March 16, 2023

Between the pandemic and rising inflation and interest rates, the last two years have taken community banks on a wild ride. Rising inflation and the higher interest rates designed to bring inflation back to earth have influenced cash flow and the cost of goods, which can create financial stress for borrowers. Financial stress can lead

Visit VACB.org for more information.

While several federal regulatory agencies are working to finalize proposals on climate-related financial risk management that purportedly target the nation’s largest financial institutions, the proposals would inevitably subject community banks and the communities they serve to new and expensive regulatory burdens. Rather than rush to impose new standards on community banks, the agencies must ensure

Windows 11 is here, and while it may seem like an enticing upgrade, it is important to consider whether or not your business should make the switch. The new Windows operating system has many similarities to Windows 10, but there have also been some significant changes with this release that could impact your workflow. Here

The U.S. has undergone tremendous economic changes for more than 40 years. Those changes affect the middle class, and they also affect community banks. As income inequality has grown over the last 30–40 years, legislative changes have encouraged bank consolidation, and the number of community banks has decreased. According to an article by J.C. McKissen

Matthew Smith is the Director of Innovation Initiatives at the Independent Bankers Association of Texas (IBAT). He was a community banker for 18 years and worked indirectly with IBAT for 12 years. Now, he reports directly to Christopher Willison, IBAT’s CEO. Matthew has a B.S. in Business Administration and an MBA from Wayland Baptist University. 

When you started your career as a community banker, did you ever believe we would be facing the issues we have today? After our world was upended three years ago by a global pandemic, little did we realize at the time just how far-reaching the effects would be on community banking and the people we

Recently, we conducted a series of 20-minute briefings with education and training leaders in our member banks, highlighting VACB’s education offerings and our new affiliation with ICBA’s Community Banker University. The briefings were inspired by our Education Task Force, which has been hard at work over the past few months. The briefings are one of