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. In fact, we show no signs of slowing down. According to Rebeca Romero Rainey, ICBA president and CEO, we’ve had a very successful year for ICBA’s advocacy and grassroots efforts. Take the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Section 1033, for example, where ICBA helped secure an exemption for...
Dec 23, 2024•35 min•Season 1Ep. 28
As the holidays approach, it’s time to stay even more vigilant against fraud. That’s because fraudsters are more likely to seek out vulnerable, lonely or busy people at the end of the year. How can community bankers get ahead of year-end fraud and raise awareness among consumers? “I think that's the responsibility of community banks,” says Kausar Kenning, global head of payment systems intelligence for VISA. “Make sure that you're taking all those safety precautions, make sure that you're being ...
Nov 08, 2024•36 min•Season 1Ep. 27
If you’re looking to advance your career, you may be thinking, “Where do I start?” But options abound—you just have to know where to look. Alexander Price, CEO of Citizens State Bank in Ouray, Colo., pursued further education and career development at the Graduate School of Banking at Colorado, which is just one of the options available to bankers. “[School is] one of those things where you just have time, you have space, to think about things and to talk about things. It's worth its weight in g...
Sep 02, 2024•42 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Check fraud isn’t new, but it has re-emerged as an appealing way for fraudsters to target community banks and their customers. That’s why ICBA has brought check fraud to the forefront of its conversation with its members, to discuss the ways they can band together to solve this issue. “The one advantage that we have—which is a really, really strong advantage—is that we have an incredibly dedicated and engaged membership of folks who are working on the frontlines of check fraud, and who understan...
Jun 24, 2024•43 min•Season 1Ep. 25
As technology and customer expectations change, fintechs must adapt and pivot to meet the needs of the community banks they work with. Whatever community banks are looking for—streamlining data collection, cutting down operation costs, etc.—there should be a fintech stepping up to provide a solution. But that means they must know exactly what the community bank customer desires. “The majority of the conversations that I am having on this topic is a function of helping that fintech founder connec...
May 17, 2024•41 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Whenever you hear stories from people who have been to ICBA LIVE for the first time, they're just blown away from the atmosphere, from the camaraderie, from that one mission focus … It just makes such an impression that you will never be the same once you come to this event,” says Brad Bolton, former ICBA chairman and president and CEO of Community Spirit Bank in Red Bay, Ala. In March 2024, Orlando plays host to thousands of community bankers looking forward to connecting, learning and pushing ...
Jan 31, 2024•29 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Technology is ever advancing, and it’s critical for community bankers to stay ahead of it. According to Dharmesh Mistry of FinTech Futures, a media platform dedicated to global banking and the fintech industry, three of those trends are generative AI, faster payments and the cloud. “2024 can continue to be a transformative year for community banks. Cloud is a way to pursue that to drive down some of the costs, create some more efficiencies,” Mistry says. “It’s not just about pure expense reducti...
Dec 29, 2023•43 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Connection is at the heart of what community bankers do. That’s one of the reasons that the social networking platform ICBA Community was created. And it’s not only creating online connections, it’s helping bankers build relationships with each other outside of the forum. “It's been helpful right now just to have others that you can go to and really connect with,” says Leah Brink, marketing and training director of BankStar Financial and co-lead of ICBA Community’s marketing group. “I've seen ex...
Nov 30, 2023•30 min•Season 1Ep. 21
With hundreds of millions of cyberattacks happening each year, it’s critical for community banks to fortify their cybersecurity operations. While it may be tempting to go after the hottest new cyber protections, it’s important not to forget the basics, says Adlumin Inc.’s CEO, Robert Johnston. “If you get the blocking and tackling done correctly, 85% of threats you can take off the table,” he says. “Get that right and you will save yourself a lot of pain from just brilliance in the basics.” It c...
Oct 31, 2023•44 min•Season 1Ep. 20
AI technology is growing exponentially. While it can bring many advantages to community banks, some bankers may have concerns about possible security issues. So, why take the risk if your bank is performing well? BAC Community Bank in Stockton, Calif., which worked AI-specialist fintech Agent IQ, was able to develop a thorough understanding of the technology and create better systems that benefited both staff and customers. “We weren't really trying to solve a problem,” says Jackie Verkuyl, EVP/...
