Online Course Newsletter – April 2025

Apr 24, 2025
On April 6, 2025, the Online Course Learning Management System was upgraded. Now, when learners open a multi-module course, the first course will automatically launch. This includes certificate programs.

Navigating Employee Retention: Staying Competitive in a Changing Market

Apr 9, 2025
In today’s challenging labor market, competitive compensation and benefits packages are crucial to securing and retaining top performers. Whether you're a CEO planning for the bank’s long-term growth, a CFO managing the bottom line, or an HR leader filling a key role, tapping into reliable compensation data is essential.

ICBA’s Regulator Day: Fostering Community Bank Innovation Through Industry Collaboration

Feb 24, 2025
Innovation never stops, but regulatory considerations can impede progress if not properly accounted for and managed. That’s why it’s crucial to create dedicated spaces where innovators, regulators, and policymakers can form a brain trust to address technology adoption challenges in the financial industry.

Yield enhancer, or gimmick?

Feb 24, 2025
Most representatives of the broker-dealer industry have been suggesting to their customers, especially community banks, that their collection of bonds could be situated to perform pretty well in 2025. You can be forgiven for rolling your eyes if you’ve heard this.

Maintaining Data Privacy Through Your Financial Institution’s Digital Journey

Feb 24, 2025
One of financial institutions’ biggest concerns when considering digital tools such as artificial intelligence, automation, or data platforms is verifying your institution and customer data remain secure. The trust needed with your vendors and platforms require much more diligence, awareness, and monitoring than when you favored an on-premises infrastructure where your team managed the controls, patching, user access, provisioning, and configuration.

Online Course Newsletter – February 2025

Feb 20, 2025
Did you know that when a learner completes a course and passes the test, they can review the questions they answered correctly and view the correct answer for any they missed?

Concepts and facts - ChatGPT gets it mostly right on yield curve shapes

Feb 20, 2025
The Treasury yield curve is a critical financial indicator that depicts the relationship between interest rates and the maturity dates of U.S. government debt. Typically, the yield curve slopes upward, reflecting higher yields for long-term securities compared to short-term ones.

Countdown to ISO 20022: Key Steps for Community Banks to Ensure a Smooth Fedwire Transition

Feb 14, 2025
With the Federal Reserve rescheduling until July 14 the Fedwire Funds Service’s conversion to the ISO 20022 message format, community banks have four extra months to ensure they are ready. Fortunately, there are a variety of resources available to help ensure a successful transition.

Online Course Newsletter – January 2025

Jan 28, 2025
ICBA stives to provide best-in-class training for community banks. We want to be sure we have what you need as well as what you want. We would appreciate it if you could take two minutes to answer seven questions. We will use this information to plan future online courses and system features.

With Historic Opportunity, ICBA Pushing for Meaningful Policy Change

Jan 7, 2025
With a new Congress and administration arriving in Washington, ICBA and the nation’s community banks face a momentous opportunity to make significant changes to a regulatory system that is flat-out broken.

Yield enhancer, or gimmick? Callable securities present risk and reward.

Jan 7, 2025
Most representatives of the broker-dealer industry have been suggesting to their customers, especially community banks, that their collection of bonds could be situated to perform pretty well in 2025.

Standing Up for Community Banking: A Call for Fairness in Credit Union Policies

Jan 2, 2025
As the number of acquisitions of community banks by credit unions skyrocketed at a shocking rate in 2024, ICBA has rightfully sounded the alarm to legislators and regulators. As a community banker, an S Corporation bank leader, and an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) bank owner, this issue presents a real and present danger to my community and local communities nationwide.

A fresh perspective: FOMC’s 2025 roster has some new voters

Dec 26, 2024
While we in the financial services sector start thinking about monetary policy in the coming year, there’s a new wrinkle to consider. Many Fed-watchers, rate prognosticators, economists and even investors had been betting on substantially lower rates in 2025 for many months.

Top Strategies to Mitigate Current Cyber Threats

Dec 26, 2024
Hackers are leveraging emerging technology to find vulnerabilities in systems once thought impossible to exploit. As a technological renaissance pushes new methods of convenience and optimization, it’s crucial to remain vigilant in a continuously changing setting.

The Board E’s

Dec 26, 2024
Recently, a board chair described to us his approach toward managing his board of directors and how he strives to improve overall corporate governance for the organization by focusing on “the three E’s.” By this, he meant that they ask directors to focus on board engagement, education, and evaluation.

Looking Back at 2024 Advocacy Efforts — and Toward 2025 — with Rebeca Romero Rainey

Dec 23, 2024
We’ve seen a lot of shifts and change this year—the continued uptick in check fraud, the election, credit union acquisitions, etc.—but we community bankers are as steadfast, scrappy and resilient as ever.

Look Back, Look Ahead: ICBA’s Innovation Journey

Dec 23, 2024
This year we’ve doubled down on our commitment to year-round innovation—with the opening of our Center for Innovation in Atlanta, the rollout of two 10-week ThinkTECH Accelerators, and a host of specialized forums and showcases—in our effort to address our bankers’ most pressing business challenges and opportunities.

Online Course Newsletter – December 2024

Dec 20, 2024
Standard Plan, Custom Plan, and Bank Compliance Bundle subscribers’ renewal invoices are due by Dec. 31 to maintain access to the Online Course Learning Management System. If you have not paid and are concerned a check payment will not arrive in time, you can pay online. Visit www.icba.org, log into your account (Member Login button in upper right), click on your name, scroll down to the open invoices, and pay. You may also call us at 800-422-7285 and we can take payment via credit card over the phone.

Community Banks Elevate Industry in 2024 with Major Opportunities Ahead

Dec 20, 2024
ICBA and community bankers focused much of our attention in 2023 on differentiating our industry in the wake of failures at larger institutions, while 2024 was all about elevating our positions on key issues at a time of intense political debate.

As New Administration Comes to Washington, Ending the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Conservatorship Is Urgent

Dec 20, 2024
With a new Congress and administration descending on Washington, now is the time for policymakers to act decisively to free the government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs, from government control to support the nation’s housing sector.