Unless you have been living on a desert island for the past few years, you would be hard-pressed to miss the technological revolution that is sweeping our nation’s financial system and the larger global economy.

Catching synthetic identity fraudsters remains difficult, and the fall-out of not detecting it, is substantial. AI company Coalesce estimates that synthetic identities account for more than 20 percent of losses in a loan portfolio, and for credit, they average 4.6 times the typical loss.

Community banks have long served the small-business market, but given the pandemic impact, new opportunities have emerged to support these customers’ payments needs and address areas of friction.

When I think about customer-permissioned data sharing, I am reminded of the scene from the movie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off where Ferris and his best friend, Cameron, leave the keys to a Ferrari with an attendant only to discover later that the valet has taken the luxury sports car out for a joy-ride.

Even with business continuity and disaster recovery plans in place, some banks have recently been forced to implement policies and procedures that they were not prepared for.

Well before coronavirus saturated our headlines, community banks accounted for 60 percent of small-business lending, served 58 percent of small businesses nationwide as their primary lender, and lent over $1.5 trillion to small businesses in 2019 alone.

Central Payments, the payments arm of the $238 million-asset Central Bank of Kansas City (CBKC) never imagined that a few days into their Falls Fintech accelerator program, they’d have to transition to a fully virtual experience. But due to COVID-19, that’s exactly what happened.

It’s no surprise that community banks have been financial first responders during the coronavirus pandemic. Their mission, vision and commitment to community is well-known, but research reveals the true extent of their impact.

Back in 1985, the first Macintosh computer debuted, and by today’s standards, it was a boxy, clunky, slow unit, yet Consumer Reports gave it a glowing review and cited the mouse and use of icons as technological breakthroughs. This demonstrates a key point: 35 years is a long time when we consider the rate of technological change.

With U.S. consumers paying approximately 15 billion bills valued at $4 trillion annually, nearly 30 percent of all consumer spending comes in the form of bill payment. This market presents significant opportunities for community banks.