The FedNow Service’s launch is a milestone in the Fed’s payments improvement journey, but it does not mark the end of the path. In the near term, ICBA urges community banks to focus on faster payments adoption.

Ann Buckmiller, director of compliance at Reliabank Dakota in South Dakota, and her fellow Independent Banker 40 Under 40 winner, Carolyn Watson, marketing officer at Ambler Savings Bank in Pennsylvania, talk to ICBA’s Lindsay LaNore and host Charles Potts about what they look for in a workplace culture and why community banking has turned into a dream career for them.

July 1 is the compliance date for the “clarification” to Regulation II, which the Board of the Federal Reserve System approved in its final rule last October. While this requirement has applied to card-present transactions for a decade, it now also explicitly pertains to CNP payments.

New reporting features have been added based on your feedback. The following changes have been made to the Learning Management System.

Dreaming about what life will look like with a little one — or a few kiddos — is filled with anticipation, wonder, excitement and a healthy dose of uncertainty. One aspect of life that’s certain to be impacted when growing a family is your finances.

Growing up, you probably dreamed about those key milestones to come in your life: launching your career, having a family, and settling into a home. But those dreams come with price tags, which can force you to adjust your goals to align with the size of your bank account.

In recent years, community banks across the nation have seen a drastic rise in check fraud. To compound the issue, many community banks are faced with challenges getting funds reimbursed from the banks of first deposit and are left to reimburse affected customers even when the community banks aren’t liable for the fraud.

Artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT—though many are still nascent—are rapidly shifting the landscape in numerous industries, including the financial institutions space.

I think we can all agree that there has been plenty to be concerned about in the last, say, five years. Some are environmental issues, some are social and, for community bankers, plenty are economic.

Commercial real estate is a hot topic right now. The perception of increasing risk within the banking system surrounding real estate loans is prevalent. This might be an area within your bank that you will want to look at closely right now to catch any early warning signs of any deterioration.