Core Processors

Position

• ICBA strongly urges core processors and other technology partners to help community banks enhance their market position and achieve ongoing efficiency by:
• Meeting and exceeding evolving customer expectations for banking and payments products and services in a timely manner.
• Complying with legal and regulatory requirements.
• Managing operational risk.
• Providing information about incident response and business continuity plans.
• Enhancing customer information security.
• ICBA urges technology partners to engage in negotiations with community banks that result in contracts that are reasonable, fair, and clearly disclose fees.
• ICBA urges core processors to provide adaptable, flexible, timely, and affordable platforms that enable community banks to innovate in a nimble and efficient manner through open application programming interfaces (APIs).
• ICBA urges core processors to provide access to secure data analytics solutions so community banks can better understand and serve their customers and leverage market opportunities.

Background

Core processors play a critical role in providing open communication, visibility into cyber and operational risk management, and education regarding new and enhanced products and services, modern technology, and marketplace developments.

The community bank-core processor relationship should be treated as a key strategic relationship, given the critical role of the core processor in supporting a community bank’s long-term technology and business objectives, ability to remain compliant, and for the bank’s continued success. ICBA encourages community banks to remain actively engaged with their technology partners to influence innovation, product development and speed to market so banks remain competitive.