Community banks team up with Microsoft

ICBA announced the partnership today at its national convention in Las Vegas. With a roster of nearly 5,000 members, it represents the largest constituency of community banks in the nation.

The organization decided to collaborate with Microsoft in order to help its members more efficiently tackle data security issues, said Ken Parsons, chairman of the group's Payments and Technology Committee.

"Maintaining an effective data security strategy has become increasingly complex and time-consuming for community bankers," said Parsons, who is also chairman of Venture Bank in Lacey, Wash. "ICBA's relationship with Microsoft will greatly help us by providing information we need to enhance the security of our technology infrastructures and provide improved protection for our customers."

Together, Microsoft and ICBA will offer ICBA members an array of information and tools to improve their data security. This includes a series of CEO webcasts and an eight-city educational series that is set to start on April 4.

Microsoft will also work to survey and meet with ICBA members in order to create solutions that serve the information security needs of community banks.