The Global Affinity Finance Club is
Finaccord’s quarterly newsletter about
affinity financial services worldwide.
Through this, Finaccord publishes top
line information about key strategic
developments in affinity and partnership
marketing of financial services
around the world, segmented between
affinity insurance news, bancassurance
news and affinity banking news.
This service differs from that provided
by other research companies because
its focus is genuinely global, often
translating news that only appears in
languages other than English. In addition,
it concentrates exclusively on
affinity and partnership marketing
strategy.
Affinity and partnership marketing
strategy is an important component of
general distribution strategy for a majority
of large banks and insurance
companies serving consumers and
small businesses as successful partnerships
potentially allow them to access
groups of customers that they cannot
always reach by themselves.
If you would like to join Finaccord’s
Global Affinity Finance Club, contact
us by telephone or send us an email to
info@finaccord.com. Thereafter, each
quarter, we will send you a link to the
page of our website with fresh news
and future editions of this document.
Explore Dual Citizenship in Africa | Citizenship Benefits & Requirements
Global affinity finance club summer 2012
1. AFFINITY INSURANCE
SUMMER 2012
BANCASSURANCE
Global Affinity
AFFINITY BANKING
Finance Club
Finaccord’s newsletter about affinity financial services worldwide
Welcome back to your Club!
The summer may have been full of sporting distractions in the shape
of Euro 2012, Wimbledon and, of course, the London Olympics and
Paralympics, but these do not seem to have held up a wide array of
initiatives in the world of affinity and partnership marketing.
As detailed in this new Summer 2012 edition of the Global Affinity
Finance Club, significant new bancassurance joint ventures have
been created by AXA, Cigna and Liberty Mutual in China, Turkey
and India, respectively, while Genworth Financial has entered into
an interesting partnership with MAPFRE in Latin America for the
distribution of creditor and lifestyle protection products.
In the payments arena, much attention has been focussed once again
on the creation of partnerships designed to facilitate the develop-
ment of mobile payments. Deals involving China UnionPay, Master-
Card and Monitise are particularly prominent in this respect.
Meanwhile, in the UK, two major retail brands have established new
relationships for selling insurance. Specifically, John Lewis has se-
lected Ageas and RSA as new non-life insurance partners while
Tesco has begun working with Aviva as its provider of protection-
related life insurance products. The UK Post Office, too, is also in
the news having reconfigured its long-standing tie with Bank of Ire-
land and initiated a new link with HSBC that aims to improve ac-
count access for the bank’s customers.
With best regards,
Alan Leach
Director
aleach@finaccord.com
For our published reports,
news and more please visit
www.finaccord.com
2. Global Affinity Finance Club
Table of contents
Affinity Insurance News 4 Daimler Financial Services and Zurich HOUSEHOLD INSURANCE 8
disclose success of branded motor insur-
ASSISTANCE 4 ance 6 RSA renews household insurance deal
with UK's second-largest building socie-
Aria Assistance partners with Pannone PRODUCT INSURANCE / WAR- ty 8
for specialist legal assistance 4 RANTIES 6
LIFE INSURANCE / RETIREMENT
Porsche to promote AXA's breakdown Domestic & General renews contracts SAVINGS 9
recovery service for a further three years with electronic appliance groups 6
4 AXA and ICBC launch a joint venture
MAPFRE Warranty creates partnership for life insurance in China 9
MAPFRE's Chinese assistance unit se- with Mexican office equipment specialist
cures mandate with Fujian Benz Auto- 6 Cigna and Finansbank create life insur-
motive 4 ance and pensions joint venture 9
Assurant and GCube partner to protect
COMMERCIAL INSURANCE 4 commercial solar energy projects 7 Manulife launches insurance and wealth
management products through Indone-
American Bar Association endorses TRAVEL INSURANCE 7 sian bank 9
cyber liability insurance from Chubb 4
ACE secures travel insurance deal with Manulife commences the sale of term
Moderna Försäkringar secures multi- RAC 7 assurance for business clients through
year commercial affinity deal 4 Nomura Securities 10
Ageas wins John Lewis travel insurance
Zurich tees up new golf affinity scheme mandate 7 Manulife and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi
with Circle Golf 4 UFJ firm up partnership for fixed annui-
MAPFRE Assistance provides free trav- ties 10
LIFE INSURANCE 5 el cover to African airline passengers 7
GENERAL 10
Aviva gains life insurance distribution Solid Försäkringar rolls out agreement
deal with Tesco's banking arm 5 with Nordic online travel group 7 BAWAG P.S.K. and Generali renew
bancassurance agreement up to 2023 10
BNP Paribas Cardif renews partnership GENERAL 8
with Magazine Luisa up to 2015 5 ———————————————--
Swiss insurers agree to sell each other's
Itaú Unibanco terminates insurance products 8 Affinity banking 10
marketing partnership with retail chain 5
Liberty Mutual's Indian joint venture AFFINITY BANK ACCOUNTS 10
LV= wins five-year tie with RAC for receives green light to start operating 8
protection-related life insurance 5 BMO customers given opportunity to
John Lewis selects RSA for household, generate AIR MILES from everyday
MDS and Towers Watson sign employ- pet and wedding cover 8 banking 10
ee benefits joint venture agreement 5
———————————————-- AFFINITY CARDS 10
Scottish Friendly links with BGL Group
for Beagle Street venture 6 Bancassurance 8 Société Générale launches new bank
card with French golfing federation 10
MOTOR INSURANCE 6 CREDITOR INSURANCE 8
AUTOMOTIVE FINANCE 11
AXA enriches offer to Spanish associa- Genworth Financial establishes Latin
tion for motorcyclists 6 American tie with MAPFRE 8
www.finaccord.com
2
3. Global Affinity Finance Club
Ally Financial strengthens ties with Scotiabank issues a new suite of Ameri- Wirecard works with Deutsche Tele-
Mitsubishi Motors in North America 11 can Express travel rewards cards… 13 kom for German mobile payments
initiatives... 17
CO-BRANDED CARDS 11 …and signs expatriate referral agree-
ments with banks in both China and ... and with myTaxi for processing taxi
Chase unveils a new Marriott Rewards India 14 fare payments via smartphone 17
card for Canadians… 11
UnionPay takes action to expand its ONLINE PAYMENTS 17
…and adds a debit card to its US range card business in Australia 14
of co-branded Disney products 11 MasterCard links with eNett Interna-
MOBILE PAYMENTS 14 tional for travel industry payments 17
HDFC Bank launches co-branded cred-
