| Reflecting on 2025,
Looking Ahead in 2026 |
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| | | What did the past year reveal about the state of North Carolina banking—and what lies ahead in 2026? NCBA President & CEO Peter Gwaltney reflects on key moments, challenges, and progress across the industry, while sharing insights on advocacy priorities, member engagement, and the emerging opportunities that 2026 holds. |
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| | | | | | Final 2025 NCBankPAC Honor Roll - Did Your Bank Make the List? |
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| | As mentioned in Peter’s message, the 2025 NC BankPAC paved the way for the future—surpassing its $100,000 fundraising goal and raising more than $110,000 to support candidates who champion commonsense, pro-banking legislation. These contributions play a critical role in ensuring bankers have a strong, credible voice in the legislative process and in advancing policies that support safe, competitive, and community-focused banking across North Carolina. | | We’re grateful to everyone who contributed to this success—your engagement makes a real impact. |
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| | We’ll be launching our 2026 fundraising campaign soon and look forward to sharing more details in the weeks ahead. |
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| | Advocacy Opportunities: ABA Washington Summit (March 9-11) and ICBA Capital Summit (May 4-7) |
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| | NCBA partners closely with ABA and ICBA to advance pro-banking legislation and oppose harmful proposals. One of the most effective ways you can support this work is by attending the ABA Washington Summit (March 9–11) or the ICBA Capital Summit (May 4–7), both held in Washington, DC. |
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| | | | Members of Congress want to hear directly from their constituents about how federal policy affects your bank and your community. A strong turnout from our industry reinforces the importance of our priority issues. | | These events also feature nationally recognized speakers, administration officials, and key committee leaders. NCBA will coordinate meetings with North Carolina’s congressional delegation to ensure your voice is heard. | | We encourage you to register. You will need to create an account to register, but ABA or ICBA membership is not required. |
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| | | ABA Banking Journal Podcast: A New Kind of ‘Community Bank’ for Small Businesses |
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| | | From one location in Wilmington, North Carolina, Live Oak Bank is the nation’s largest Small Business Administration lender and a leading partner in developing technology for community banks. With an uncertain economic and business environment, two top executives from Live Oak Bank joined the ABA Banking Journal Podcast to discuss: | - Where small business owners are looking to grow and build in the coming months.
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 | | BJ Losch (left) and Mike McGinley (right) |
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| - The need for liquidity in small business acquisitions and succession planning.
- The role of technology, including AI, in helping to improve the ability of banks to serve small business clients.
- How SBA loans fit into the Live Oak business model.
- Tips for community banks looking to deepen their SBA-guaranteed lending, including outsourcing back-office functions to ensure compliance with guarantee requirements.
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| | | Train and Update Your Team on the Latest BSA/AML/CFT Topics |
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| | | Join us for an engaging session led by Patti Joyner, CRCM, founder of Financial Solutions and a nationally recognized compliance expert. Known for translating complex mortgage and compliance requirements into practical, actionable guidance, Patti’s dynamic approach will leave attendees informed, energized, and ready to elevate their compliance strategy! |
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| | | NCBA Joins Fellow Bankers Associations in Joint Letter in Opposition to CCCA |
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| | The NCBA and bankers associations nationwide have joined together in a letter to Congress in opposition to the Credit Card Competition Act (introduced in the Senate as S. 3623 and in the House of Representatives as H.R. 7035). The CCCA would reduce card choice, increase fraud risks, reduce rewards, increase the cost of allocating credit to borrowers, and create economic challenges for smaller financial institutions. |
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| | As noted in the letter, “[t]he CCCA will not increase competition in the credit card marketplace, but it will benefit corporate megastores at the expense of consumers, community financial institutions and smaller neighborhood retail merchants.” |
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| | | Credit Card Routing Mandate |
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| | According to news reports, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) no longer plans to offer an amendment to add credit card routing mandates to an unrelated bill on cryptocurrency regulation. Sen. Marshall filed an amendment to the Senate Agriculture Committee’s crypto bill last week that seeks to force payment networks to compete on swipe fees. However, he apparently agreed over the weekend not to call up the provision, which is similar to the Credit Card Competition Act. |
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| | | | Senate Agriculture Committee Advances Crypto Oversight Debate |
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| | On Thursday, the Senate Agriculture Committee is expected to take up the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act (DCCPA) – S. 4760. The legislation would designate the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as the primary regulator for trading cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. Because the CFTC falls under the jurisdiction of the Senate Agriculture Committee, the committee is leading consideration of the bill. |
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| | | Federal Legislative & Regulatory Updates |
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| | House Financial Services Committee Activity |
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| | The House Financial Services Committee passed three bills of particular note on Thursday of last week. The bills are: | - The Financial Reporting Threshold Modernization Act (H.R. 1799), which would raise the CTR reporting threshold from $10,000 to $30,000 and index the revised threshold to inflation every five years. The legislation would also raise certain SAR thresholds, including from $5,000 to $10,000. Rep. Tim Moore is an original cosponsor.
