WASHINGTON–A bank group that is meeting virtually this week is stressing a theme similar to that often shared by credit unions, and that is the role they play in local communities. Another theme will also sound familiar to CUs—the group said a priority remains addressing the credit union tax exemption.
The Independent Community Bankers of America, which typically meets in Washington the week after CUNA hosts its GAC, is hosting its ICBA Connect meeting with a message about leveraging bankers’ collective strength, advancing policy priorities and more.
“We can be that unifying voice,” said ICBA President Rebecca Romero Rainey said. “The community banking system goes to the heart of what we believe as a nation: That we are more powerful collectively when we are empowered individually. This is our heritage, as community bankers and as Americans.”
In remarks to the organization, Romero Rainey noted several community bank successes over the past year, including their outsized role as Paycheck Protection Program lenders.
She also pledged to build on that momentum and bipartisan support in Washington to advance several advocacy priorities, including advancing tax parity with credit unions, preserving the separation of banking and commerce, and securing community banks’ role in faster payments, the ICBA reported.
Other Goals
ICBA said its goal to create communities of prosperity extends beyond advocacy, and to that end it added that embracing innovation and continued education to help community banks individually and collectively flourish also benefits the customers and communities they serve.
Those efforts include fostering fintech-community bank partnerships through ICBA’s ThinkTECH initiatives and preparing the next generation of community bank leaders through ICBA’s education programs, the organization said.
"I have never been prouder or more grateful to count myself among this outstanding family of community bankers," Romero Rainey said. "You have shown the world what community banking is, and what it means."