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Instant Payments for Small Businesses: Low Hanging Fruit
If you have not read ICBA Bancard CEO Tina Giorgio’s recent blog on instant payments for small businesses, it is definitely worth reading. In the blog, Tina includes some key stats that effectively...
Buy Now, Pay Later Continues Notable Growth as BNPL Fraud Increases
Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) quickly rose to become an alternative payment staple during the pandemic, appealing to millennials and consumers wanting to get that ‘longed for’ purchase or just make...
A Note from the Chairman: Carpe Diem Instant Payments
As the lifeblood of the U.S. economy, small businesses have reverberating impacts on the industries and communities they serve. In many cases, their expertise extends into areas other than...
ICBA Bancard is Here to Help
Our mission at ICBA Bancard is to deliver flexible, innovative payments and digital commerce solutions that allow community banks to flourish. To this end, ICBA Bancard’s team is here to help and...
Instant Payments Fraud
Instant, faster, real-time: no matter how you describe the newest sets of payment rails, there are many questions as to how those payments may be protected.
Understanding the What, Why, and How of Instant Payments
As bankers try and digest a steady stream of news related to faster payments, it can be overwhelming to try and keep straight what all the different terms mean, what solutions ride which payment...
Chairman's Column: Asking the Right Questions
As we come to the end of the first quarter of 2022, we’re still in the throes of finding our “new normal,” which is shaping everything from our branch strategy to product innovation. For many,...
Multi-Factor Authentication – Widely Adopted, Effective Protection
Multi-Factor Authentication – Widely Adopted, Effective Protection Static passwords alone are no longer a viable tool for identifying customers. With payments fraud rising year after year, and...
Understanding Velocity BIN Attacks and How to Address Them
2021-12-07 Understanding Velocity BIN Attacks and How to Address Them It’s Friday night and you are enjoying your well-deserved, stress-free night when your work phone rings. It’s your call center...
Telltale signs to avoid becoming a victim of a social engineering attack
Telltale signs to avoid becoming a victim of a social engineering attack The financial services industry is constantly under siege against would-be fraudsters seeking to exploit...
Using Loyalty Programs to Grow Your Portfolio
2021-12-07 Using Loyalty Programs to Grow Your Portfolio Loyalty programs are a tremendous tool for community banks to build trust with consumers and deliver an enhanced shopping experience. These...
Grow and Protect
Grow and Protect I’m a glass-half-full banker. So, while we can look at 2021 as a year of challenges, we should also take a moment to recognize the opportunities that have emerged in their wake....
Growing your credit portfolio starts with knowing the numbers
You’ve probably heard the saying, “the numbers don’t lie” and in the financial world, it is more than a cliché it’s usually a fact. So, when I’m asked about the best ways to grow a credit card...
Webinars feature RTP, FedNow updates
Webinars feature RTP, FedNow updates ICBA and ICBA Bancard next week are kicking off a complimentary webinar series on how community banks can plan for their instant payments journey. Details: The...
Cybersecurity Safety
What exactly is cybersecurity? Cybersecurity, also known as information technology security, is the practice of protecting electronic systems, data, applications, and networks from the interference...
Migrating to 8-Digit BINs
As the timeline for 8-digit bank identification number (BIN) migration approaches, it is important to stay up to date on developments and next steps in preparation for the new industry standard....
Payments Trends for 2022 Planning and Beyond
We are in the midst of a transformative time in payments; COVID-19 has fueled an accelerated shift to digital channels, and meanwhile, new payment rails (instant) are being deployed and starting to...
Embracing the new normal
2021-09-14 Whenever I hear the phrase, “the new normal” I’m reminded of the seismic shift in interactions with customers over the course of the pandemic. This is even more apparent when considering...
A Look Ahead: Payments in 2022
2021-09-14 It may be hard to believe but we’re rapidly approaching the end of 2021. Given some of the significant trends and developments this year, 2022 is likely to be a pivotal year for payments...
Making customer interactions personal for a digitized world
Making customer interactions personal for a digitized world As in-branch visits decrease and the number of digital transactions increase, it will be more important than ever to ensure customer...