it cards with Indian frequent flyer pro- China UnionPay and China Mobile RETAILER CARDS 17
gram 11 agree to co-operate for mobile pay-
ments 14 Citi Retail Services rolls out new credit
Western Union and UnionBank intro- card with fuel retail chain 18
duce prepaid Visa card in the Philip- MasterCard forges mobile payments
pines 12 alliance with Everything Everywhere in GE Capital links with New Zealand
the UK... 14 supermarket chain for credit card
CONSUMER FINANCE 12 launch... 18
... and with Deutsche Telekom in Ger-
BNP Paribas Personal Finance and many 15 ... and renews multi-year credit card
Sberbank finalise their consumer credit program with Sam's Club 18
joint venture 12 MasterCard and Westpac launch new
pilot application for mobile payments GENERAL 18
INTERNATIONAL REMITTANCES 15
12 Bankinter extends relationship with
UK earmarked as first European launch charity serving individuals with hearing
China UnionPay and MoneyGram link market for moneto 15 difficulties 18
for emergency cash service 12
Mobile Money Network enables Bank of Ireland and the UK Post Of-
ICBC to use Western Union for inward smartphone users to buy direct from fice extend partnership through to 2023
and outward account-based transfers 12 UK media group 16 18
Western Union makes inroads into Monitise combines with Bank of China HSBC agrees account access deal with
Myanmar 13 for mobile payment programs in Hong the Post Office for UK customers 19
Kong... 16
INTER-BANK DISTRIBUTION 13 MasterCard links with shopkick loyalty
... and links with The Co-operative scheme specialist 19
American Express and Uralsib Bank
Bank for mobile payments and banking
forge Russian card-issuing agreement
in the UK 16
13
Targobank and BASE introduce con-
Bank Internasional Indonesia and JCB
tactless mobile payments in Germany
combine for platinum card launch 13
16
Discover network to bring PayPal pay-
Partners pioneer contactless payments
ments to in-store locations across the
in the Czech Republic 17
US 13
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3
4. Global Affinity Finance Club
Affinity Insurance
Affinity Insurance News MAPFRE's Chinese assis- costs. To minimise third-party
tance unit secures mandate coverage overlaps, a firm can
ASSISTANCE with Fujian Benz Automotive designate its cyber or profes-
sional liability policy as primary
Aria Assistance partners with In China, MAPFRE Asistencia, insurance and the other as ex-
Pannone for specialist legal via its local Road China Assis- cess insurance. Law firms that
assistance tance unit, has won a new con- select their cyber liability policy
tract with Fujian Benz Automo- as excess coverage may be eligi-
Aria Assistance – which is the tive for the provision of road- ble for a premium discount.
newly independent firm that side assistance services. Road
emerged from the management China Assistance is positioning Moderna Försäkringar se-
buyout of Europ Assistance's itself as one of the most promi- cures multi-year commercial
UK and Ireland division – has nent providers of extended war- affinity deal
selected law firm Pannone's Af- ranties and breakdown recovery
finity Solutions brand to provide insurance in China, and the deal In Sweden, Moderna Försäkrin-
legal assistance services to its with Fujian Benz Automotive, a gar has entered into an agree-
customers. Aria Assistance mar- joint venture of Daimler with m e n t w i t h
kets itself as a full-service assis- the Fujian Motor Industry Glasbranschföreningen, a trade
tance company and provides Group which currently produc- association for enterprises active
both insured and uninsured es around 40,000 vehicles each in glass-related activities such as
products, primarily in the areas year, will strengthen its hand in glazing, to offer commercial in-
of travel insurance and assis- this arena. surance. The association has
tance, international private med- around 600 members in total.
ical insurance, and roadside as- ————————————
sistance. Zurich tees up new golf affin-
COMMERCIAL INSURANCE ity scheme with Circle Golf
Porsche to promote AXA's
breakdown recovery service American Bar Association In the UK, Zurich Insurance
for a further three years endorses cyber liability insur- has announced that it has be-
ance from Chubb come the underwriter for the
AXA Assistance has announced Par Excellence commercial af-
the renewal of its previous dis- In the US, the American Bar finity scheme run by Circle
tribution partnership with luxu- Endowment, a non-profit affili- Golf, a trading division of Glas-
ry sports car manufacturer Por- ate of the American Bar Associ- gow-based broker Circle Insur-
sche for a further three years. ation (ABA), has named the ance Services, after signing a
The deal, which originally dates Chubb Group of Insurance long-term deal with the golfing
back to 2009, means that all Companies as its preferred pro- specialist. The scheme includes
purchasers of new or approved vider of cyber liability insurance around 600 golf clubs across the
Porsche vehicles in 34 Europe- for ABA members. Chubb’s UK and has been active for
an and North African countries cyber liability policy for law around 20 years.
are given the option of acquiring firms covers losses which may
AXA's roadside breakdown and not usually be covered by a pro- ————————————
recovery products. fessional liability policy, includ-
ing cyber breach notification
www.finaccord.com
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5. Global Affinity Finance Club
Affinity Insurance
LIFE INSURANCE market its protection insurance based advice service for protec-
products through the 730 stores tion-related life insurance prod-
Aviva gains life insurance dis- operated by the chain through- ucts including income protec-
tribution deal with Tesco's out Brazil, and via its websites. tion, critical illness and life cov-
banking arm Sales of extended warranties, er, and issues such as inher-
which are not covered by this itance tax planning. Customers
In the UK, Aviva has secured an agreement, remain the responsi- will also be able to purchase
exclusive five-year deal with bility of Luizaseg, a joint venture term life and over 50s insurance
Tesco Bank, the banking arm of formed in 2005. products via the RAC website.
the eponymous retail group, to The two firms aim to combine
provide protection-related life Itaú Unibanco terminates in- their marketing expertise to help
products for its UK retail cus- surance marketing partner- increase awareness among RAC
tomers. The agreement, which ship with retail chain customers, advertising in mem-
will begin later in 2012, will en- ber magazines as well as using
tail the marketing of Aviva’s In Brazil, the insurance arm of both direct and online market-
core protection products, in- Itaú Unibanco has announced ing.
