Independent Banker - January 2023 - 24

PORTFOLIO INNOVATION STATION
Top 5 innovation
trends for 2023
By Charles Potts, ICBA
have what they need to diff erentiate
themselves from the competition and
vie for market share. By bringing its
innovation initiatives in-house, ICBA
will continue to support these eff orts,
including identifying robust, cuttingedge
solutions to solve community
bank pain points and meet evolving
customer needs.
s we turn the page to a new
year, the innovation evolution
continues. ICBA is leaning into it,
bringing its ThinkTECH Accelerator
program and innovation eff orts inhouse
to provide community bankers
with targeted solutions.
Here at ICBA, we've been tossing
around a quote from author Courtney
C. Stevens' novel, The Lies About
Truth, that captures our ethos heading
into 2023: " If nothing changes, nothing
changes. If you keep doing what you're
doing, you're going to keep getting
what you're getting. You want change,
make some. "
I believe 2023 will continue our
industry's forward momentum as our
members position themselves to be
the agents of change that fi nd and
champion new opportunities.
Here are what I believe will be the
top fi ve opportunities this year:
1. Targeted fi ntech initiatives
focused on meeting community
bankers' unique needs. Much
like we saw with some concentrated
A
initiatives in 2020 with the
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)
and the CARES Act, 2023 will bring
a more granular focus to community
banks' lines of business. Agtech,
age tech, payments and fi nancial
inclusion are top of mind for ICBA,
as well as revenue-generating
opportunities for community banks.
2. Momentum around faster
payments, real-time payments
and FedNow. Faster and real-time
payments activity and deliverables
will become tangible and imperative
in the year ahead. With the launch
of FedNow this year, new use
cases for faster and real-time
payments will continue to emerge,
providing community banks with a
groundswell of opportunities.
3. Continuing digital
transformation. Digital
transformation shows no signs of
slowing down. In response, ICBA
is expanding its digital education
programming and resources
to ensure community bankers
4. An increase in embedded
payment. Embedded fi nance is
expected to increase exponentially
over the next few years, opening up
new markets and enhancing customer
experiences. According to Plaid, a
fi nancial services company, embedded
fi nancial services will produce
$320 billion in revenues in 2025-a
10-fold increase over the $22.5 billion
in 2020 revenues. Expect increased
demands from business customers and
new revenue-generating opportunities
for community banks.
5. The emergence of chief
innovation offi cers or digital
strategists. With growing talent
demands and the pace of innovation,
expect to see the emergence of
in-house community bank chief
innovation offi cers and digital
strategists. Community banks are
investing in these new skill sets,
bringing in top talent from other
industries, so we expect to see an
uptick in this trend in the year ahead.
In 2023, community banks must
remain agile and focused on making
change to secure their place as their
customers' preferred fi nancial partner. As
the new year unfolds, we would do well to
remember Stevens' mantra, " If nothing
changes, nothing changes. "
Charles Potts (charles.potts@icba.org)
is ICBA executive vice president and
chief innovation off icer
24 // ICBA Independent Banker // January 2023
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Independent Banker - January 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Independent Banker - January 2023
