On May 5, the OCC released a request for information (RFI) seeking public comment on community banks’ efforts towards digitalization. The OCC stated this RFI will enhance its supervisory activities. The OCC aims to understand the challenges community banks face in adopting digital technologies to modernize operations, improve customer experiences, and maintain competitiveness in the digital financial services landscape.

The OCC invites community banks, industry groups, technology providers, and other stakeholders to respond to questions on various topics related to digitalization. These topics include planning for digitalization, board governance, due diligence, implementation, costs, third-party usage, competition, AI and machine learning, regulatory effects, associated risks, and data sharing. The feedback will help the OCC identify specific obstacles community banks encounter in their digitalization efforts.