cluding life and critical illness the termination of its partner-
cover plus specialised over 50s ship with retail chain Lojas MDS and Towers Watson
life insurance. These products Americanas, first established in sign employee benefits joint
will be available online via Tesco 2005, for the marketing and dis- venture agreement
Bank or over the telephone. tribution through FAI
Customers will also be able to (Financeira Americanas Itaú In Portugal, international pro-
obtain information through Crédito) of insurance and pen- fessional services company
some of Tesco’s 2,900 stores. sion products to the customers Towers Watson and Portuguese
This deal expands Tesco’s exist- of the retail brand. Specifically, broker MDS have signed a joint
ing relationship with Aviva as Lojas Americanas is expected to venture agreement to establish a
the insurer already provides a sell to Itaú Unibanco its equity benefits brokerage consulting
private medical insurance stake in FAI for BRL 83 million service which will combine
scheme for Tesco’s employees. and to acquire the operating Towers Watson’s consulting
rights held by FAI for the pro- expertise in pensions, healthcare
BNP Paribas Cardif renews motion of financial products. and risk management with
partnership with Magazine This termination has to be ap- MDS’s experience in employ-
Luiza up to 2015 proved by the regulatory author- ment benefits. This joint ven-
ities after an appropriate transi- ture, effective from September
In Brazil, BNP Paribas Cardif tional period. 2012, aims to provide an effec-
and Magazine Luiza, one of tive response to changes in the
Brazil's largest retail chains, have LV= wins five-year tie with employee benefits market, with
agreed to continue their partner- RAC for protection-related the introduction of new client
ship up to 2015. BNP Paribas life insurance services and additional expertise.
Cardif has held a distribution
relationship with Magazine Lui- In the UK, LV= has signed a
za since 2005 and under the five year partnership deal with
terms of this new exclusive RAC. Through LV=, RAC will
agreement, it will continue to offer its customers a telephone-
www.finaccord.com
5
6. Global Affinity Finance Club
Affinity Insurance
Scottish Friendly links with with the aim of offering benefits PRODUCT INSURANCE /
BGL Group for Beagle Street to motorcyclists; it has around WARRANTIES
venture 150,000 members and has up-
dated its offering both with the Domestic & General renews
In the UK, BGL Group, a lead- launch of a new website contracts with electronic ap-
ing broker of personal and com- (www.club14.es) and through pliance groups
mercial insurance, has estab- increased use of social networks.
lished a partnership with Scot- Membership of Club14 gives Electronic appliance groups
tish Friendly Assurance for the access to a wide range of bene- Electrolux and Indesit have
creation of a new online life in- fits such as driving courses, mo- both signed new contract exten-
surance brand, Beagle Street. tor magazine subscriptions and sions with warranty specialist
Specifically, Beagle Street aims discounts on equipment, acces- Domestic & General for the
to modernise the way in which sories and spare parts. provision of warranty services
consumers buy life insurance, across Ireland and the UK.
making it cheaper, simpler and Daimler Financial Services Electrolux has worked with Do-
more accessible. Specifically, and Zurich disclose success mestic & General in this field
Beagle Street provides custom- of branded motor insurance since 1979 and under the new
ers with instant cover, as soon agreement Domestic & General
as they buy, and with no need Daimler Financial Services, the will administer and manage
for medicals. The majority of captive automotive finance Electrolux’s warranty schemes
customers are expected to pur- company belonging to Daimler, through to 2017, including those
chase entirely online, although a has named Zurich as its 'insurer of the AEG and Zanussi
team of telephone advisors are of the year' in the automotive brands, as well as that of Elec-
on hand if customers prefer. segment for 2011. In fact, Zur- trolux itself. Indesit, including
The policies can be acquired ich is one of around a dozen its Cannon, Hotpoint and In-
both directly from the Beagle strategic partners used by Daim- desit and brands, first joined
Street website and through vari- ler in the insurance sector and with Domestic & General in
ous online comparison sites. across the 14 countries where 2000 and the new deal will ex-
the partnership is active, the val- tend their contract through to
———————————— ue of motoring-related insur- 2018.
ance policies managed by Zur-
MOTOR INSURANCE ich and sold by Daimler rose by MAPFRE Warranty creates
58% to EUR 90 million in 2011. partnership with Mexican of-
AXA enriches offer to Span- Moreover, for Daimler Financial fice equipment specialist
ish association for motorcy- Services, motoring-related insur-
clists ance is considered to be a strate- In Mexico, MAPFRE Warranty
gic growth sector with the more has established a partnership
In Spain, AXA has announced than 500,000 such policies sold with Lumen, a leading company
that it is offering free, automatic during the first half of 2012 rep- in the country's office equip-
membership of Club14 to all resenting a record for the manu- ment market with a network of
customers taking out one of its facturer brand. 49 outlets, for the provision of
motorcycle insurance policies. an extended warranty product
Club14 is a not-for-profit asso- ———————————— for up to three years following
ciation created in Spain in 2006 expiration of manufacturer guar-
www.finaccord.com
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7. Global Affinity Finance Club
Affinity Insurance
antees. In addition to warranty -related services and products to MAPFRE Assistance pro-
cover, the proposition also in- its 7 million private and corpo- vides free travel cover to Afri-
cludes a telephone-based tech- rate members, including its core can airline passengers
nical assistance service. roadside assistance service. The
travel insurance product will be MAPFRE Assistance has en-
Assurant and GCube partner sold through a dedicated online tered into a partnership with
to protect commercial solar insurance channel as well as via ASKY, a Togo-based airline
energy projects its team of European break- serving 19 destinations in cen-
down recovery specialists. tral and western Africa, for the
In the US, Assurant has entered provision of automatic travel
into a distribution agreement In fact, the new travel insurance insurance for all of its passen-
with GCube Insurance Services, product range has been de- gers, which could reach around
a specialist provider of insur- signed to offer a choice of cover 500,000 by the end of 2012. By
ance for the renewable energy from a competitively-priced means of this agreement, MAP-
industry, for the provision of basic policy through to a com- FRE Assistance continues its
comprehensive insurance and prehensive executive policy. A expansion in sub-Saharan Africa
warranty management packages bespoke driving product has where it has already secured a
for commercial solar energy also been launched for custom- number of partners in the insur-
projects. Specifically, GCube ers driving to Europe on holiday ance and travel sector.
