ICBA and [BANK NAME]: Where You Choose to Bank MattersCommunity banks make your community better, stronger

Washington, D.C. (April1, 2017)—Where you choose to bank matters. That’s the message that the Independent Community Bankers of America® (ICBA)and [BANK NAME] are sending loud and clear throughout April, which is ICBA Community Banking Month. Consumers have the power to make change happen at the community level by aligning with their community bankand putting their money to work in the neighborhood that they call home. See ICBA’s new Community Banking: Know the Difference video, which helps break it down.

“Your choice of bank is your vote on where your money goes. Is it reinvested back into your own community, or is it sent off to a banking hub in another state or halfway around the world?” said third-generation community banker Rebeca Romero Rainey, ICBA’s chairman and chairman and CEO of Centinel Bank of Taos, N.M. “When you deposit funds in your community bank, that money is redistributed back into the community in the form of loans to residents and entrepreneurs.”

From local farms to craftsmen to startups, banking locally with a community bank connects you to your community and your neighbors and gives everyone a stake in its financial success. Here are a few reasons why:

  • Community banks respect the communities they serve by doing right by their customers and community. Community banks and local communities have symbiotic relationships—one cannot thrive without the other.
  • Community banks are relationship lenders. They know their customers and understand their financial needs, unlike larger institutions that take a transaction-based approach to banking.
  • Community banks understand and celebrate local economies.As small businesses themselves, community banks are an unequivocal resource for entrepreneurs looking to launch a local small business. A study from seven Federal Reserve Banks found that small businesses that apply for loans with community banks are the most successful and most satisfied. ICBA celebrates local entrepreneurship on the third Wednesday of every month with Go Local Wednesday, during which community bankers and consumers share stories about supporting local businesses via social media.
  • Community banks give back. Serving local communitiesis second nature to community banks, as reflected in ICBA’s Community Bank Service Awards.

For more facts and statistics about community banks, click here.

“[BANK NAME] is honored to serve the lending needs of the [COMMUNITY NAME] community. We care about our customers and are dedicated to helping our local residents and town thrive,” said [BANK SPOKESPERSON NAME, TITLE, BANK NAME]. “ICBA Community Banking Month gives us an opportunity to celebrate community banking here and in communities across the nation, and to spread the positive story of our industry and the communities we serve.”

To find your local community bank, visit ICBA’s Community Bank Locator at To follow the ICBA Community Banking Month conversation on social media, follow the #BankLocally hashtag on Twitter.

About ICBA
The Independent Community Bankers of America®, the nation’s voice for more than 5,800 community banks of all sizes and charter types, is dedicated exclusively to representing the interests of the community banking industry and its membership through effective advocacy, best-in-class education and high-quality products and services.

###