Jacob Eisen: Changing for the Better

Winston Churchill famously said, “To improve is to change, so to be perfect is to have changed often.”

If that’s true, the community banking industry must be edging close to flawlessness, because over the past few years, change has become second nature. We respond to market shifts and regulatory demands with resilience and tenacity, precisely because we place our communities and customers at the center of what we do, creating better experiences for them. 

Now ICBA Payments is asking you to consider making changes once again, with the goal of introducing a better solution for your customers and your bottom line. 

A new card partner

As we announced at ICBA LIVE, ICBA Payments and Mastercard have built a new partnership model centered on empowering community banks to deliver outstanding experiences to their cardholders while boosting the banks’ card program profitability. This change will both enhance the value of your card program for your bank and extend enhanced, modern payment capabilities to your customers. 

Specifically, as part of this transition, ICBA Payments negotiated the following upgrades to your program:

• Modern, contactless plastics

• Tokenization to digital wallets

• Industry standard 8-digit BINs

• Enhancements to business BINs

In short, you will be able to offer a modern card experience that better supports your bank and your customers now and into the future.

Expanding profitability

But it’s not just about the experience. We’re also introducing greater revenue potential. One of the most exciting components of this shift lies in the marketing support Mastercard will bring, resulting in an uptick in cardholder engagement and spending. In fact, Mastercard reports that by introducing its best practices, community banks can see an average increase of more than 18% in debit spending, along with an increase in overall activation rates and provisioning for recurring payments.

And this change is happening now. Current ICBA Payments clients have already received an acknowledgment form to confirm their agreement to comply with all necessary transition requirements. Once that form is returned to ICBA Payments, details on the implementation timeline and resources to assist with the transition are provided. And we hope community banks who are not already ICBA Payments clients will consider joining us at this stage, with all the new potential this change brings. Just reach out to mastercardupgrade@icba.org for more information.

I’ve always felt that change for the sake of change is foolish, but when it brings with it new opportunities, innovative potential and a better business return, it’s an educated, worthwhile pursuit. And that’s what we see in this new partnership. We look forward to working with each of you as we create an exciting, profitable future with Mastercard as a key partner.