Sep 29, 2023•41 min•Season 1Ep. 19
“I think when you’re looking to buy any kind of a product, a data product,” says Kim Snyder, CEO of the fintech KlariVis, “you need to make sure that the vendor that you’re purchasing it from understands your industry and understands how that technology is going to be utilized in your industry.” Finding the right fintech for your community bank takes time, but Snyder and Alice Frazier, president and CEO of Bank of Charles Town, worked to create a partnership that has proved invaluable for both p...
Aug 30, 2023•51 min•Season 1Ep. 18
“You can go anywhere and get a loan,” says Dan Schopp, president and CEO of First Security Bank in Mackinaw, Ill. “I always say we don't want to be an ATM— just dollar dispensers. The biggest challenge is showing your customer, what value am I adding to you or your operation?” Every year, Independent Banker ranks the top community bank loan producers of the year, and in this episode we’re lucky to have representatives of three winners with us. Schopp is joined by Mike Rizzo, senior vice presiden...
Jul 26, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 17
2“I just think it's so important to have that overall [compliance] culture at the bank, because then people are also more open and willing to come to you and say, ‘Hey, I have a crazy idea. Do you think this can work?’” Ann Buckmiller, director of compliance at Reliabank Dakota in South Dakota, says she has worked hard to integrate compliance throughout her community bank by building personal connections and leading with innovation. She and her fellow Independent Banker 40 Under 40 winner, Carol...
Jun 30, 2023•41 min•Season 1Ep. 16
“We're not just seeking growth to grow and to reach a certain asset size, or reach a certain profit dollar amount. We're going to stick to our lending philosophy … and let it come as it may.” For State Bank of Texas, says president Sushil Patel, blind growth just isn’t in its business plan. In this episode, Patel tells host Charles Potts why this immigrant-founded community bank has thrived by cornering the hospitality lending market and capitalizing on its leaders’ and board members’ own experi...
May 25, 2023•34 min•Season 1Ep. 15
“What a great time for us to demonstrate who we are,” says Derek Williams. “What a great time to talk about what makes the community banking model different.” The president and CEO of Georgia’s Century Bank and Trust and newly minted ICBA chairman believes that the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in late March are an opportunity—an opportunity to show that community banks’ relationship-based business model sets them poles apart from the risky practices of megabanks like SVB. H...
Apr 14, 2023•39 min•Season 1Ep. 14
“We started focusing on our employees and what they need as much as what we need,” says Steve Farbstein, Blue Ridge Bank’s chief revenue and development officer. Since the Great Resignation, the Virginia community bank has shifted its approach to recruitment, taking things like flexibility and wellness into account, along with 401(k)s and PTO. As Farbstein and our other guest, Renee Peterson of Horicon Bank in Wisconsin, discuss with host Charles Potts, it’s no longer enough to do things as they...
Apr 07, 2023•47 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Vendor relationships can be purely transactional, but the really high-value ones work more like partnerships. That’s certainly what Bob Fisher, president and CEO of Tioga State Bank in Spencer, N.Y., found when his bank hired cybersecurity fintech Beauceron Security of New Brunswick, Canada. Beauceron cofounder and CEO David Shipley wants his company to be seen as a “worthy investment of time, effort and capital”—and it achieves this by treating clients like Tioga State Bank not as numbers but a...
Mar 08, 2023•33 min•Season 1Ep. 12
“It’s not hard to advocate for the perhaps underestimated but clearly formidable competitor.” That’s Anne Balcer’s view of her role as ICBA’s chief of government relations and public policy, which she took on in July 2022 after time at Forbright Bank, a community bank in Maryland, and in Maryland state government. Balcer talks to host Charles Potts, ICBA’s chief innovation officer, about the value of her background as a community banker, the advocacy wins community banks saw last year, the issue...
