Independent Banker - March 2019 - 10

CURRENCIES
ICBA Bancard partners with
FIS to speed up contactless
card adoption
News
ICBA Bancard is partnering with FIS to
support the adoption of contactless
EMV chip cards, a technology that is expected
to accelerate significantly in the U.S. in the next
few years.
" With first-generation EMV chip cards beginning
Meet Sophia, the
human-like robot
News
Tech wunderkind. Pop-culture
icon. Robot. Sophia, a lifelike
robot equipped with cutting-edge artificial
intelligence and emotion-mapping technology,
is the world's first humanoid celebrity. And she'll be
stopping by this month's ICBA LIVE.
After making her first public appearance at South by
Southwest in 2016, Sophia achieved instant notoriety,
showing up in a Taiwanese music video, a British morning
news show and CBS's 60 Minutes. She's the invention of
Hanson Robotics, a Hong Kong-based company founded
by former Disney Imagineer David Hanson, who modeled
her after Audrey Hepburn and his wife. His mission is
to develop machines that can learn creativity, empathy
and compassion, which could be beneficial in fields like
medicine, education and entertainment.
Hanson Robotics hopes Sophia-the first-ever
Innovation Champion of the United Nation Development
Programme-and her conversational abilities can be useful
for businesses promoting products, and hosting trade
shows or events.
Sophia will be part of a presentation accompanying
general session speaker Vinh Giang, magician and CEO of
Luminary Productions (read more about him on page 66).
Visit icba.org/convention for a schedule of events at ICBA
LIVE 2019, March 18-22 in Nashville, Tenn.
10 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q March 2019
to expire, and nearly 70 percent of all merchant
terminals in the United States equipped with
near-field communication, the stage is set for
rapid contactless adoption in the community
banking industry, " says Tina Giorgio, ICBA Bancard
president and CEO. " Community banks will be
well positioned in 2019 to offer their customers
contactless payment solutions as they continue to
provide the best possible products and services,
along with the superior customer service for which
they are known. "
The partnership gives financial incentives to
community banks that adopt the new chip cards,
which cost about a third more to produce. The
program, which rolled out in the first quarter of
2019, features educational resources for banks and
their customers that will further aid the migration
to contactless cards.
" Contactless technology is moving quickly
into mainstream adoption in the U.S., driven by
consumer requirements, " says
Jim Johnson, executive
vice president of
financial institution
payments and
integrated financial
services at FIS.
" It's critical for
community banks
to be actively
working on plans
to leverage this
technology as part
of their payments
strategy. As a leading
provider to community banks,
FIS looks forward to working with ICBA Bancard to
raise awareness of the potential of this technology
and help our clients fully realize its value. "
http://www.icba.org/convention
Independent Banker - March 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Independent Banker - March 2019
