2026 • Issue 4 ENDPOINT DETECTION IN MODERN BANKING Strengthening the First Line of Defense Proactive Planning for CRA Success
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©2026 Nebraska Independent Community Bankers (NICB) | MBR Connect™. All rights reserved. The Nebraska Independent Banker is published six times per year and is the official publication for this association. The information contained in this publication is intended to provide general information for review, consideration and education. The contents do not constitute legal advice and should not be relied on as such. If you need legal advice or assistance, it is strongly recommended that you contact an attorney as to your circumstances. The statements and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of NICB, its board of directors or the publisher. Likewise, the appearance of advertisements within this publication does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation of any product or service advertised. The Nebraska Independent Banker is a collective work, and as such, some articles are submitted by authors who are independent of NICB. While a first-print policy is encouraged, in cases where this is not possible, every effort has been made to comply with any known reprint guidelines or restrictions. Content may not be reproduced or reprinted without prior written permission. For further information, please contact the publisher at (801) 676-9722. Nebraska Independent Community Bankers 1201 Lincoln Mall, Ste. 103 Lincoln, NE 68508 (402) 474-4662 nicbonline.com The Nebraska Independent Banker is a publication of The Nebraska Independent Community Bankers Association. 2026 • Issue 4 Take a Look INSIDE NICB Executive Committee CHAIRMAN Jim Niemeier Citizens State Bank Friend PRESIDENT/CEO Dexter Schrodt SECRETARY Kelly Lenners First State Bank Nebraska Pickrell TREASURER Arnold Lowell CerescoBank Ceresco IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN Rick Heckenlively Points West Community Bank Sidney FLOURISH 4 Service: The Heart of the Community Bank Difference By Rebeca Romero Rainey, President and CEO, ICBA PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT 6 Playing Under Par Community Banks Should Take a Page Out of the Golfer’s Playbook By Dillon Wiedemann, Senior Vice President of the Financial Strategies Group, The Baker Group 9 Proactive Planning for CRA Success By William J. Showalter, CRCM, CRP, Senior Consultant, Young & Associates Inc. FRAUD WATCH 12 When Your Bank Is Where the Money Lands By Scott Anchin, Senior Vice President, Strategic Initiatives and Policy, ICBA 15 Endpoint Detection in Modern Banking Strengthening the First Line of Defense By Sean Martin, Director of Product Strategy for Managed Services, CSI 18 NICB Endorsed Partners 18 Associate Members 2026 6 12 15 NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT BANKER 3
FLOURISH In the months that have passed since we came together at ICBA LIVE, I’ve been reflecting on one key sentiment that came across loud and clear: Community banks have a unique and profound impact on the lives of those we serve. At LIVE, retired U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Travis Mills, a quadruple amputee, shared his story of perseverance and courage, inspiring everyone in the room. But an electric current shot through us all when he indicated that the work he does today to support families of military veterans has been made possible by his local community bank. Everyone sitting in the crowd made a connection in real time that the work they do is vital to helping humanity. That truth is reflected in the way in which we conduct business. One of my favorite things to do while traveling is to meet with bankers in their community. The story is the same in every market: Community banks go the extra mile to serve. I recently met with a banker in Colorado who recounted stories of the businesses his bank supported. From the college and hospital to local restaurants and farmers, he knew their histories and current challenges. Community bankers might take this approach for granted, but this is the side of relationship banking that makes the difference. The difference is the SERVICE: By REBECA ROMERO RAINEY President and CEO, ICBA THE HEART OF THE COMMUNITY BANK DIFFERENCE 4 NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT BANKER
Where I’ll Be I’ll be meeting with the boards of ICBA and the ICBA Services Network. I’ll also be attending the Independent Banks of South Carolina and BankIn Minnesota 2026 annual conventions. relationships, the history and the desire to invest and support the long-term viability of the community, one small business at a time. Lenders of Choice Shortly after this visit in Colorado, I had a meeting with the head of the National Economic Council. We went back to the data: Community banks fund 60% of U.S. small business loans and 80% of the banking industry’s agricultural loans. While this aggregate information tells a story, it doesn’t explain that we do it because it’s what’s right for our communities. That’s why leaders need to hear the stories of community bank service. Hearing them reveals, without a doubt, that community banks are the hearts of their communities, and their communities have their hearts. That love for what we do and who we serve transcends day-to-day business to ensure we make a real difference. At ICBA, this is what we’re fighting for and standing up to support through advocacy, education and innovation. We strive to bring you the solutions that help you make a difference every day. Just as LIVE’s “Anchored in Purpose” theme said, the work community banks do matters, and we must continue amplifying that message for all who need to hear it. NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT BANKER 5
