Independent Community Bankers of America

Dues fund federal lobbying, professional education and certification programs, and innovation initiatives like the ThinkTECH Accelerator. The association spends no money on proprietary investing — it is a trade group, not an allocator. Approximately 20.3 percent of 2026 dues are classified as non-deductible due to lobbying expenditures.

ICBA files joint comment letters with state banking associations, sends direct letters to agencies such as the OCC and FHFA, and participates in industry roundtables. Recent actions include supporting OCC preemption of the Illinois interchange fee law and co-authoring a third-party risk management reform proposal with the Consumer Bankers Association.

No. ICBA does not take equity in fintech companies. The accelerator connects community banks with vetted technology vendors, and the association may refer those vendors to members through preferred-service-provider relationships. ICBA earns revenue from corporate membership fees paid by the vendors, not from carried interest or fund returns.

ICBA concentrates on interchange fees, check fraud, mortgage credit access, credit union taxation, digital asset custody, BSA/AML compliance, and small-business lending. The group typically opposes policies that advantage large national banks or non-bank fintechs over community banks.

Neither. ICBA is a 501(c)(6) trade association funded by member dues. It manages no external capital, reports no investment returns, and has no wealth-origin family.