Main Street Matters Blog

ICBA this week kicked off the next chapter in our journey to create and promote an environment where community banks flourish with the launch of the ICBA ThinkTech Accelerator.

ICBA has been working with policymakers to ensure the new Subchapter S tax deduction is workable for community banks. Main Street Matters sat down with ICBA’s Alan Keller, first vice president of legislative policy, and Steve Keen, vice president of congressional relations, to check in on the issue.

Today’s cybercrime is masked in various forms and unassuming emails as criminals look to best the system for financial gain.ICBA is doing its part to help community banks address this growing threat—arming our members with information, resources and partnerships to safeguard their institutions and their customers.

Just as community bankers establish symbiotic relationships with their customers and communities, ICBA and the community banking industry maintain strong bonds with policymakers of all political stripes who write the laws and regulations we live by.

Three banks sound off on using ICBA's Core Processor Resource Guide as a blueprint for managing this complex, critical and expensive technology investment and creating a strategic relationship in line with their business objectives.

Although August is typically a sleepy month in D.C., policymakers were still hard at work last month—which meant that the ICBA’s regulatory affairs team was also hard at work keeping up with the latest developments.

The community banking industry is accustomed to required annual training mandates but the recent evolution in employment benefits makes learning a compelling non-salary reward. There is no one-size-fits-all program for community banks, so your bank has the creative flexibility to enhance and enrich its own training program in countless ways.

HUD should amend its fair lending disparate-impact rule to meet the limitations imposed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

As a well-known speaker and educator in the community banking industry, Barret Graduate School of Banking President and Director Chris Kelley knows all too well the importance of continuous learning. As we prepare for an energetic LEAD FWD Summit, filled with education and workshops that will challenge our industry’s next generation of leaders, I talked with Chris about the necessity of growing and thinking outside of the traditional boundaries of community banking.

The push for regulatory relief continues. We have a host of issues ahead of us, and community banker participation is essential in bringing them to the forefront of Congress members’ and regulators’ attention.