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT PLAYING UNDER PAR Community Banks Should Take a Page Out of the Golfer’s Playbook One thing that might have gone unnoticed over the past few months is the book price for the average community bank’s bond portfolio. It has dipped below par (100 cents on the dollar), according to the more than 700 financial institutions that process bond accounting reports with The Baker Group, though individual bank results may vary. More surprisingly, this hasn’t been the case since 2009. When the Fed began raising rates in 2022, prices on the universe of bonds swung from premiums to discounts. Portfolio managers admirably continued adding bonds to the portfolio in the face of steep unrealized losses. Today, they’re being rewarded for that faith as bond portfolio yields sit at 14-year highs and book prices are below par for the first time in roughly 17 years. Given that we find ourselves in not-recently-charted territory, it’s a good time to examine what this means for the bond portfolio and some lessons we can learn from the game of golf. Protecting the Scorecard It’s not often I find myself playing under par in golf, but one key to keeping that streak going for as many holes as possible is playing smart and managing risk. Just as taking too much risk in golf can turn a bad shot into a bad hole, buying the wrong bond or reaching for yield at the wrong time can wipe out years of progress. As fixed-income portfolio managers, we don’t have the benefit of uncapped gain potential like stocks do. Our yield can fluctuate based on prepayments, but we have a limit on what our investments can earn. That’s why taking too much credit risk is an asymmetrical risk: The maximum upside is capped to the yield we earn, but the maximum downside is total loss of principal. Our philosophy has always been to take credit risk on the loan side, where you draw from experience in evaluating credit risk, but you’re also better compensated for taking that risk. Reaching for yield in the bond portfolio can often mean taking on unknown risks. In today’s world of artificial intelligence, those potential risks are only growing. As a recent example, consider owning a corporate bond in IBM. IBM is a longstanding titan of Fortune 500 companies, but who could’ve predicted that a new AI coding tool would send the stock tumbling over fears that it could wipe out a strong revenue-generating business line for IBM? I’m certainly not calling for IBM to begin defaulting on its debt, but it’s an example of how quickly the picture can change By DILLON WIEDEMANN Senior Vice President of the Financial Strategies Group, The Baker Group 6 NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT BANKER
and why adding bonds with agency or government guarantees protect the portfolio against credit risk, even if it means a little less yield. Club Selection Matters A golfer doesn’t win with just one club, and neither does a balance sheet manager. As portfolio managers continue to book bonds at discount prices, the following positive things can happen: 1. In falling-rate scenarios, institutions should see the yield on their bond portfolios drift up. This is driven by faster prepayments causing quicker discount accretion to par as cash flow comes back sooner than was anticipated when the bonds were purchased. This is an excellent hedge against the margin erosion that typically happens in falling-rate environments. 2. Total return potential should improve. A discount bond has more positive convexity than the same bond purchased at a premium. Imagine a callable agency purchased at 100 cents on the dollar. That bond’s price appreciation potential is limited to basically zero, because anything above par would be considered in-the-money to be called away. Now imagine the same callable agency purchased at 94 cents on the dollar. This bond has six points of price appreciation potential before getting to a price above par where it can be called away. But club selection matters. An area of weakness for discount bonds is in rising-rate scenarios. As rates go up, we get less cash flow than anticipated, and the discount accretion slows down, causing our yield to drift lower. Few, if any, would have rising rates as their base case scenario, but it’s important to acknowledge all scenarios as an effective portfolio manager. Continue to add discounts and focus on structure as you make investment selections, but if you start to notice that your portfolio is full of discounts, don’t be afraid to diversify by adding bonds that have premiums. Just as discounts can offer positive yield drift in falling-rate scenarios, premiums can offer positive yield drift in rising-rate scenarios. Adding both premiums and discounts gives the portfolio a natural yin and yang as rates move in either direction. It also protects the portfolio from being overly exposed to one scenario. As I wrap this column up, it’s time to come clean and admit that I stole these points of wisdom from a far better golfer than myself. I would give credit, but the name conveniently escapes me, as the advice was borrowed without asking. Even so, it’s the first time in a long time that bond portfolios have been positioned with these yields and book prices. Now is not the time to start playing like we need to make up strokes. Continue to focus on building a portfolio with a disciplined strategy, and you should continue to reap the rewards. Dillon Wiedemann (dwiedemann@gobaker.com) is a senior vice president of the Financial Strategies Group at The Baker Group, ICBA Securities’ endorsed broker-dealer. NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT BANKER 7
