Seeing the Story Behind the Numbers: Introducing Eric Kirchner

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Eric Kirchner joined the team in January 2025 as senior vice president, strategic finance. In this role, he contributes to the financial modeling and forecasting for all aspects of the ICBA Payments business. Eric offers insight into his duties, industry experience, and what he’s most excited about regarding the future of ICBA Payments.

Share a little about your banking experience.

I spent the last 12+ years at U.S. Bank working entirely in the corporate credit card group. During that time, I served on the Strategy and Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) teams. I was also a key stakeholder in the divesture of our Health Savings Account (HSA) product. On both teams, my role largely revolved around leveraging data to help articulate the financial story behind the numbers.

I helped compile materials for earnings releases. A major initiative that I was involved with right up until my departure was cross-functional reporting related to total customer counts and penetration levels across the organization. One thing that I learned very early on is that deliverables were often fluid, and deadlines were tight, so I needed to remain agile.

For over 10 years while at U.S. Bank, I was responsible for both submitting Nilson Report data and analyzing peer issuer data which provided a pulse on how other card programs were performing.

My entire career has been in banking working for various establishments around the Twin Cities area. I started in community banking, then post graduate school I went to work for a larger bank. Now I've returned to my roots working for an organization that represents community banks across the country.

My grandfather served in a leadership capacity in what is now ICBA in the 1950s, and I am excited to carry on the tradition of supporting community banks.

How would you define your career in 30 words or less?

A common theme throughout my career is to remain an accountable and driven finance professional and a trusted partner in using data to help an organization achieve its goals.

What are you excited about in your role as Senior Vice President, Strategic Finance, at ICBA Payments?

I am excited to be a key stakeholder assisting with one of the largest transformations in the company's 40+ year history. We have many enhancements planned, all of which are focused on helping our community banks achieve their payments goals and remain top of wallet, allowing them to better serve the communities in which they operate.

As part of my role now, I'm working to help key banks analyze strategic payments updates that will boost their profitability and improve customer experiences.

What else would you like our banks to know about you or how ICBA Payments supports them?

I'm extremely passionate about data and take immense pride in the accuracy of reporting. I have a natural tendency to go deep into the details ensuring things tick and tie-in the way they are intended. I love using the output of data to help articulate performance and provide a foundation from which decisions are born.