will offer and market on a na- with additional cover included
tionwide basis Assurant's solar as standard for satellite naviga- Solid Försäkringar rolls out
project insurance policies for tion systems, safety and aware- agreement with Nordic
commercial-sized solar energy ness kits (visibility vest, triangle online travel group
projects in the range of 100kW and portable breathalyzer kit),
to 3 MW. The insurance bundle carjacking, emergency overseas In Sweden, Solid Försäkringar
offers property and liability cov- vet bills and golf equipment. has established a new distribu-
erage as well as a warranty man- tion agreement with
agement program, allowing de- Ageas wins John Lewis travel eTRAVELi, Scandinavia's lead-
velopers to address risks affect- insurance mandate ing online travel agency group.
ing financing for certain pro- The agreement specifies that
jects. In the UK, Ageas has disclosed eTRAVELi will offer Solid's
that it has secured a travel insur- travel insurance products to its
———————————— ance partnership with retail customers in the Nordic coun-
group John Lewis. Ageas will tries and over time across the
TRAVEL INSURANCE underwrite the travel insurance whole of Europe. The two com-
product and handle the sales, panies have co-operated in the
ACE secures travel insurance administration and claims ser- past and intend to build on their
deal with RAC vices. Working with John Lewis prior experience with the new
Insurance, the retail group's in- agreement.
ACE Group has entered into a surance division, the product is
partnership with RAC in the designed to meet a wide range ————————————
UK, to offer travel insurance of travel requirements with both
under the RAC brand. RAC cur- single-trip and annual policies
rently provides a range of motor available.
www.finaccord.com
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8. Global Affinity Finance Club
Bancassurance
GENERAL John Lewis selects RSA for Bancassurance
household, pet and wedding
Swiss insurers agree to sell cover CREDITOR INSURANCE
each other's products
In the UK, RSA has disclosed Genworth Financial estab-
In Switzerland, Concordia and that it has been selected by John lishes Latin American tie
Schweizerische Mobiliar have Lewis, a retail group, for the with MAPFRE
commenced a strategic distribu- provision of household, pet and
tion partnership to cross-sell wedding insurance to be sold Genworth Financial has entered
each other's insurance products. through John Lewis Insurance, into an exclusive distribution
Specifically, Concordia is one of the group's insurance unit. RSA agreement across 18 countries in
the largest accident and health began underwriting pet and Latin America with MAPFRE
insurance providers in Switzer- wedding cover from the end of for the provision of creditor and
land, while Schweizerische Mo- July 2012 and will start under- lifestyle protection insurance
biliar specialises in the provision writing household insurance products. MAPFRE is an attrac-
of risk life and non-life insur- from January 2013. The pet tive partner for Genworth Fi-
ance. product will offer three different nancial given its status as the
levels of cover and includes 24- second-largest insurance group
Liberty Mutual's Indian joint hour help and advice from vet- in the region with an extensive
venture receives green light erinary nurses working for network of distribution partners,
to start operating vetfone plus complementary including banks. Meanwhile,
treatments, such as physiothera- MAPFRE anticipates benefiting
In India, Liberty Mutual has dis- py, acupuncture and behavioural from the specialist expertise of
closed that Liberty Videocon treatments. There is also no up- Genworth Financial in creditor
General Insurance, a joint ven- per limit for vets’ fees, regard- and lifestyle protection insur-
ture created in December 2010 less of the age of the pet. Mean- ance products, which include
in partnership with Videocon while, the wedding product, cover for risks such as tempo-
Industries (a diversified con- which can also cover other rary incapacity and unemploy-
glomerate), has received the events, is characterised by six ment.
necessary license from the coun- levels of cover, and includes
try's insurance regulatory au- cover for cancellation or rear- ————————————
thority to commence its opera- rangement, loss or damage, fail-
tions. Headquartered in Mum- ure of suppliers and wedding HOUSEHOLD INSURANCE
bai, Liberty Videocon General rings.
Insurance will provide multi-line RSA renews household insur-
insurance underwriting capabili- ————————————-- ance deal with UK's second-
ties nationally to various distri- largest building society
bution channels, with an empha-
sis on personal insurance prod- In the UK, RSA has announced
ucts. the renewal of its partnership
with the Yorkshire Building So-
————————————-- ciety for a further five years. Un-
der the terms of the renewal,
RSA will provide household in-
www.finaccord.com
8
9. Global Affinity Finance Club
Bancassurance
surance to customers of the ual shares of 27.5% and 12.5%. ticipate in the results of the joint
Barnsley, Chelsea, Norwich & venture as a continuing share-
Peterborough and Yorkshire ICBC-AXA Life operates in holder in Finans Emeklilik.
building society networks, all of more than 20 major cities and Cigna anticipates that the joint
which are owned by the York- provinces in China; its head- venture will provide it with op-
shire. Guided by the Yorkshire's quarters are in Shanghai, with portunities to reach and serve a
marketing proposition, the new Beijing and Guangzhou also rapidly-expanding middle class
household insurance product serving as hubs. It aims to ex- market in Turkey through the
offers a wide choice of cover pand across China to provide bank's network of branches.
levels to suit customers’ needs, insurance advice and services to Moreover, by leveraging Cigna's
ensuring that they only pay for meet the increasing needs of direct distribution expertise, it is
what they require. Chinese people, including prod- hoped that Finansbank will be
ucts related to education, family able to provide consumers
———————————— protection, wealth management across Turkey with new ways to
and retirement. Moreover, purchase life insurance and pen-
LIFE INSURANCE / RE- ICBC-AXA Life has access to sion products.