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PROACTIVE PLANNING FOR CRA SUCCESS There was a lot of talk a few years ago about the regulatory agencies updating their rules implementing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) even revised its CRA rule. But the other agencies did not follow suit, and the OCC rescinded its amendments, reverting to the previous regulation. The last time the agencies overhauled their CRA rules was during the Clinton administration in the 1990s. So, it’s probably due — banking and the communities it serves have changed significantly in the past 20 or so years — but that effort will take some time. For now, we have to make sure we are serving our communities to the best of our abilities and complying with the current CRA rules. The 1990s-era CRA rules are more performance-focused than the previous rules, but they are not objective. The rules and examination procedures do spell out what examiners will review. However, because many subjective terms and flexible standards are used, how examiners will review CRA performance is not specified. Examiner judgment is the guiding principle here. This leaves banks not knowing whether their performance is satisfactory until after an examination is completed. Banks cannot eliminate this risk of examiner criticism entirely, but steps can be taken to significantly reduce it, including good strategic planning. Why Manage CRA? Many banks feel they are doing a pretty good job of meeting the credit (and other banking) needs of their local communities. So, why should they invest significant time and effort in managing their CRA climate and performance? The answer is that good CRA performance is just good business. As with any other business function, smooth operation depends on good management. Directing the CRA function also allows banks to navigate the CRA examination process more easily and can prevent unexpected and unnecessary delays in future mergers, branching and other corporate applications. Setting the Stage A bank can, to some extent, set the framework within which its performance will be judged. A formal way to do this is to choose the formal CRA strategic plan option, where the bank writes its own lending, investment and service goals with input from its community. The bank’s supervisory agency reviews and approves the plan, then assesses the bank’s performance against the plan’s goals. There is a less formal way to accomplish the same ends. A bank can formulate an internal CRA strategic plan that sets out objective standards against which its performance can be gauged. An important element of such a plan is to establish realistic goals based on local community factors (economic conditions, credit needs and demand, etc.) and the bank’s situation (size, financial condition, stability, etc.). One crucial component of such a scheme is the ongoing internal monitoring and reporting of results. An informal plan should be shared with examiners, assuming the goals are being met, to provide them with the objective standards the bank wants to use to measure its CRA performance. This allows the bank to control its destiny to a greater extent by building the gauge for rating its performance, one that accounts for its own and its community’s unique situation. Other advantages of an informal plan over a formal one are that it does not have to be negotiated with members By WILLIAM J. SHOWALTER, CRCM, CRP Senior Consultant, Young & Associates Inc. NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT BANKER 9
of the public, formally approved by regulators or made public. Drafting a Plan A CRA plan should be developed to align with the bank’s existing planning structure and culture. It should build on the bank’s identified strengths in its performance and aim to shore up any weak areas. The team assembled to draft the plan should be diverse and represent all areas of the bank that affect and touch on CRA performance. This brings the strengths and viewpoints of a variety of bank players into the process and helps get wide “buy-in” to the plan, an important element for its success. The plan also must be tailored to fit the CRA environment within which the bank operates — the size and CRA type of the bank (small, intermediate small, large retail, limited purpose or wholesale), past CRA performance of the bank, characteristics of the bank (culture, business lines, etc.) and local community conditions (employment and income levels, economic needs, etc.). This process will guide the bank in deciding how to address its CRA responsibilities. Elements of the CRA planning and management process include: • Setting clear, attainable goals for a “satisfactory” CRA rating, and more ambitious, stretch goals for an “outstanding” rating. • Managing the information about the bank’s CRA performance (data revolving around the three key tests in the CRA examination scheme for large retail banks and thrifts: lending, investments and services), including analysis of that data to get a picture of the bank’s ongoing performance. • Establishing and nurturing relationships with active community partners, with a positive approach to working together for the betterment of the local community. Conclusion Banks can control their CRA destiny. However, to do so, the entire process must be managed proactively — plans drawn up, goals set, information managed and community partnerships nurtured. Dynamic, ongoing management of the entire CRA process, with appropriate accountability standards for all players, can yield positive results not only for banks but also for their communities. William J. Showalter, CRCM, CRP, is a senior consultant with Young & Associates Inc. (younginc.com), with over 40 years of experience in compliance consulting, advising and assisting financial institutions on consumer compliance and compliance management issues. He has also developed and conducted compliance training programs for individual banks and their trade associations and has authored or co-authored numerous compliance publications and articles. Bill can be reached at (330) 678-0524 or wshowalter@younginc.com. 10 NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT BANKER
