Cybersecurity: Preparing Your Bank’s Board for 2025
By Raj Patel As board directors, your role in fostering a secure and resilient culture within your bank should consider the rise of AI technologies, the shifting regulatory landscape with the retirement of the FFIEC’s Cybersecurity Assessment Tool (CAT), and the increasingly sophisticated cyber threats expected in 2025. However, your biggest threat might be believing…
Strengthening Local Banking Through Strategic Credit Card Issuing Programs
By: Anil Goyal In today’s dynamic financial landscape, community banks are uniquely positioned to offer personalized service and local decision-making—advantages that national card issuing institutions struggle to provide. However, with growing customer expectations and intensifying competition from large banks and fintechs, community banks must adapt and find new ways to enhance their offerings while staying…
Analysis Paralysis: Is Your Data Handicapping Your Bank?
By: Will Bryant The challenge facing most community financial institutions (CFIs) is not a lack of data. Institutions send millions of data points through expensive networks and applications to process, transmit and maintain daily operations. Simply having an abundance of data available does not automatically correlate actionable, valuable insights. This inundation of data is often…
The Case for Personalized Digital Marketing at Community Bank
By Hannah Day Today’s consumers expect a seamless, personalized digital experience, especially with their financial institution. As institutions look to grow, a one-size-fits-all approach to digital marketing is not as effective as data-driven strategies to personalize and resonate with customers on their chosen channel. Using data to develop personalized marketing initiatives on digital channels can…
Union Savings Bank Opens Branch in Cleveland
By Keith L. Borders Union Savings Bank (USB), a Cincinnati-based institution with a long history in Ohio, recently expanded its footprint by opening a new branch in Cleveland. This move marks an important development for the bank as it continues to grow its presence in Northeast Ohio. Known for its focus on community banking, Union…
The CAT Tool Going Dark on August 31, 2025: What it Means for Your Bank
By Raj Patel The retirement of the CAT tool (Cybersecurity Assessment Tool) marks confusing new chapter in cybersecurity risk management for community banks. When NIST CSF 1.0 was introduced in 2014, its complexity made it challenging for smaller institutions to implement, and it didn’t fully address critical areas such as governance and third-party risks. To…
Mail Theft, Dark Web Sales and Counterfeits: Combating Today’s Check Fraud Threats
Check fraud is on the rise, and community banks are frequently in the crosshairs. While digital payments have transformed the financial landscape, checks remain a favored target for fraudsters due to vulnerabilities in legacy systems and traditional processes. Criminals continue to innovate, leveraging new methods to exploit checks, and banks must adapt to protect their…
The Future of Cash Management for Commercial Banks in The Digital Age
By Rachel Gruber As shifts in payment methods and consumer expectations reshape the operations of commercial banks, traditional cash and card transactions are now complemented by digital payment options. With 56% of U.S. consumers feeling comfortable leaving their wallets at home and relying on mobile phones for payments, this evolution presents both opportunities and challenges….
50 Years Ago: Policy Debates Fuel a Surge of State Community Banking Associations
By Jack Hopkins Several state community banking associations in the Great Lakes region and beyond have celebrated 50th anniversaries this year and in 2023, pointing to an outbreak of industry organization a half-century ago. While the formation of these state associations in the mid-1970s was part of a debate over banking policy that lasted years,…
Community Banking and Risk Premia
By Corey Chambas As a fundamental economic principle, there is typically a fair trade-off between risk and return. In the investment world, where risks are taken on various asset classes, risk premia are the returns received above the risk-free rate earned in exchange for taking that risk. Where there are sufficient buyers and sellers of…