TIREMENT SAVINGS ICBC’s customer base of 282
million individual customers and Manulife launches insurance
AXA and ICBC launch a joint 4.11 million corporate clients and wealth management
venture for life insurance in through its service network. products through Indonesian
China bank
Cigna and Finansbank create
In China, ICBC-AXA Life has life insurance and pensions In Indonesia, Manulife and
been officially launched follow- joint venture Bank Danamon have agreed to
ing approval from China’s State begin offering a range of Manu-
Council and all relevant regula- In Turkey, Cigna has unveiled a life products to a broad base of
tory bodies. This is a life insur- long-term distribution agree- the bank's customers through its
ance joint venture between ment with Finansbank, the network of 3,100 branches
AXA, China Minmetals Corpo- country's fifth-largest privately- across Indonesia. The initiative
ration (Minmetals) and Industri- owned bank, for the sale of life aims to enhance insurance and
al and Commercial Bank of Chi- insurance and pension products. wealth management offerings to
na (ICBC), replacing AXA- Specifically, the deal involves a wider range of customers na-
Minmetals Assurance which had the acquisition by Cigna for a tionwide and follows the origi-
been established previously in consideration of EUR 85 mil- nal creation of the partnership
1999. Under an equity transfer lion of a 51% stake in Finans between the two companies in
agreement reached in 2010 be- Emeklilik, the sixth-largest life October 2011. The three new
tween AXA and Minmetals, insurance and pensions provider products being marketed offer
ICBC bought 60% of AXA- in Turkey selling mainly through different types of protection as
Minmetals and became the ma- the bancassurance channel, well as a diverse range of invest-
jority shareholder of the compa- thereby converting the company ment options, through 14 unit-
ny; AXA, which will provide from a captive to a joint ven- linked funds, that can cater to
product development and risk ture. As part of the agreement, the specific wealth accumulation
management support, and Finansbank will receive sales needs of customers.
Minmetals own respective resid- commissions and will also par-
www.finaccord.com
9
10. Global Affinity Finance Club
Affinity Banking
Manulife commences the sale GENERAL program. This new product,
of term assurance for busi- known as the BMO AIR
ness clients through Nomura BAWAG P.S.K. and Generali MILES Bank Plan, allows cus-
Securities renew bancassurance agree- tomers to earn miles through a
ment up to 2023 variety of everyday transactions,
In Japan, Manulife has entered including spending on the asso-
into a distribution agreement In Austria, banking group ciated debit card (at an earnings
with Nomura Securities to sell BAWAG P.S.K. and Generali rate of one mile for every CAD
different types of term assur- have agreed to renew their exist- 30 of expenditure). Customers
ance for business customers. ing co-operation agreement are also able to accumulate bo-
Specifically, these are designed through to 2023. This agree- nus miles each year for having
to help executives to prepare for ment entails the distribution of maintained a minimum account
the various business risks they Generali's non-life insurance balance, or for having held the
face. They may be used as a products through BAWAG related BMO Gold AIR MILES
fund for business contingencies, P.S.K's branches with life insur- MasterCard credit card, for
such as when an executive faces ance products provided by which the annual fee is CAD 99.
adverse circumstances, or as an BAWAG P.S.K. Versicherung, a At a time when more and more
executive retirement bonus, joint venture company in which Canadians are opting to use
used when a director or other Generali and BAWAG P.S.K. debit cards rather than credit
member of management retires. hold 74.9% and 25.1% of the cards, the two partners state that
share capital, respectively. The this is one of only a small num-
Manulife and Bank of Tokyo- partnership between the two ber of schemes that allow con-
Mitsubishi UFJ firm up part- companies has existed since sumers to generate additional
nership for fixed annuities 2007 when BAWAG Versicher- benefits from non-interest bear-
ung and P.S.K. Versicherung ing payment cards.
In another deal in Japan, Manu- merged to become BAWAG
life has commenced sales of in- P.S.K. Versicherung. ————————————
dividual fixed annuities denomi-
nated in foreign currency ————————————-- AFFINITY CARDS
(Australian or US dollars)
through the Bank of Tokyo- Affinity banking Société Générale launches
Mitsubishi UFJ. Specifically, the new bank card with French
product enables customers to A FF I NI TY BA N K AC- golfing federation
receive an annuity in the select- COUNTS
ed foreign currency over the The range of affinity bank cards
course of their lifetime. Manu- BMO customers given oppor- run by Société Générale contin-
life in Japan is a subsidiary of tunity to generate AIR ues to grow with an addition to
Manulife Financial, a leading MILES from everyday bank- its 'Sport' collection. Having
Canada-based financial services ing supported the Fédération Fran-
group with operations in Asia, çaise de Golf for many years, it
Canada and the US. In Canada, BMO Bank of Mon- has now launched a bank card
treal has launched a co-branded with a golfing image in associa-
———————————— bank account in conjunction tion with it; this card is available
with the AIR MILES rewards as a standard or gold Master-
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11. Global Affinity Finance Club
Affinity Banking
Card and carries a range of ben- CO-BRANDED CARDS and The Walt Disney Company
efits, such as earning points to- have announced the latest addi-
wards green fees for the Golf Chase unveils new Marriott tion to their range of co-
National. The card, which can Rewards card for Canadi- branded payment instruments,
operate as a debit card or as a ans… in the form of Disney's Visa
deferred debit or credit card, debit card. The new card – for
carries an annual fee of EUR 24. In Canada, Chase Card Services which customers can choose
and Marriott Rewards – the loy- one of four character-based de-
———————————— alty scheme belonging to the signs – attracts no annual fee
Marriott International group, and is available with virtually all
AUTOMOTIVE FINANCE which operates more than 3,500 of Chase's regular bank ac-
hotels and other properties counts. Cardholders will benefit
Ally Financial strengthens across 74 countries – have from discounts on merchandise
ties with Mitsubishi Motors launched a co-branded credit purchased at regular Disney
in North America card, namely the Marriott Re- stores, and on spending at retail
wards Premier Visa card. The and hospitality locations within
Mitsubishi Motors North Amer- new card will allow Canadians to the resorts themselves. Custom-
ica has selected Ally Financial to earn Marriott Reward points at ers will also be able to gain ac-
be a preferred provider of leas- an accelerated rate on all pur- cess to private character meet-
ing and financing for its new chases and to accumulate free and-greet sessions within the
100%-electric Mitsubishi i mod- stays, in addition to receiving parks and resorts, including a
el, and for other vehicles in the automatic Silver Elite status free photograph to take away.
Mitsubishi range. Specifically, within the loyalty program. The This is the first debit card to be
Ally Financial will work along- normal annual fee is CAD 120, available in the group's line-up
side the manufacturer brand's although this will be waived dur- of co-branded products in the
captive Mitsubishi Motors Cred- ing the first year. Furthermore, US, which already includes two
it of America. Ally Financial new cardholders will receive a credit cards.
currently plays a significant role welcome bonus of 30,000
in dealer and consumer financ- points, along with an annual free HDFC Bank launches co-
ing within the Mitsubishi net- night stay. This new card, which branded credit cards with In-
work, and the new agreement notably does not levy a currency dian frequent flyer program
expands upon this by providing charge for foreign transactions,
a broader range of products at is the fourth co-branded card In India, HDFC Bank, the
approximately 400 Mitsubishi from this duo in North Ameri- country's second largest private
Motors dealerships in North ca, as Chase already issues three sector bank, and JetPrivilege,
America. Marriott Rewards credit cards India's largest frequent flyer
(all of them on the Visa net- program (operated by Jet Air-
———————————— work) in the US. ways), have joined forces to
launch a range of co-branded
…and adds debit card to its credit cards offering benefits
US range of co-branded Dis- and rewards in the form of
ney products JPMiles, the program's currency.
