Program for community banks will connect their customers with
location-based merchant offers and discounts
FOSTER CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun. 5, 2013--
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) and ICBA Bancard® today announced an
initiative to bring local, community-based offers programs to ICBA
Bancard member institutions. The program will deploy Visa Offers
capabilities to connect participating member institutions and their Visa
account holders with unique merchant offers, discounts and other loyalty
programs relevant to their interests and communities. By bringing both
national and local merchant offers to community bank customers, the Visa
Offers program will help increase the relevance and value of Visa
offerings to customers as they shop in their local community and
transact on the go.
Visa Offers allows financial institutions and merchants to deliver
individually tailored offers based on shopping behavior and purchase
location to consumers who have opted in to the program. The platform
supports Visa’s commitment to enable retailers and financial
institutions of all sizes to deliver customized and differentiated
offers to Visa cardholders at the point-of-sale.
“Community banks are vital financial partners to millions of Americans
and are important Visa clients,” said
William Sheedy
, Global Executive,
Visa. “We are committed to customizing Visa’s products and services,
such as Visa Offers, to help our partners provide the greatest value to
their customers in ways that are both scalable for their business and
relevant to their local communities. Importantly, this initiative with
ICBA Bancard will help inform and develop other community bank programs
that can further enable these institutions to grow and meet the unique
needs of their customers.”
“This partnership with Visa will enable us to create a program that is
relevant to our members and their customers and that meets the demand
for both local and national merchant offers to reach consumers,” said
Noah Wilcox
, chairman of ICBA Bancard and president and CEO of Grand
Rapids State Bank in Grand Rapids, Minn. “We’re excited to work with
Visa on this initiative and appreciate their commitment to providing
cutting-edge programs, technology and services to support community
banks across the country.”
The program introduction is planned for later this year and is expected
to include several ICBA Bancard member institutions. As the program is
expanded and refined in the coming months, ICBA Bancard will offer the
service to its broader community bank membership base.
About Visa Inc.: Visa is a global payments technology
company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and
governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure
and reliable digital currency. Underpinning digital currency is one of
the world’s most advanced processing networks — VisaNet — that is
capable of handling more than 20,000 transaction messages a second, with
fraud protection for consumers and guaranteed payment for merchants.
Visa is not a bank, and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates
and fees for consumers. Visa’s innovations, however, enable its
financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: Pay now
with debit, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products.
For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com.
About ICBA Bancard: ICBA Bancard is the wholly owned payment
services subsidiary of the Independent Community Bankers of America.
ICBA Bancard provides community banks with equitable access to cutting
edge credit card options, debit card options, ATM and merchant
processing solutions as well as exclusive services including the Fraud
Loss Protection Plan, portfolio consultations and portfolio analytical
tools. For more information, visit the ICBA Bancard website at www.icbabancard.com
or call (800) 242-4770.
Source: Visa Inc.
Visa Inc.:
Global Corporate Relations
Ryan Donovan,
650-432-2990
globalmedia@visa.com