Feb 15, 2023•38 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Banking solutions that have already been through vendor due diligence and other compliance assessments? Sign us up. That’s what the ICBA ThinkTECH Accelerator has aimed to do for the past four years: collaborate with fintechs to develop plug-and-play solutions tailor-made for community banks. In late 2022, ICBA announced it was bringing the Accelerator and all innovation activities in house. In this episode, our guests reveal the reasons behind this move and give a glimpse of how the association...
Nov 16, 2022•43 min•Season 1Ep. 10
“Innovation isn’t magic,” says Tim Shangle, ChoiceOne Bank’s associate vice president of innovation and data analytics. “You don’t need a wizard to make your bank innovative. Innovation is simply something that is new today that will eventually become normal down the road.” One key for community banks to harness a successful innovative strategy is by embracing the wealth of new talent—who, like Independent Banker ’s 40 under 40 emerging community bank leaders, are the future faces of the industr...
Sep 01, 2022•31 min•Season 1Ep. 9
“The people factor is about your culture,” notes Kathy Strasser, IncredibleBank’s Executive Vice President and COO. “You can have people with a digital mindset, but when you have a digital culture, that’s when you know you’ve got something special.” Strasser knows the secret to finding success in digital: It’s about the people. That’s helped Wisconsin-based IncredibleBank grow from a small community bank subsidiary to one of today’s most innovative and influential community banks. In this editio...
Jun 02, 2022•48 min•Season 1Ep. 8
“Today, in literal terms, everybody has to operate as that state-of-the-art bank,” says Kevin Piette, chief operating officer and chief information officer for State Bank of Cross Plains, in the newest episode of ICBA’s Communities of Innovation podcast. Cybersecurity is a growing priority today for community banks, which are up against an ever-increasing presence of hackers, security breaches and hidden threats. But, according to Piette and Jeff Newgard, president and CEO of Bank of Idaho, comm...
Apr 27, 2022•46 min•Season 1Ep. 7
We have to demystify that fintech is complicated, or fintech is difficult, or fintech is risky or scary. Fintech, to me, is opportunity,” says Greg Ohlendorf, President and CEO, First Community Bank and Trust. He’s joined by Joe Ehrhardt, CEO and Founder, Teslar Software; and podcast host Charles Potts, chief innovation officer of Independent Community Bankers of America, for a conversation about the digital imperative for community banks and how ICBA’s ThinkTECH Accelerator can help them on the...
Mar 31, 2022•33 min•Season 1Ep. 6
A timely conversation about recruiting and retaining top bank talent in today’s competitive job market with Kim Kirk, COO of Queensborough National Bank & Trust Company; Tommy Marshall, Executive Director of Georgia Fintech Academy; and host Charles Potts, Chief Innovation Officer of Independent Community Bankers of America. This episode is sponsored by Atlas Platform.
Jan 25, 2022•43 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Rebeca Romero Rainey, President and CEO of ICBA, talks with host Charles Potts, Chief Innovation Officer, about how and why ICBA made the decision to stand alone in public opposition to the nomination of Prof. Saule Omarova to the Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC). This episode is sponsored by ICBA LIVE.
Dec 20, 2021•23 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Host Charles Potts, Chief Innovation Officer of the Independent Community Bankers of America, talks with Betsy Steinberg, Vice President of Pioneer Trust Bank NA about the bank’s card fraud prevention strategies. Rebecca Kruse, Executive Vice President, Operations, for ICBA Bancard shares how they work with community banks to respond to fraud. This special episode is sponsored by Visa®.
Nov 16, 2021•46 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Host Charles Potts, Chief Innovation Officer of the Independent Community Bankers of America, talks with Steve Schnall, CEO of Quontic Bank about how the bank launched a cryptocurrency rewards program to generate customer interest. Brian Laverdure, Vice President, Payments and Technology Policy for ICBA offers insight on the changing crypto regulatory environment. This episode is sponsored by Atlas Platform.
Nov 04, 2021•34 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Host Charles Potts, CIO of the Independent Community Bankers of America, sits down with Eric Sprink to discuss his storied career and passion for community banking. This episode is brought to you by Atlas Platform. Subscribe on Apple , Spotify , and Google ....
Sep 09, 2021•40 min•Season 1Ep. 1