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| - The Community Bank Regulatory Tailoring Act (H.R. 7056), which would adjust and index several key community and mid-size bank thresholds to nominal GDP after a one-time increase to account for past inaction.
- The TRIA Program Reauthorization Act (H.R. 7128), which would extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program by seven years and raise the dollar threshold for declaring an act of terrorism a major event from $5 million to $25 million. TRIA provides a government reinsurance backstop in case of large-scale terrorist attacks.
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| | | The FDIC Board has approved changes to the agency’s signage rules and pushed back the compliance date to April 1, 2027. Among the changes: | - Banks will have additional flexibility regarding the color, font and size when displaying the FDIC official digital sign, including the ability to wrap the text to address space constraints;
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| - The final rule clarifies regarding digital deposit-taking channels that banks are required to display the FDIC official digital sign clearly, continuously, and conspicuously on the initial page or homepage of the website or application, login page, and page or screen where the consumer first initiates a deposit account opening; and
- Banks will only be required to display the FDIC official digital sign on the initial screen of an ATM or similar device.
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| | | | Housing Ownership by Large Investment Firms |
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| | To address housing affordability issues, President Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing federal agencies to stop approving, insuring, guaranteeing, securitizing, or facilitating the acquisition of single-family homes by large investment firms. The order directs the attorney general and FTC to review substantial acquisitions of housing by large institutional investors and to prioritize enforcement of the antitrust laws against coordinated vacancy and pricing strategies. The order also directs White House staff to draft legislation to prevent firms from buying single-family housing. |
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| | Independent Supervisory Appeals Office |
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| | The FDIC board has approved amendments to the agency’s Guidelines for Appeals of Material Supervisory Determinations. Under the new Guidelines, the FDIC is replacing the existing Supervision Appeals Review Committee (SARC) with the Office of Supervisory Appeals, an independent, standalone office within the FDIC. | | The Office of Supervisory Appeals will be the final level of review of material supervisory determinations, independent of the Divisions that make supervisory determinations. The FDIC will notify institutions once the office is operational. |
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| | | Ford and GM Receive Industrial Bank Charters |
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| | The FDIC Board has approved deposit insurance applications submitted by Ford Motor Company to establish Ford Credit Bank and General Motors Company to establish GM Financial Bank. Ford Credit Bank and GM Financial Bank will both be Utah-chartered industrial banks. |
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| | | | | | NCBA Online Training Fits Your Team’s Schedule |
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| | Looking to skill up? The North Carolina Bankers Association is making it easier than ever to invest in your professional growth. Sign up for one of the upcoming webinars from our partnered providers: |
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| | | | | | | | blueharbor bank Reports Fourth Quarter 2025 Net Income |
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| | blueharbor bank reported net income of $3,224,028 and $1.07 per diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2025, an increase of 53% or $1,111,277 as compared to $2,112,751 and $0.70 per diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2024. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2025, the bank is reporting net income of $10,981,792 and $3.65 per diluted share, an increase of 62% or $4,194,883 as compared to $6,786,909 and $2.25 per diluted share for the same twelve months in 2024. |
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| First Community Bankshares, Inc. Announces Fourth Quarter 2025 Results and Quarterly Cash Dividend |
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| | First Community Bankshares, Inc. reported its unaudited results of operations and other financial information for the quarter ended December 31, 2025. The company reported net income of $12.46 million, or $0.68 per diluted common share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2025. Net income for the twelve months ended December 31, 2025, was $48.79 million or $2.65 per diluted common share. |
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| | | | | "We do not learn from experience…
we learn from reflecting on experience." |
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| | | NC Bankers Association | 3601 Haworth Drive | Raleigh | NC | 27609 | US |
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