{"id":195810,"date":"2026-03-13T02:26:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T06:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/13\/cybersecurity-more-than-just-a-line-item-for-small-community-banks-in-r-i\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T08:30:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T12:30:19","slug":"cybersecurity-more-than-just-a-line-item-for-small-community-banks-in-r-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/13\/cybersecurity-more-than-just-a-line-item-for-small-community-banks-in-r-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Cybersecurity more than just a line item for small community banks in R.I."},"content":{"rendered":"

Cybersecurity more than just a line item for small community banks in R.I.<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/pbn.com\/cybersecurity-more-than-just-a-line-item-for-small-community-banks-in-r-i\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Publish Date: 2026-03-13 02:26:00<\/a><\/p>\n

Source Domain: pbn.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Author: <\/a><\/p>\n

Using an unordered list, summarize the following article with between 4 and 8 key points. <\/p>\n

For Rhode Island\u2019s banks, cybersecurity is no longer just a back-office function or a line item on a spreadsheet \u2013 it\u2019s core to the business.<\/p>\n

Across the state, community and regional institutions are investing heavily to keep pace with increasingly sophisticated threats.<\/p>\n

Smaller banks spend between 11% and 15.5% of payroll on regulatory compliance, compared with 6% to 10% at the largest institutions, according to a November 2025 report from the Conference of State Bank Supervisors that analyzed 10 years of community bank survey data from 2015 to 2024.<\/p>\n

But executives stress that the shift isn\u2019t simply about cost. It\u2019s about integration.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure I\u2019d call it compliance costs,\u201d said William K. Wray Sr., senior executive vice president and chief risk officer for The Washington Trust Co., a community-focused regional bank based in Westerly. \u201cI might call it infrastructure costs.\u201d<\/p>\n

That infrastructure shows up across the balance sheet. Capital investments in cybersecurity flow through operating expenses, Wray said, but are embedded in delivery systems, software upgrades and staff training rather than treated as isolated burdens.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe art of this is to try not to spend more, but to manage better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

At Beacon Bank, Chief Systems Officer Ryan Melle described a structured, top-down approach to cybersecurity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe start by identifying risks across the organization, then map controls to mitigate those risks,\u201d Melle said.<\/p>\n

From there, Melle said Beacon makes strategic decisions on what to invest in and what can be managed differently.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about balancing risk and cost effectively,\u201d Melle said.<\/p>\n

That organized, top-down strategy helps banks stay ahead of complex regulations that govern every corner of their operations, Wray said.<\/p>\n

Community and regional banks operate in one of the country\u2019s most heavily regulated industries, subject to oversight from federal and state authorities.<\/p>\n

But Wray said the change in recent years is not simply new rules, but rather how deeply expectations are woven into everyday procedures.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of regulations being something you dealt with on the side, they now have to be ingrained into all of our procedures at a very deep level,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Both Washington Trust and Beacon take a hybrid approach when it comes to implementation, combining internal teams with outside software partners, particularly for third-party vendor oversight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis approach lets us filter noise efficiently and respond quickly to what really matters,\u201d Melle said.<\/p>\n

At Centreville Bank, it\u2019s no different.<\/p>\n

The West Warwick-based community bank relies on external partners for back-end systems and digital platforms, while similarly maintaining internal oversight, said Greg Germanowski, the bank\u2019s vice president and information security officer.<\/p>\n

Germanowski noted this differs from larger banks, which often maintain full teams of analysts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt delivers the same capabilities without needing them in-house,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re still protecting data, systems, keeping the bad guys out. What has evolved is how we respond to more-sophisticated attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Germanowski said that while the threats have grown more complex, the underlying regulatory principles haven\u2019t changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cMalware and ransomware were the big concern, then business continuity, then third-party vendor oversight,\u201d he said. \u201cThe foundations remain the same \u2013 it\u2019s the focus that changes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Artificial intelligence, too, has emerged as a challenge and a tool.<\/p>\n

\u201cAI in the hands of attackers is multifaceted \u2013 spoofing customers, employees, or executives \u2013 and we have to respond effectively,\u201d Germanowski said.<\/p>\n

At the same time, AI has its benefits.<\/p>\n

\u201cFaster detection and automated containment lower the likelihood of events escalating into customer disruption, and that protects both our clients and internal operations,\u201d Melle said.<\/p>\n

Wray highlighted how AI tools support human judgment in spotting fraud, with pattern-recognition software flagging suspicious activity.<\/p>\n

But delivering that seamless experience requires technological complexity beneath the surface.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the rest of the iceberg,\u201d Wray said. \u201cThey only see the tip in their app. The rest of it, we have to deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n

And cybersecurity isn\u2019t just about technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven without breaches, having very secure information adds credibility and improves trust in the brand,\u201d Germanowski said.<\/p>\n

With customers banking anytime, anywhere, cybersecurity has never been more critical.<\/p>\n

Wray said that customers don\u2019t distinguish between Washington Trust in a branch or on an app.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey want the same brand experience that they can count on and trust,\u201d Wray said.<\/p>\n

Melle said cybersecurity at Beacon Bank is embedded in everything from everyday operations to enterprise-level risk decisions.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything we do supports safe growth, protects customers and underpins our digital strategy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cybersecurity more than just a line item for small community banks in R.I. https:\/\/pbn.com\/cybersecurity-more-than-just-a-line-item-for-small-community-banks-in-r-i\/ Publish…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":195811,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/assets.pbn.com\/2026\/03\/20260305_Salerno_PBN_GregGermanowski_0313SQUEEZE-0002.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[26,20,24,32],"class_list":["post-195810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cybersecurity","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-cybersecurity","tag-malware"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195810"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195810"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":195812,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195810\/revisions\/195812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}