The Bank of Missouri and Corserv, a fintech company that provides payment card issuing programs, announced a partnership with Visa that will allow community banks to launch consumer, business and commercial credit cards in their corresponding markets.
The initiative is an innovative approach that will provide an easy way for community banks to expand into the credit card segment without the need of adding additional staff or infrastructure to their businesses. Through the partnership, banks will be able to leverage their relationship data in credit decisions and expand into high-margin credit services which are essential for customers across the specter.
The alliance will provide a fully digital platform that manages, processes and services credit cards.
The Bank of Missouri, a community bank that operates 29 branches across the state and holds more than $2.8 billion in assets, will act as the credit card sponsor bank. Together with Corserv, they will provide the transaction processing, branded cards with user interfaces and Visa credit card products.
For this reason, its executives argued that there is no need for the community bank to add any layer of infrastructure or personnel to its organization.
“We have seen firsthand the power of bringing card services to community financial institutions, and we wanted to work with Corserv to make this accessible to more local banks,” said Adrian Breen, President and Chief Executive Officer at The Bank of Missouri.
Founded in 2009, Corserv is a payment card issuing company that employs open-source technology and APIs to serve both banks and fintechs. It allows them to easily offer high-quality payment card products, mitigating the risk and investment required to launch on their own a new payment card line of business.
Its chief executive, Jerry Craft, underscored the relevance of the community bank sector and how the new partnership could improve their business offering.
“Community banks can now offer a branded Visa credit card program to their local businesses, municipalities, non-profits, and consumers with competitive credit card products and excellent local service,” Craft, said. “Visa is the world leader in payments and is just as much in demand from community bank customers as it is from customers of national credit card providers.”
Under the alliance, the Bank of Missouri will provide the Bank Identification Numbers (BINs) and ensure compliance with regulations. It will sell the corresponding credit card purchase volume to each community bank with the community banks receiving 100% of the interchange, interest, and fees from their cardholder accounts.
The bank itself recently launched its card program using Corserv’s services, a decision which allowed it to provide its clients with a sophisticated card program that included branded cards, a mobile app, digital underwriting and onboarding, purchasing and virtual cards, expense reporting, account holder alerts and controls, among many other services. These are the same features, the company said, that will be available for community banks participating in the program.
“Our Bank and Fintech clients increase their earnings per share by benefitting from loan interest, interchange, fee income and economies of scale from Corserv’s client base. Most importantly, they deepen their customer relationships,” the company said in a press release.
