a part of every local economy. And community banks know the best way to support this higher-risk industry.
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.
Jacob Eisen: Changing for the Better
Winston Churchill famously said, “To improve is to change, so to be perfect is to have changed often.”
Scott Anchin: 'Friendly Fraud' Isn't Bank Friendly
Recent research has found that “friendly fraud” costs U.S. businesses more than $100 billion a year. But what is it, and what can we do to minimize its effects?
What Role Will Your Core Play in Open Banking?
The CFPB’s open banking rule opens financial data to authorized third parties. Will your core processor be ready if it takes effect?
5 Ways Community Banks Can Take Advantage of FedNow
FedNow has solidified its place in the banking industry, and now’s the time for community banks to get in on the action. Learn how your bank can ease the instant payments system into its operations.
Jim Reber and Ron Haynie: Fannie and Freddie 3.0
The Trump administration shows interest in reprivatizing the housing GSEs.
Aaron Stetter: The ICBA Capital Summit Shapes the Future of Community Banking
Every year, ICBA hosts its signature lobbying event that encourages grassroots action for our industry and presents bankers the opportunity to meet with legislators.
First National Bank: Redefining Retail Banking
First National Bank’s eStore aims for customer convenience, delivering personalized banking through a high-tech customer experience.
Powering Potential: 5 Ways ICBA Can Improve Your Advocacy Efforts
Discover how ICBA’s resources equip you to excel in your lobbying efforts.
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.
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.
The Ultimate Community Banker Guidebook for All Things Advocacy
This year, a new presidential administration and a new Congress bring opportunities for regulatory and legislative changes.
Powering Potential: ICBA Certification Q&A with Vance Keller
Vance Keller has built a dynamic career in banking since 1999. Keller shares how his commitment to continuous learning and collaboration drives his success in navigating compliance challenges.
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.
Out of Office: Gerardo Munoz
The SVP and chief information officer at $3.4 billion-asset D.L. Evans Bank in Burley, Idaho, collects and refurbishes vintage watches.
The Future of Risk Management: Adapt or Fall Behind
The past 18 months have been a wake-up call for the banking industry. Market instability, interest rate swings, and uncertainty demand agile, data-driven risk management.
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.
Lucas White: Translating Advocacy Into Action
While advocacy has always been a core ICBA pillar, the massive number of new regulations we've faced over the past year is a reminder of the importance of community bankers taking part in advocacy.
How to Fight AI-Boosted Spear Phishing Fraud
AI has streamlined spear phishing, a kind of cyberattack involving emails, video calls or other forms of communication facilitated by fraudsters posing as a trusted colleague, boss or organization.
Why is Streaming the Hottest New Marketing Platform for Community Banks?
As streaming services grow in popularity with viewers, community bankers are exploring the targeting capabilities and flexibility of advertising on connected TV.
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.
Proven Practices For Back-Office Efficiency
Shrinking net interest margins, rising costs, and manual processes challenge community banks to maintain efficiency and profitability in a competitive market.
Community Bank of Parkersburg Shreds for Security
Community Bank of Parkersburg, partnered with local shredding company Gator Shredding to host a community “shred day,” where members of the community could bring documents to be safely destroyed.
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.
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.
Michael Benedict: Community Bank Growth in a New Rate Environment
A steeper yield curve brings growth strategies back into the fold.
Ways to Get the Most Out of Your AML/CFT Program
Anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism programs have become a priority for regulators. Here’s how to ensure your program is up to par.
ESSA Bank & Trust Is All in on Accessible Homeownership
ESSA Bank & Trust is committed to empowering first-time homebuyers and historically underserved communities with its financial education and loan programs.
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.
Marketing Personalization Is More Than Adding Names to Emails
The advent of data-focused, personalized marketing has opened up doors to deeper customer relationships for community banks.
Charles Potts: Putting the "Person" in Personalized Banking
Today, personalization reigns supreme. According to Deloitte, about half of Gen Zers and millennials find personalized experiences important in their banking and business relationships.
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.
Lindsay LaNore: How to Bridge Gaps With Fellow Employees
In a diverse world, one of the greatest skills a leader can have is the ability to talk to people with different perspectives.
How Marketing Can Win Over the C-Suite
Getting buy-in from the C-suite is essential in all facets of the bank, including marketing. Here are tips for how to get executives and the marketing team working toward the same goals.
Kari Mitchum: The Fedwire Transitions to ISO 20022
What community banks need to know about the Fedwire ISO 20022 switch.
Out of Office: Richard Thiessens
The EVP and chief technology officer at $746 million-asset FinWise Bank in Murray, Utah, makes his own wine, cider and mead.
Renovation Lending: The Solution to a Tough Mortgage Market?
With many prospective and first-time homebuyers buying fixer-uppers, community banks can tap into a new market to supplement their mortgage and construction portfolios.
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...
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?
Powering Potential: Marketing Made Easier for Your Community Bank
The ICBA Marketing Resource Center delivers dynamic, evolving resources that can help you save time, elevate your messaging and win over current and prospective customers.
How Community Banks Are Fighting AI-Powered Elder Fraud
Generative AI has made scamming vulnerable people alarmingly simple. Banks must raise awareness among their senior customers of the dangers and help build financial security.
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.
IT MSP, Integris, Reveals Top IT Trends for the Second Year in New Report, “Understanding US Banks’ Annual IT Spend in 2025”
Discover where banks stand on technology in 2025! Our survey of 1,000+ bank executives reveals IT’s growing role, key infrastructure needs, cybersecurity concerns, and economic impacts.
Loan Pricing strategies: Don’t let your bank become a Castaway.
With rapidly changing market conditions, your bank could easily find itself isolated like Tom Hanks in Castaway, on a desert island alone.
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.
Jacob Eisen: The Difference Between Direct and Agent Bank Credit Card Programs
Credit cards remain the most widely used credit product in the U.S., and the Federal Reserve’s latest payments study points to a continued climb in the number of card transactions, their overall...
Preparing and Nurturing Future Bank Leaders
How can community banks foster future leaders and make sure they’re prepared to take on a managerial role? It takes a healthy dose of attention, understanding and room for trial and error.
Kick Lending Up a Notch With Digital Solutions
Increased efficiency and fewer errors are just two of the benefits of digitalizing your loan production process.
Lucas White: Tackling Fraud With Technology and Education
Community bankers consistently rank cybersecurity and fraud among our highest internal risks, and those risks are growing.
United Community Bank Helps Veterans Take Flight
On Oct. 4, United Community Bank in Perham, Minn., hosted a Tailgate for Troops event in the nearby city of Frazee to raise money for the Veterans Honor Flight of ND/MN.