A Note from the Chairman
2021-07-06 This past year has been an intensely trying time, but if we look beyond the COVID-19 storm, we come face to face with a silver lining of opportunity. Community banks have been able to...
Do you have the right card products to meet the pent-up card spend?
2021-07-06 Do you have the right card products to meet the pent-up card spend? Strong consumer and business card programs are well positioned to meet bank, consumer, and business challenges fueled...
Faster Payments – Meeting Market Demand
Faster Payments – Meeting Market Demand The year 2020 drove many community banks to experiment and embark on faster payments. Concerns of payment disruption combined with the pressure to remain...
Protecting Against Digital Payments Fraud
2021-07-06 The pandemic has certainly played a role in escalating fraud on a global scale and throughout many payment pathways—both old and new. The sudden cross-sectioning of these payment and...
Take your card portfolio to the next level with affluent cards
Take your card portfolio to the next level with affluent cards As community banks review their card offerings and examine ways to attract more cardholders, one segment meriting a closer look are...
Supporting Economic Recovery with Credit Card Rewards Programs
2021-07-06 Supporting Economic Recovery with Credit Card Rewards Programs To everything there is a season, or so the market shows via today’s rebounding economic environment. Anxieties around the...
Three Ways Receive-Only Instant Payments Meet Customer Needs
The countdown is on. FedNow goes live in just a few months, and its looming launch creates a sense of urgency around the execution of instant payments.
Where Does Your Community Bank Fall on the Digital Payments Spectrum?
2019-09-03 Payments Executive Brief Issue 1 For a printable PDF of this issue, click here. By Tina Giorgio Use the ICBA Bancard Digital Payments Strategy GuideSM to Address Your Payments Business...
Value of the FedNow Service for Community Banks
2019-09-09 The Federal Reserve’s development of the FedNow Service provides the opportunity for all banks—both large and small—to capitalize on the value of faster payments and brings significant...
ThinkTECH Accelerator: Through the Lens of a Mentor
ICBA Bancard President and CEO Tina Giorgio reflects on her experiences as a mentor in the ICBA ThinkTECH Accelerator program. By Tina Giorgio As we near the close of the application period for our...
Strategies to Help Fight Back Against Card Fraud
2019-12-11 First-party fraud and synthetic identity fraud is an area of growing concern, exacerbated by difficulties of identifying these attacks, but there are ways the industry is fighting back....
Digital-First: Meeting Customers Where They Are
By Tina Giorgio We live in an age where almost nine in 10 U.S. households own a smartphone, making it the second-most owned technology device after television sets. When it comes to financial...
Capitalizing on Change in 2020
One thing is for certain – and that is change. With the advent of new technologies and solutions, education will be the indispensable complement to ensure community banks can take advantage of the...
7 Tips for Mitigating Synthetic Identity Fraud Risk
2020-08-11 Catching synthetic identity fraudsters remains difficult, and the fall-out of not detecting it, is substantial. AI company Coalesce estimates that synthetic identities account for more...
ICBA Bancard tool helps community banks assess their small business payments readiness
2020-09-10 From having to adapt to retail closings, diminished staff and customer capacities, a new work-from-home infrastructure, and more, the nation’s small businesses have reacted quickly in...
What You Need to Know about Today’s Credit Card Rewards Programs
2021-02-25 Having the right rewards program to match your existing and targeted cardholder customer base is more important than ever. That’s why ICBA Bancard, in partnership with TCM Bank recently...
Meeting Customers Where They Are for Today’s Digital-First World
2020-11-20 By Tina Giorgio This year has brought a seismic shift in how consumers conduct their financial affairs. What was once a gradual move to digital payments and shopping methods has become a...
Continuing the Conversation: What You Need to Know about Today’s Credit Card Rewards Programs
Continuing the Conversation: What You Need to Know about Today’s Credit Card Rewards Programs 2021-03-11 Recently, ICBA Bancard, in partnership with TCM Bank, released the white paper, “Cultivating...
ICBA Payments Appoints Three New Members to its Board of Directors
ICBA Payments, the payments-services subsidiary of the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), today announced the election to its board of directors its three newest members.