The cards will be offered in
Meanwhile, in the US, Chase World, platinum and titanium
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12. Global Affinity Finance Club
Affinity Banking
variants, all carrying the Master- CONSUMER FINANCE agreed to expand emergency
Card logo. cash support for UnionPay
BNP Paribas Personal Fi- cardholders travelling overseas.
Western Union and Union- nance and Sberbank finalise Under the terms of the agree-
Bank introduce prepaid Visa their consumer credit joint ment, all outlets of MoneyGram
card in the Philippines venture will provide emergency cash
support to UnionPay cardhold-
In the Philippines, Western Un- In Russia, Sberbank and BNP ers, making up to USD 5,000
ion and UnionBank have Paribas Personal Finance have available in the event of unfore-
launched a prepaid Visa gold finalised their agreement for a seen circumstances. In addition,
card incorporating Western Un- consumer credit joint venture, the parties will co-operate to
ion money transfer functionali- as indicated in previous editions expand the range of UnionPay’s
ty. The card is the first of its of the Global Affinity Finance global fast remittance service,
kind in the Philippine market to Club. This agreement was sealed enabling remittances to be paid
allow cardholders to initiate at the end of August, and the to UnionPay cardholders
Western Union transactions di- joint venture (called BNP Pari- through MoneyGram outlets
rectly onto the card via text bas Vostok) will be 70%-owned worldwide.
message, through a customer by Sberbank and 30%-owned by
service hotline, on the Western BNP Paribas Personal Finance. ICBC to use Western Union
Union website or by visiting any However, it will trade using the for inward and outward ac-
participating Western Union Cetelem brand with the aim of count-based transfers
agent location in the country. expanding consumer credit in
The card will also allow card- Russia through a range of sim- Western Union has signed an
holders to split payouts, which ple products at reasonable inter- agreement with Industrial and
will direct part of a remittance est rates. Cetelem believes that it Commercial Bank of China
onto the card with the rest re- currently holds 4.5% of the Rus- (ICBC) which will enable the
ceived in cash. The card will also sian point-of-sale market, and bank's customers to send or re-
offer many Filipinos a way of has ambitions to become the ceive money from their online
storing, saving, tracking and ac- market leader through new accounts to anywhere on West-
cessing their funds in a country agreements with distributors ern Union’s network. Customers
where only around 27% of that it intends to sign in the will be able to receive funds in
adults have a traditional bank wake of this deal. either US dollars or Chinese
account. The Philippines is the renminbi. Indeed, Western Un-
first country in the Asia-Pacific ———————————— ion already provides account-
region where Western Union based transfer services to several
has launched a prepaid card, INTERNATIONAL REMIT- banks in China, including the
extending the company’s stored- TANCES Agricultural Bank of China, Chi-
value products and services to na Everbright Bank and the
nine countries worldwide, in- China UnionPay and Postal Savings Bank of China.
cluding Argentina, Austria, El MoneyGram link for emer- All of these banks allow their
Salvador, Germany, Panama, gency cash service customers with on-line banking
Peru, the US and the UK. to direct international money
China UnionPay and transfers received via Western
———————————— MoneyGram International have Union to their bank accounts,
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13. Global Affinity Finance Club
Affinity Banking
while China Everbright Bank benefits traditionally associated teaming up with Discover to
also offers its customers out- with the American Express bring PayPal to more than 7
ward remittance services. brand. Moreover, they will be million merchant locations
issued in both Euro and US dol- across the US, with international
Western Union makes in- lar versions as well as a local expansion of the program a fu-
roads into Myanmar currency version. ture possibility. Starting in 2013,
participating merchants will be
Western Union has also initiated Bank Internasional Indonesia able to accept PayPal through
a relationship with Myanmar and JCB combine for plati- their existing relationship with
Oriental Bank for the provision num card launch Discover; merchants will be able
of international money transfer to use their existing point-of-
services. By means of this deal, Japanese payment card company sale hardware, including card
Western Union becomes one of JCB International has an- readers and terminals, to pro-
the first money transfer compa- nounced that Bank Internasion- cess the payments.
