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Main Street Matters Blog

Find out what's happening in communities across America, from grassroots advocacy efforts, to fintech innovations and everyday successes of Main Street banks.

Main Street Matters

How ICBA’s Investments in Innovation Are Paying Off for Community Banks

Dec 2, 2022
Just shy of a year ago, ICBA announced its role as one of the general partners and investment committee members in a strategic investment fund designed to accelerate technology opportunities and adoption at community banks. Today, BankTech Ventures, has raised more than $115 million in committed capital in its first fund and has backed eight different companies working to provide community bank technology solutions.

Six Steps to Your Bank’s Digital Payments Transformation

Nov 18, 2022
Digital transformation is the 2022 payments phrase of year. You can’t attend a meeting without hearing about its importance in the financial services landscape, and when you consider that nearly nine in ten Americans are now using some form of digital payments, you understand why it needs to be a top priority.

ICBA's Reimagined ThinkTECH Accelerator to Support Year-Round Programming

Oct 26, 2022
Bob Dylan once said, “There is nothing so stable as change,” and I have found that to be true, particularly as we look to embrace modern technologies and the companies that enable them.

Why Instant Payments Should Be on Your Digital Transformation Road Map

Oct 25, 2022
Even if you aren’t hearing the words “faster payments” or “instant payments” directly from your customers, trends and research show the demand is there – and rising. Recent Federal Reserve surveys reveal growing interest in faster payments

Three Financial Technology Trends Community Banks Should Consider for 2023

Oct 25, 2022
When I attended FinovateFall in September, I was struck by its palpable energy. Not only was it the most well attended Finovate to date with roughly 1,800 attendees and 64 participating companies, it was a widely collaborative conference, converting what had once felt like a competitive environment into one of enablement.

How Community Banks Can Leverage Strong Multifactor Authentication to Fend off Hackers

Oct 21, 2022
In the first half of 2022, there were 817 data breaches in the U.S., and combined with data leaks and data exposure, they impacted more than 53 million individuals. These are alarming numbers, but they could have been much worse without the use of some form of multifactor authentication.

How Federal Regulators Can Avoid Penalizing Community Banks for Economic Measures Taken During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Oct 19, 2022
The consequences of uncoordinated regulatory standards at the federal level are creating an artificial problem at the local level, potentially endangering many community banks’ ability to lend to local customers.

Three Take-Aways for Community Banks from the VenCent Summit

Sep 13, 2022
The Venture Center, ICBA’s leadership bankers, and our ThinkTECH Accelerator cohorts demonstrated the importance of community bank-fintech collaborations at last month’s VenCent Summit. It was an opportunity to showcase the evolution of our Accelerator alumni and reiterate the value of our ThinkTECH initiatives.

Zelle Fraud: How Community Banks Can Respond to This Cautionary Tale

Sep 8, 2022
In 2020, nearly 18 million Americans were defrauded via digital wallets and person-to-person (P2P) services, according to Javelin Strategy & Research. With numbers like that, P2P solutions like Zelle have come under fire, and issues are escalating.

How community banks can use cultural-driven engagement and continuous learning to combat the Great Resignation

Aug 31, 2022
Talent recruitment and professional development has always been a critical issue for community banks, but today’s job market is different. The impact of the “Great Resignation” has placed the workforce in the driver’s seat. Even so, as nimble, local decision makers, community banks have a big opportunity to stand out from the crowd of potential employers.