PAYMENT SOLUTIONS

HANS TESSELAAR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR , BIAN

Andy Copsey , former Handelsbanken UK Chief Operating Officer and now a Non- Executive Director at commercial finance consultancy ABL , explains : “ Community banks tend to aim their efforts towards SMEs , local and micro businesses . It ' s not clear that community banks are making meaningful inroads into this sector , which is often entrenched with established highstreet clearing banks .”

BankiFi ’ s CEO of Americas , Keith Riddle , says community banks continue to

experience a host of economic challenges and a broadening field of competitive threats . He points to reports that will impact the space in the coming months including regulatory pressure to address overdraft fees , while competition from neobanks and non-bank providers will create a significant impact on non-interest income , earnings dips , and earnings staying static .

“ In essence , the community banking sector will need to evaluate opportunities to generate new streams of net income , while enhancing their digital capabilities to compete with larger financial institutions and non-bank providers competing for market share within their consumer and business client bases .”

One of the biggest problems is that these smaller institutions haven ’ t always adopted innovations as quickly as their larger counterparts or fintech competitors . However , newer community banks are making progress in terms of technology .

Copsey says : “ The new-to-market and in-progress new community banks are taking the opportunity to use modern banking tech , unburdened by legacy systems . fintechmagazine . com 95