Is your community bank thriving? Meet Sean. Sean works hand-in-hand with community banks in the Midwest to find ICBA member benefits that help them achieve their bank’s goals. Sean is a proud cheesehead and Green Bay Packers shareholder, cheering on the team to the Super Bowl each year when he’s not on the road representing ICBA. For community banks in the Midwest, he’s your biggest champion helping you partner with ICBA for success. Learn more at icba.org/membership
By SCOTT ANCHIN Senior Vice President Strategic Initiatives and Policy, ICBA FRAUD WATCH Community banks have built strong fraud-prevention practices for customers sending money out. Tellers are trained to spot unusual wires. Verification thresholds catch large transfers. Conversations at the counter give customers who have been groomed by fraudsters the chance to reconsider their transactions. This work has long put community banks on the front lines of fraud prevention, but it captures only one side of the problem. The other side is inbound activity. Investment fraud, romance scams and online extortion schemes all produce money that must land somewhere before it can move on. Sometimes, it lands at community banks. WHEN YOUR BANK IS WHERE THE MONEY LANDS 12 NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT BANKER
A fraud network recruits a money mule, someone to move money on their behalf, either knowingly or unknowingly, through a job posting, a relationship or coercion. The mule opens an account, presenting documentation that looks routine. The account receives inbound transfers from victims at other institutions, sent at the fraudster’s direction. Within days or even hours, the funds move, often to cryptocurrency exchanges or other accounts in a layered chain. By the time the originating bank or law enforcement traces the funds back, the money has typically moved on. Account opening can move faster at smaller banks than at large institutions, and fraud networks have noticed. Inbound activity runs against a smaller volume base at smaller institutions, which cuts both ways for detection. Much fraud detection technology was built around outbound patterns. Federal authorities have been documenting the pattern. FinCEN issued an advisory in August 2025 describing how recruited money mules open accounts across multiple institutions to receive and move illicit proceeds. The agency issued additional guidance in September 2025 covering similar schemes targeting individual victims, where mules typically take a percentage fee for moving funds. The Department of Justice’s annual Money Mule Initiative has acted against thousands of mules in each recent cycle. A few operational priorities deserve attention. Account-opening reviews should weigh indicators federal authorities have flagged, including inconsistent occupation information, addresses that match those of other recently opened accounts and documentation that suggests third-party preparation. Transaction monitoring should give inbound activity the same level of scrutiny as outbound activity. Incoming wires that are quickly followed by transfers to cryptocurrency exchanges or money services businesses are the clearest indicator of a mule account in use. Community banks should consider building or expanding an active 314(b) practice, one of the strongest tools available, as information sharing lets institutions coordinate directly when suspicious patterns appear. Filings should name the suspected mule, describe the inbound and outbound pattern and reference the relevant typology source so law enforcement has what it needs to act. Community banks that embed inbound detection into their fraud posture make it harder for these schemes to run. The attention to individual accounts that defines community banking is exactly what this work requires. Scott Anchin (scott.anchin@icba.org) is senior vice president of strategic initiatives and policy for ICBA. NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT BANKER 13
While our n me h s ch nged under new ownership, the he rt of our comp ny rem ins the s me — including the reli ble, friendly te m you’ve lw ys worked with. Our go l is to be trusted p rtner for tr de nd profession l ssoci tions, strengthening membership nd connecting member businesses with their future customers. We look forward to what’s to come! mbr-connect.com (801) 676-9722 hello@mbr-connect.com New name. Same people. Renewed commitment. We’re excited to nnounce th t is now
