By Preston Kennedy

When I think of acceleration, different images spring to mind: A car revving its engine as the light changes to green; a wide receiver speeding toward the end zone with the ball tucked under his arm; and now, an emerging fintech solution making its way into a community bank’s products.

That last one may come as a bit of a surprise, but less than two weeks ago, I was in Little Rock, Ark., for the kickoff of the bootcamp phase of the ICBA ThinkTECH Accelerator, which we are running in partnership with The Venture Center. Since that launch, speed-to-market has been top of mind.

While “accelerators” and “incubators” have become the approach du jour for those seeking to be tech-savvy, this program is the real deal. Meeting The Venture Center team and our 10 finalists inspired me, and I am confident that all community bankers stand to benefit from this ICBA investment in the future. It’s a real gamechanger for our industry.

The ICBA ThinkTECH Accelerator is focused specifically on community bank needs, but it’s not just that strategic targeting that makes it unique; it’s the entire approach to innovation. To paraphrase the Venture Center’s Managing Director of Accelerator Programs Brian Bauer, the engagement of community bankers in this process helps to dial in on the solutions most relevant to community banks and embrace demand-driven innovation. We’re able to work with those companies who are most in sync with the products community banks want.

In short, the accelerator cuts through the clutter of the fintech space and homes in on those solutions that offer the most opportunity.

Accelerator participants are developing products that help community banks improve customer experiences, acquire new customers, expand access to capital, and even bank underserved communities. These 10 finalists, selected from 190 applications across the U.S. and 39 other countries, include:

• Adlumin, Alexandria, Va. – offers a cloud-based security incident and event management solution, custom-built for the financial sector
• Agora, New York, N.Y. – helps banks enhance their legacy payment platforms (without replacing them) for a better user experience
• Botdoc, Monument, Colo. – provides the ability to remotely collect documents in real-time
• CRiskCo, Brisbane, Australia – introduces automated AI-based onboarding and underwriting technologies to banks
• Gerald, New York, N.Y. – creates revenue opportunities by enabling banks to offer personal and commercial lines of insurance to their customers
• KapitalWise, New York, N.Y. – presents an AI platform that allows financial institutions to interact with their customers at scale
• MK Decision, San Diego, Calif. – delivers a better lending experience, optimized to drive conversions, with automated credit decisions and data-driven fraud prevention
• Sou Sou, Washington, D.C. – supplies a smart, social banking account to attract low-cost deposits and credit-ready borrowers
• Teslar by 3E, Fayetteville, Ark. – makes information more accessible for institutions of all sizes
• Vetter, New York, N.Y. – empowers community financial institutions with the technology needed to grow

These participants, a wonderful assortment of international entrepreneurs, are filled with optimism, ready to roll out their solutions for community banks. As the bootcamp progresses, they will develop high-tech tools that complement the high-touch experience customers expect and value from their locally owned and managed community banks. We’ll all see innovations that could be strong solutions for our institutions and others that will generate new ideas to better meet our customer needs. ICBA will be developing profiles of each of these companies and the specifics of their solutions over the coming weeks.

Being onsite at the Venture Center reinvigorated my pride in what we do as community bankers. It reinforced something that we sometimes forget: we—community banks—truly are the good guys of financial services. People are eager to be associated with us because we are here to serve our communities to the best of our abilities.

If we imagine what the financial services landscape could be like without community banks, a path unfolds that could allow for expansive greed and continued bail-outs. Playing this version of “It’s a Wonderful Life” in my head, I don’t foresee the rosiest of pictures. But, as community banks continue to grow stronger and become more ingrained in the fabric of our communities, there’s a whole different vision of the future coming to play. And with ICBA and The Venture Center on our side, we are taking George Bailey into the digital age by bringing new, community bank-customized products and services along on our ride. It promises to be an exciting adventure.

Preston Kennedy is ICBA chairman-elect and president and CEO of Zachary Bancshares Inc. of Zachary, La.