Main Street Matters Blog

With the eldest members of Gen Z clocking in at age 24, they represent a market ripe for targeting with banking services. But what they are looking for differs from what Millennials and Gen X required of community banks at the same age.

Smart contracts — blockchain-based programs that operate when predetermined conditions are met — offer potential use cases as well as risks for community banks evaluating their payments processing capabilities

Paycheck Protection Program lending data continue to demonstrate that community banks are justifiably recognized as leaders of the financial response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Community bankers are witnessing the fruits of their labor in ICBA’s months-long campaign opposing the onerous IRS bank reporting proposal. However, the grassroots push must continue.

For $200 million-asset First Community Bank and Trust in Beecher, Ill., having an innovation mindset means being open to explore new ways to solve for business challenges and opportunities.

The Paycheck Protection Program offered millions of small businesses a critical financial lifeline to weather an extraordinary economic downturn engendered by the coronavirus pandemic.

Smart contracts — computer programs that automatically execute specific actions — are becoming increasingly relevant to community banks. Here’s a breakdown of smart contracts and how they could ultimately serve community banks.

The Paycheck Protection Program originated its final loans nearly three months ago. Over the preceding year, this Marshall Plan for small businesses provided critical financial assistance to nearly 5 million individual borrowers.

Between March and June of last year banks experienced a 520% increase in phishing and ransomware attempts. Though these trends were exacerbated by COVID, cybersecurity has been a top concern for the financial services industry for years.

A recent 21st Century from the Conference of State Bank Supervisors report indicates that more than 80% of bankers ranked cybersecurity risk as “very important,” which was more than twice the rate for any other type of operational risk.