ENDPOINT DETECTION IN MODERN BANKING Strengthening the First Line of Defense By SEAN MARTIN Director of Product Strategy for Managed Services, CSI Most modern banking attacks no longer begin at the network perimeter. They begin on endpoints like employee devices, where remote access, cloud applications and day-to-day business activity create more opportunities for attackers to gain a foothold. More than half of financial institutions experienced a cyberattack in the past year, underscoring how frequently these devices are now targeted. Effective endpoint detection gives financial institutions the visibility needed to identify suspicious activity on employee devices before threats spread across the organization. Why Endpoints Have Become the Primary Attack Surface Every remote login, cloud application session, downloaded attachment and employee device creates another opportunity for attackers to gain access. Because so much business activity flows through these devices, they’ve become one of the most frequent and easiest ways for cyber threats to gain access. Attackers increasingly exploit trusted workflows such as email access, remote logins and cloud sessions rather than attempting to bypass hardened perimeter controls. Phishing emails, stolen credentials and social engineering tactics are designed to blend into normal workflows. After compromising a single endpoint, attackers can quickly access internal systems and expose sensitive data. This often occurs before traditional controls detect anything wrong. Many traditional security tools were designed to identify known threats, not suspicious behavior occurring across thousands of user interactions and devices. That gap often delays detection until attackers have already moved deeper into the environment. NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT BANKER 15
Keeping laptops and other endpoint devices secure is crucial to protecting against endpoint-based attacks. Why Legacy Security Falls Short Traditional perimeter security was built for a very different operating environment. However, the environment has changed. Today’s environment includes remote access, cloud platforms, third-party integrations and employees connecting from virtually anywhere. At the same time, the way organizations operate has shifted, with more cloud usage, remote work and connected systems making the traditional perimeter far less effective. Many legacy tools still rely heavily on known threat signatures, while modern attacks frequently involve legitimate credentials, trusted applications and behavior that initially appears normal. They constantly change, making them harder to detect. AI-assisted phishing and automated attack tooling are also accelerating the pace at which attackers can identify and exploit weaknesses. As a result, endpoints have become one of the most difficult areas to monitor consistently. A single compromised device can provide attackers with access to internal systems, user accounts and sensitive operational data. Financial institutions need security operations capable of detecting and responding to suspicious activity before attackers can move laterally. From Reactive Security to Proactive Defense As institutions recognize the need to shift from reacting to threats to stopping them earlier in the process, endpoint detection and response (EDR) plays an important role. Rather than relying solely on known threat signatures, EDR platforms continuously monitor device activity for indicators such as privilege escalation, unusual access patterns and suspicious process behavior. Identifying threats is only part of the challenge. Many institutions see more alerts than internal teams can realistically manage. Without consistent monitoring and clear response processes, important signals can be missed or delayed. This, in turn, gives attackers valuable time to move further into the environment. Examiners increasingly expect institutions to demonstrate not only that threats are detected, but that response activity is timely, documented and repeatable. Endpoint visibility has become a core operational requirement for both incident response and examiner readiness. To meet these rising demands, institutions must go beyond detection and begin building a more modern, proactive approach to endpoint security. Building a Modern Endpoint Security Strategy The challenge is no longer simply identifying threats but responding quickly when suspicious activity arises. As attack timelines shrink, institutions need security operations that can quickly investigate alerts, isolate compromised devices and contain threats before they spread. But as defenses evolve, so do attackers. They are becoming more sophisticated, using automation and AI to scale their efforts, creating a widening gap between the speed of attacks and the speed at which institutions can detect and respond. Closing that gap requires operational discipline around endpoint security as much as technology. To get started, institutions should focus on a few key priorities. • Gain Full Endpoint Visibility: Ensure you have a clear, centralized view of all devices across your environment, both on premises and remote. After all, you can’t protect what you can’t see. • Maintain a Reliable Patching Program: Unpatched systems can quickly become easy entry points for attackers. A consistent, timely patching program helps close vulnerabilities before they’re exploited. • Adopt Behavior-Based Detection: Move beyond signature-based tools and implement solutions that identify suspicious activity based on behavior, not just known threats. • Enable Real-Time Response Capabilities: Contain threats quickly by isolating compromised devices, stopping malicious processes and limiting lateral movement before damage spreads. • Establish Continuous Monitoring: Threats don’t operate on a schedule, so 24/7 monitoring ensures alerts are investigated and addressed without delay. • Require MFA for All Users: Phishing-resistant MFA helps prevent stolen credentials from becoming an open door to your systems. Enforcing it across all users significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized access. 16 NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT BANKER