How Intelligent Automation Supports the AI Journey
I had the pleasure of participating in a panel with Kimberly Kirk, Executive Vice President, Chief Operations Officer at Queensborough National Bank & Trust Co., and Todd Michaud, CEO of HuLoop...
Educate the Consumer – Make a Dent in Fighting Fraud
With every passing year, there are new threat attacks and innovative variations of old fraud schemes that still reign successful. And criminals continue to do their possible best to gain financial...
The FedNow Service is Turning 1, What Comes Next?
With the FedNow Service approaching the anniversary of its July 2023 launch, it's appropriate to reflect on how far we've come and what comes next with respect to instant payments and the FedNow...
The Technology Take
As ICBA Bancard transitions to ICBA Payments, reflecting on our past will help to fuel our future success. While our name has changed, the goal of serving community banks has remained a constant...
Payments Leader Jacob Eisen Named ICBA Payments President and CEO
ICBA Payments, the payments-services subsidiary of the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), is pleased to announce the appointment of Jacob Eisen as its new president and CEO, effective...
Honoring Our Past, Embracing Our Future
As ICBA Bancard transitions to ICBA Payments, reflecting on our past will help to fuel our future success. While our name has changed, the goal of serving community banks has remained a constant...
A Renewed Commitment to Our Mission
From deploying instant payments to enhancing the customer experience to competing with Bigtech, community banks face complex decisions about priorities amidst current fiscal realities.
Introducing ICBA Payments’ New Chairman: Ruth Christopher
When she launched her career as a CPA, Ruth Christopher wasn’t necessarily envisioning a role at a community bank. But after a few years at a regional CPA firm, a partner encouraged her to apply as...
Unlock Your Portfolio’s Potential with Credit Card Marketing
Marketing programs are critical to portfolio health and expansion. The key to success is simple: get started and take action! The steps below should help you start your journey.
Branding on Purpose
There’s been a lot of chatter lately about brand power and how brand drives an organization’s outward expression of its mission and values by being at the heart of great client and employee...
Rethinking Merchant Services
Banks have traditionally relied on interest income from loans and deposits, but non-traditional financial services companies are providing competition for these core products. To survive long term,...
Mid-year Checkpoint on Digital Payments Transformation
With over half of 2023 now firmly in the rearview mirror, we’re hoping community banks have put our digital payments transformation resources to good use—leveraging our whitepaper and workbook to...
Instant Payments and Digital Transformation Go Hand in Hand
At ICBA Bancard, we continue to arm bankers with information and resources to support their instant payments and digital transformation (icba.org/digital-transformation) journeys.
Entering the Era of Instant Payments
On March 15 during the final general session at ICBA LIVE, the Federal Reserve announced that it will launch its much-anticipated FedNow Service in July. With instant payments already a central...
Answering the most common FedNow-related questions
For years, we’ve been waiting in the wings, anticipating the launch of an instant payments service by the Federal Reserve, so it feels surreal to say we’ve arrived.
Credit-Push Fraud: Recognizing the Signs
If you feel like it’s hard to stay on top of payments fraud trends these days, you would not be alone. The introduction of any new payment instrument opens the opportunity for criminals to dupe the...
Chairman's Column: Flipping the Switch - It's Time to Receive Instant Payments
For years, we’ve been waiting in the wings, anticipating the launch of an instant payments service by the Federal Reserve, so it feels surreal to say we’ve arrived.
Playing Catch-up with FedNow – The Greatest Hits of FedNow Resources and Reference Materials
With the July launch of FedNow looming, are you feeling behind in terms of learning more about the service, its impacts on your bank, and the steps needed to implement it?
Build Up Your Protections
Fraud remains a pervasive and growing problem for community banks—with tangible losses. According to a survey from LexisNexis Risk Solutions, every dollar lost to fraud costs U.S. financial...
Passwordless Authentication: The Next Ecosystem?
It has been a continuous conversation over the past several years, and one that is gaining further momentum with each reported data breach—when, or should, banks shift to passwordless authentication?
How Visa’s Updated Compelling Evidence Rule Impacts Community Banks
Fraud remains a pervasive and growing problem for community banks—with tangible losses. According to a survey from LexisNexis Risk Solutions, every dollar lost to fraud costs U.S. financial...