GREENVILLE, S.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Independence Bancshares, Inc. (IEBS) (“Independence Bancshares” or the “Company”), the holding company for Independence National Bank (the "Bank"), is pleased to announce that former Verizon Wireless executives Aditya Khurjekar and Humphrey Chen have joined the Company to help build out its mobile technology and banking capabilities.

“Following the recapitalization of the Bank in December 2012, we have been increasingly focused on emerging trends in consumer banking and finance”

Previously, Mr. Khurjekar was responsible for leading a number of mobile payments and commerce initiatives at Verizon, including elements of ISIS, the NFC joint venture between AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless. He established pioneering partnerships in mobile money involving mobile operators, financial institutions and technology innovators. Mr. Khurjekar is also involved with cross-industry working groups such as the Mobile Payments Industry Workgroup, which was formed by the Federal Reserve Banks of Boston and Atlanta to facilitate the evolution of a more effective, secure, and ubiquitous mobile payments system. He has extensive engineering knowledge and experience with mobile device and NFC chip and software technologies. Before joining Verizon, Mr. Khurjekar held product engineering and strategy positions at CSG Systems, Lucent Technologies, and Bell Laboratories.

Prior to joining Independence Bancshares, Mr. Chen founded and led Verizon’s 4G Venture Forum and was an Executive Director of New Product Technologies responsible for the intersection of innovation and capital investments in emerging technologies. Mr. Chen’s deep knowledge of mobile market trends, combined with his extensive technology background, provides a solid foundation especially when combined with creative high-tech consumer and enterprise insights. Previously, Mr. Chen was Director of Portfolio Strategy & Business Development at Avaya, Senior Product Manager in the Real-Time Collaboration (RTC) group at Microsoft, and Senior Business Analyst Policy Advisor at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission Wireless Bureau. Mr. Chen will be focused on business development and emerging technologies and platforms such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and iOS7.

“Following the recapitalization of the Bank in December 2012, we have been increasingly focused on emerging trends in consumer banking and finance," said Gordon A. Baird, Chief Executive Officer of Independence Bancshares. "We believe that many elements of the U.S. core bank processing and payment technology backbones can be improved to produce better banking and payment experiences for consumers. We are excited about delivering more robust, secure and ubiquitous capabilities to our bank’s customers. As the global banking landscape moves to more real-time processing and service-oriented architectures (SOA), we plan to be one of the leaders enabling consumers and our corporate and banking relationships to succeed in an increasingly competitive and innovative world. Aditya and Humphrey bring years of experience in mobile technology that materially strengthen our in-house knowledge and relationships with telecommunication, consumer technology and wireless innovators that will augment our ability to provide contemporary features to traditional and emerging banking and payment channels.”

These new hires follow additions in April and May to Independence Bancshares’ Board of Directors geared toward strengthening and broadening the Company’s leadership. New members included: Robert B. Willumstad, the former President and COO of Citigroup; Alvin Hageman, the former co-head of Citigroup’s Securitization Products Group and Senior Credit Officer; and Keith Stock, former President of MasterCard Advisors, LLC, member of the MasterCard Worldwide Operating Committee and Management Council, and Senior Partner at A.T. Kearney, Capgemini, Ernst & Young, and McKinsey & Company. Willumstad, Hageman and Stock joined existing Board members Neel Hipp, former Vice President of Liberty Corporation, and Sandy McLean, CEO of World Acceptance Corporation, both of whom also serve on the Independence National Bank Board of Directors.

Independence National Bank, Independence Bancshares’ banking subsidiary, continues to focus on providing superior banking products and services to the Greenville and upstate South Carolina markets. Independence National Bank offers a complete banking line of business including commercial loans, consumer finance, retail banking, business banking, and merchant services. It is led by CEO Larry Miller and supported by a board of industry leaders -- including Chairman Emeritus, Charlie Walters, and board members including Robert Austell, John Burnett, Billy Coleman, William Mathis, Sudhirkumar Patel, Donald Rex Jr., Roger Walters, and Vivian Wong.

About Independence Bancshares, Inc.

Independence Bancshares, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina. It owns and controls all of the capital stock of its sole subsidiary, Independence National Bank, a nationally chartered bank. Independence National Bank is headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina. Since opening for business in 2005, we have been providing a complete banking line of business including consumer finance, business banking and merchant services. Our goal is to continue to deliver services that provide exceptional value to the community we serve.