Institutions are increasingly combining EDR technology with managed monitoring and response services to reduce investigation delays and improve coverage. By pairing the right tools with defined workflows and dedicated oversight, institutions can strengthen their defenses without overextending internal teams. Protecting devices and data is essential, and the right technology partner can be the difference maker against modern cyber threats. Closing the Endpoint Response Gap For many financial institutions, the challenge is no longer acquiring security tools. It’s sustaining the operational workload that comes with them. Alerts need to be reviewed, activities investigated and decisions made quickly. Without dedicated resources, it’s easy for things to get delayed or overlooked. Key endpoint response functions requiring ongoing operational support include: • Monitoring endpoint activity 24/7. • Reviewing and prioritizing alerts as they come in. • Investigating suspicious behavior and identifying what actually needs attention. • Supporting response actions, such as isolating devices or stopping malicious activity. Reinforce Your Front Line of Defense Endpoint detection isn’t just another layer of security; it’s where most attacks begin. Institutions that can detect and respond more quickly are far better positioned to stop threats before they spread. By identifying suspicious activity early and acting quickly, they can contain threats before they disrupt operations, expose sensitive data or impact account holders. Sean Martin, the director of product strategy for managed services at CSI, has worked to establish cybersecurity programs for financial institutions for over 15 years. Previously, Sean has served as network and security operations manager, product manager, and in various engineering roles since 2001. In his current role, Sean identifies and implements solutions designed to maximize security and profitability for financial institutions. Sean speaks regularly on a variety of financial technology topics, including managed services and IT security best practices. NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT BANKER 17
NICB Endorsed Partners Barrett School of Banking Community Bankers Webinar Network ICBA Education ICBA Payments ICBA Securities NICB-CBAK Liquidity Program Spectrum Financial Services Travelers Inc. UNICO Group Inc. ASSOCIATE MEMBERS 2026 Bankers’ Bank of the West Banker’s Compliance Consulting Barret School of Banking Blanchard Consulting Group CivITas Bank Solutions Computer Services Inc. (CSI) D.A. Davidson Federal Reserve Bank of K.C. FHLBank Topeka Financial Ed FNBO ICBA ICBA Bancard ICBA Education ICBA Securities Kirk Gross Co. Midwest Independent BankersBank Modern Banking Systems Money Handling Machines NFP Executive Benefits Northland Securities, a First National of Nebraska Company Perry Guthery Haase & Gessford PC Purple Wave Auction QwickRate LLC SHAZAM Spectrum Financial Consulting Taylor and Martin Appraisal Services TCM Bank Travelers Companies Inc. UNICO Group United Bankers’ Bank 100 South Phillips Avenue, Sioux Falls | (605) 335-5113 | advantage-network.com LET’S BUILD YOUR NON-INTEREST INCOME When you’re a member of The Advantage Network, we’ll help you grow your non-interest income and ensure that you receive efficient implementations of new products and services.You can also expect same-day customer service — not having to jump through hoops with a ticketing system or automated phone message. To learn more about our services and enter into our monthly drawing for a $100 Visa gift card, scan the QR code! TERESA THILL, (605) 335-5112 KYLE DEBOER, (605) 335-5103 18 NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT BANKER
Established in 1980, Bankers’ Bank of the West has been serving community banks for over 45 years as a trusted, non-competing partner, grounded in strong relationships, industry expertise, and a long-term perspective. As the financial landscape continues to evolve, we remain focused on helping our partners stay relevant and competitive through purposeful innovation, operational efficiency, and responsive, experienced support, while staying true to the core values that have guided us since the beginning. EXPERT LOAN REVIEW SERVICES • Independent loan reviews. • Strategic, compliance, and growth consulting. • Helping banks strengthen credit quality, manage risk, and plan confidently for expansion and succession. • Community banks deserve a partner as dependable and resilient as the communities they serve. • Assessing wire transfer risks • Delivering compliant backup solutions. • Trusted support, expert guidance, and service every step of the way. BUSINESS CONTINUITY OPTIONS We have BRIDGE! A secure online portal for ACH, wires, reporting, OFAC screening, anomaly detection, SFTP, file transfers, and seven-year archiving. Bill Mitchell BBWest, CEO & Vice Chair Jim Swanson President, Bank Strategies, LLC. Anne Benigsen President, CivITas Bank Solutions, LLC. EST 1980 OVER 45 YEARS OF EXPERTISE We Champion Community Banking! 800-873-4722 | NE: 888-467-5544 | www.bbwest.com • Vulnerability scans. • Penetration testing. • Phishing simulations and IT consulting. • Plus, monitoring and training. • Policy reviews. • Board advisory support to strengthen your bank’s security posture. COMPREHENSIVE CYBERSECURITY SERVICES
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