“4 Regulatory Challenges Community Banks Face Today”
The regulatory environment is shifting due to political turnover, evolving supervisory expectations, and rising scrutiny of risk management. Deloitte recently highlighted four priorities for community banks: navigating uncertainty, closing supervisory findings, building resilience, and addressing nonfinancial risks such as cyber and AI. Read on to learn more.
“What Should Community Banks Know About Cross-Border Payments?”
As global regulators test tools such as tokenization, local banks can help design frameworks that improve efficiency while protecting institutions and their customers. Through ICBA’s new cross-border payments working group, banks can shape solutions on issues from AML compliance to technical barriers.
“AI is Changing Customer Interactions. Will Your Bank Join the Conversation?”
Community banks with strong API foundations can now use generative AI to enable personalized insights through the “model context protocol,” which securely connects banking data with platforms like ChatGPT or Claude.
“How This Community Bank Cracked the Code on Continuous Innovation”
Read how Community Bank & Trust in LaGrange, Georgia, used a niche tax-credit–linked loan for self-employed borrowers as a springboard to build a middleware-driven digital infrastructure. The platform now enables near-instant IRS transcript retrieval, stronger fraud prevention, and faster government-guaranteed lending, enabling the bank to efficiently roll out new products.
“Fintechs Move for Open Banking Rule to Go Forward”
Fintech groups are urging the courts to let the CFPB’s open banking rule take effect, opposing banks’ efforts to delay compliance during litigation. The dispute has become a flashpoint, with the Financial Technology Association arguing that further delays would be unlawful and anti-competitive.
“Who Will Stand Up for the Fed?”
Politico reports that President Trump’s push to oust Fed Governor Lisa Cook poses the most serious challenge to Fed independence since the Nixon era. With Republicans largely silent, Democrats are defending the institution, though progressives remain skeptical of the central bank’s Wall Street leanings. The outcome could redefine the Fed’s governance for years. On Thursday, the DOJ opened a criminal mortgage fraud probe into Cook.
“Senator Probes Treasury on Epstein's Banking Relationships”
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-OR, is demanding the Treasury release thousands of records he says document Jeffrey Epstein’s financial network, including wire transfers tied to Wall Street financiers and sanctioned Russian banks. He has accused the agency of a political cover-up and set a Sept. 11 deadline for the documents to be made public.
In Other News
The FTC is probing AI companies over the impact of chatbots on children, legendary fashion designer Giorgio Armani died at 91, and the largest-ever listed home in the Florida Keys hit the market.