Main Street Matters Blog

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.

Have you ever been ready to jump into your next meeting only to notice you didn’t have your mobile phone? If so, I’m betting you felt a sense of panic that only subsided once your phone was back in hand.Because without it, you’d lost your lifeline.

ICBA’s campaign against Washington’s IRS reporting proposal has helped consumers speak out against the plan. But as the debate evolves, the campaign now demands that community bankers increase their grassroots outreach through calls and messages to Capitol Hill.

A new educational webinar series hosted by ICBA and Jackson Lewis starts tomorrow. This series will speak to community bank considerations around diversity and provide greater insights into both the why and how behind diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

High-tech, high touch. That phrase has been a rallying cry for community banks for years, emphasizing the blending of the relationship banking model with the technology fueling today’s digital era. And now the expression has bubbled up in a new source.

In this latest blog, ICBA senior vice president and chief innovation officer Charles Potts, writes about the key factors that lead fintechs to success in the community banking space.