nies to operate in Myanmar, al Indonesia (BII) has launched
paving the way for the develop- the first ever JCB platinum card Scotiabank issues a new suite
ment of formal international in Indonesia in the shape of the of American Express travel
money transfer services shortly BII-JCB Platinum Credit card. rewards cards…
after Australia, the EU, the US BII, a subsidiary of Maybank
and others decided to lift invest- since 2008, operates over 360 Three new credit cards aimed at
ment and trade bans against the branches and 1,190 ATMs in regular travellers – namely the
country. Myanmar Oriental Indonesia, a market in which Scotiabank American Express
Bank is among the first group of JCB has been active since 1983. card, along with its gold and
private banks in the country au- Furthermore, approximately platinum variants – are now
thorised to operate foreign cur- 80,000 merchants in Indonesia available to Canadians, signify-
rency services. accept the JCB card for pay- ing a new distribution alliance
ment. Cardholders will be enti- between American Express and
———————————— tled to membership privileges Scotiabank. Cardholders will be
including a jointly-developed able to earn rewards points, at
INTER-BANK DISTRIBU- loyalty point program as well as varying levels, that can then be
TION all regular JCB benefits. The exchanged for a range of travel
new card will be marketed to a benefits. For example, the gold
American Express and range of affluent customers in card (which carries an annual fee
Uralsib Bank forge Russian Indonesia including both Indo- of CAD 99) allows consumers
card-issuing agreement nesian citizens travelling to Ja- to earn four reward points for
pan and Japanese consumers every Canadian dollar spent on
American Express and Uralsib residing in Indonesia. dining, entertainment, groceries
Bank have revealed that Uralsib and petrol. Rewards points do
Bank will become an American Discover network to bring not expire and are not subject to
Express card-issuing partner in PayPal payments to in-store seat restrictions or booking fees,
Russia. The new credit cards will locations across the US meaning that the entire cost of a
be designed to meet the require- trip (including taxes) can be
ments of Uralsib Bank’s cus- PayPal has revealed that it will funded from points. It will also
tomers and to carry a range of extend its offline strategy by be possible to convert points
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14. Global Affinity Finance Club
Affinity Banking
into credits for Scotiabank in- China UnionPay takes action has forged an agreement fo-
vestment accounts or to use to expand its card business in cussed on mobile payments with
them to pay off credit card bal- Australia China Mobile. Both parties will
ances. The new cards also fea- consequently co-operate in re-
ture complimentary travel cover In Australia, UnionPay has search and development of both
for medical emergencies and signed multi-party agreements technology and technical stand-
damage to rental cars. with several Australian organisa- ards for mobile payments, as
tions, including Cabcharge (an well as jointly promoting the
…and signs expatriate refer- Australian taxi financial services industry. The main area of initial
ral agreements with banks in company), Commonwealth co-operation will be the devel-
both China and India Bank of Australia (CBA), Mac- opment of additional SIM card-
quarie University, National Aus- based payment functions for
As part of its wider StartRight tralia Bank (NAB) and Tourism mobile phones for remote trans-
Program for Newcomers, Sco- New South Wales. The agree- actions, such as bill payment
tiabank has formed distribution ments set forth the terms of co- and online shopping, as well as
alliances with two foreign retail operation regarding the ac- contactless transactions at shop-
banks, namely China's Bank of ceptance and promotion of Un- ping malls, convenience stores,
Xi'an (in which the Canadian ionPay cards and services. Un- vending machines and other
firm is already a minority share- der the agreement with CBA, places displaying UnionPay’s
holder) and India's Kotak the bank's 190,000 merchants Quick Pass logo or China Mo-
Mahindra Bank. Under these will accept UnionPay cards bile’s Mobile Phone Wallet logo.
referral schemes, prospective within two years. Moreover, The parties plan to launch pilot
emigrants, foreign workers and Macquarie University will add projects in several cities in Chi-
international students will be UnionPay POS terminals and na.
able to apply for and open a ATMs to the campus and will
Scotiabank account before leav- also introduce the UnionPay MasterCard forges mobile
ing China or India. Upon arrival online payment system. Mean- payments alliance with Eve-
in Canada, they then simply while, UnionPay's agreements rything Everywhere in the
need to visit a local Scotiabank with CabCharge, NAB and UK...
branch in order to activate their Tourism New South Wales are
account. Bank of Xi'an operates all designed to promote the Un- In the UK, MasterCard and
around 115 branches across ionPay brand to foreign visitors Everything Everywhere, the
western China (where it employs to Australia. country's largest telecoms com-
2,300 staff) and also owns two pany, have announced an exclu-
separate rural banks. Kotak ———————————— sive, five-year partnership to
Mahindra Bank, on the other develop mobile and digital pay-
hand, has around 375 branches MOBILE PAYMENTS ment solutions for Everything
spread across more than 200 Everywhere’s 27 million cus-
locations in India. China UnionPay and China tomers in the UK. This new
Mobile agree to co-operate partnership aims to support the
for mobile payments accelerated adoption of secure
mobile payments by combining
In its home market, China Un- technology and financial assets
ionPay has announced that it to create new services that will
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15. Global Affinity Finance Club
Affinity Banking
make paying for goods and ser- mobile payments a reality for UK earmarked as first Euro-
vices easier for people and small Deutsche Telekom’s 93 million pean launch market for
businesses. mobile customers across Eu- moneto
rope. The first consumer roll-
One of the first products to out will take place in Poland lat- In partnership with MasterCard,
launch through the partnership er in 2012. Also during 2012, it DeviceFidelity and Vincento
will be a co-branded prepaid is anticipated that German con- Payment Solutions have an-
solution for mobile devices that sumers will be introduced to nounced the commercial launch
allows customers to make pay- mobile payments, initially in a of the European version of
ments using NFC technology. trial with mobile phone tags and moneto, the direct-to-consumer
This will enable millions of Eve- cards, continuing into the first NFC prepaid mobile wallet app
rything Everywhere customers half of 2013 with a mobile wal- for the iPhone, specifying that
to make contactless payments at let service which will also be the UK will be the first launch
more than 100,000 merchants in open to other issuing banks and market in Europe, following on
the UK. partners. Deutsche Telekom will from launch in the US earlier in
issue the MasterCard products 2012. The moneto prepaid mo-
Over the course of the partner- via its subsidiary company bile wallet uses a combination of
ship, MasterCard and Every- ClickandBuy, the owner of an e- MasterCard's PayPass technolo-
thing Everywhere intend to ex- money licence. Products will g y a nd De vic e Fi de l i ty ’ s
pand its scope into other areas, also be launched over time in iCaisse4X case to eventually en-
including person-to-person other European markets in able contactless payments on
money transfers, loyalty rewards which Deutsche Telekom is ac- the iPhone at nearly 500,000
and digital payment services that tive. merchant locations in 41 coun-
will enable consumers to have tries. Powered by the technology
the same shopping experience MasterCard and Westpac behind Kalixa, Vincento’s flag-
whether paying in-store, online launch new pilot application ship prepaid MasterCard card,
or using their mobile device. In for mobile payments moneto is configured as a com-
addition, the two companies will prehensive mobile commerce
develop services that allow small In Australia, MasterCard and solution that provides the con-
business customers to accept Westpac have announced a new venience, control and flexibility
payments using mobile devices, pilot contactless mobile pay- of mobile prepaid payments in a
with more details scheduled for ment application for Android secure and mobile environment.
