The Treasury yield curve is a critical financial indicator that depicts the relationship between interest rates and the maturity dates of U.S. government debt. Typically, the yield curve slopes upward, reflecting higher yields for long-term securities compared to short-term ones.

With the Federal Reserve rescheduling until July 14 the Fedwire Funds Service’s conversion to the ISO 20022 message format, community banks have four extra months to ensure they are ready. Fortunately, there are a variety of resources available to help ensure a successful transition.

ICBA stives to provide best-in-class training for community banks. We want to be sure we have what you need as well as what you want. We would appreciate it if you could take two minutes to answer seven questions. We will use this information to plan future online courses and system features.

With a new Congress and administration arriving in Washington, ICBA and the nation’s community banks face a momentous opportunity to make significant changes to a regulatory system that is flat-out broken.

Most representatives of the broker-dealer industry have been suggesting to their customers, especially community banks, that their collection of bonds could be situated to perform pretty well in 2025.

As the number of acquisitions of community banks by credit unions skyrocketed at a shocking rate in 2024, ICBA has rightfully sounded the alarm to legislators and regulators. As a community banker, an S Corporation bank leader, and an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) bank owner, this issue presents a real and present danger to my community and local communities nationwide.

While we in the financial services sector start thinking about monetary policy in the coming year, there’s a new wrinkle to consider. Many Fed-watchers, rate prognosticators, economists and even investors had been betting on substantially lower rates in 2025 for many months.

Hackers are leveraging emerging technology to find vulnerabilities in systems once thought impossible to exploit. As a technological renaissance pushes new methods of convenience and optimization, it’s crucial to remain vigilant in a continuously changing setting.

Recently, a board chair described to us his approach toward managing his board of directors and how he strives to improve overall corporate governance for the organization by focusing on “the three E’s.” By this, he meant that they ask directors to focus on board engagement, education, and evaluation.

We’ve seen a lot of shifts and change this year—the continued uptick in check fraud, the election, credit union acquisitions, etc.—but we community bankers are as steadfast, scrappy and resilient as ever.