release later in 2012. smartphones. The pilot will see
android handsets equipped with The partners believe that the
... and with Deutsche Tele- special secure NFC-enabled moneto mobile wallet service
kom in Germany SIM cards, meaning that no fur- differs from other mobile NFC
ther hardware or accessories are programs as it will be available
Furthermore, with an initial fo- required. Linked to the user's to most smartphone users irre-
cus on Germany and Poland, virtual MasterCard debit card, spective of wireless carrier. Lat-
MasterCard has put in place a the phone will be able to pay for er in 2012, iPhone consumers
partnership with Deutsche Tele- goods on an in-store basis at will be able to order the service
kom for the development of merchants accepting Master- directly from the
mobile payments. Specifically, Card PayPass payments. www.moneto.com website and
the agreement aims to make users will be able to link their
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16. Global Affinity Finance Club
Affinity Banking
bank account or credit card to Buy Europe, Monitise, Visa Eu- SMS-based alerts, through
fund moneto prepaid accounts. rope and telecoms entrepreneur which they can check balances,
Subsequently, the service will Charles Dunstone. generate mini-statements, find
also be available to Android ATMs and receive balance up-
consumers in the UK and then Monitise combines with dates and alerts. The service is
to additional European coun- Bank of China for mobile available to all customers of The
tries. payment programs in Hong Co-operative Bank registered
Kong... for online banking as well as all
Mobile Money Network ena- accountholders of smile, the
bles smartphone users to buy In Hong Kong, Bank of China bank's dedicated online bank.
direct from UK media group and Monitise have formed a
partnership to explore new ways Targobank and BASE intro-
In the UK, media group Associ- for people to make payments duce contactless mobile pay-
ated Newspapers has signed a using their mobile phones. The ments in Germany
strategic deal with Mobile Mon- companies will jointly develop
ey Network (MMN), adding the and launch mobile payment pro- Targobank, Crédit Mutuel’s
firm's instant mobile checkout grams through the bank's ser- consumer banking brand in
technology to its web and print vice channels in Hong Kong, Germany, and BASE, a tele-
titles. Initially, the partnership where it has built a network of coms brand operated by E-Plus
will focus on the launch of a over 260 branches and 580 Gruppe, have launched a part-
mobile checkout app powered ATMs. The services will employ nership for a contactless mobile
by MMN's proprietary technolo- Monitise’s enterprise technology payments system which they say
gy, enabling users to make pur- platform, used to process over 1 is the first of its kind in Germa-
chases directly from the Daily billion transactions annually. ny. Customers can obtain a
Mail, the Mail on Sunday, select- Moreover, the schemes will MasterCard payment chip at all
ed shopping supplements, the build on the prior relationship BASE stores and Targobank
Mail Shop online and from of Monitise with ATM and pay- branches plus the two organisa-
within the app itself. ment card company JETCO, tions' respective websites. Once
Smartphone users will be able which has a payment system the chip is attached to a mobile
initially to identify and buy fea- supported by Bank of China in phone, customers can make
tured products using a unique Hong Kong. payments at all terminals which
product code, with further func- are equipped with NFC technol-
tionalities, including image ... and links with The Co- ogy. This new offer is available
recognition, set to follow. operative Bank for mobile alongside a MasterCard credit
payments and banking in the card issued by Targobank for a
Later phases of the agreement UK fee of EUR 25 per year. Several
will focus on driving sales con- German merchants, including
version from advertiser cam- Meanwhile, Monitise has stated AppelrathCüpper, Christ, Doug-
paigns featured across the port- that it will offer mobile payment las, Hussel and Thalia Buch-
folio or from the Mail Shop's and banking services to custom- handlungen have already started
own product range whether this ers of The Co-operative Bank as to operate NFC terminals while
appears in print, online or em- part of a three-year deal. Cus- others, such as ARAL,
bedded within the app. MMN is tomers will have several options, EDEKA, familia, McDonald‘s,
a joint venture between Best including smartphone apps and tegut and Tengelmann, are cur-
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17. Global Affinity Finance Club
rently planning to make this Wirecard works with plication. The customer then
form of payment system availa- Deutsche Telekom for Ger- only needs to enter a PIN to
ble. The two partners also an- man mobile payments initia- confirm the payment.
nounced that they are working tives...
on further products in the area ————————————
of mobile payments and that In Germany, technology and
they intend to launch a mobile financial services provider Wire- ONLINE PAYMENTS
wallet in the future. card has been selected by
Deutsche Telekom as a strategic MasterCard links with eNett
Partners pioneer contactless partner for its mobile payment International for travel indus-
payments in the Czech Re- program. Wirecard will imple- try payments
public ment the technical processes for
issuing a new co-branded Mas- MasterCard and eNett Interna-
In the Czech Republic, terCard payment card, expected tional, a provider of specialist
Komerční banka, Samsung, Te- later in 2012, and will support payment solutions for the travel
lefónica and Visa Europe have Deutsche Telekom in both pro- industry that is part-owned by
launched what they consider to cessing payments and assisting Travelport, have signed an
be a breakthrough technology in with the preparation for the agreement which provides inno-
payments. As of the final week launch of its mobile wallet, vative payment and reconcilia-
of August 2012, the 2,000 fast- scheduled for 2013. tion solutions for the travel in-
est-reacting owners of a Sam- dustry through the use of Virtu-
sung Galaxy SIII handset could ... and with myTaxi for pro- al Account Numbers (VANs).
simply swap their existing SIM cessing taxi fare payments via The partnership aims to facili-
card with a special payment SIM smartphone tate high volumes of global pay-
card. These SIM cards were ments over a five-year period
available for free at 19 special- In another deal involving Wire- and sets MasterCard up as the
ised O2 Guru stores across the card, it has disclosed that exclusive payment partner for all
Czech Republic, with a pre- smartphone app myTaxi now eNett VANs generated in Eu-
charged credit of CZK 250 pro- allows consumers to order and rope. The two organisations be-
vided by Komerční banka, ena- pay for taxis through the same lieve that at a time when there is
bling users to pay for goods and application, with technical sup- pressure in the travel sector to
services with their mobile port from Wirecard. The pay- cut costs and increase revenue,
phones. This launch built upon ment service, launched in Ger- solutions like eNett VANs not
the success of a pilot project many in July 2012, is being in- only enable agents to focus on
carried out in 2011 which indi- troduced in stages international- revenue generation rather than
cated that the market was ready ly throughout 2012 in several administration but also reduce
for payments innovation. European cities. The myTaxi risk and help businesses to get
application allows customers to more out of the valuable data
locate nearby cabs and order that is in their possession.
one to their location; the new
payment feature allows the cus- ————————————
tomer to pay the taxi fare at the
end of the journey, using a cred-
it card securely linked to the ap-
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18. Global Affinity Finance Club
RETAILER CARDS Countdown stores. The new GENERAL
launch follows the introduction
Citi Retail Services rolls out of a gift card in 2011 and the Bankinter extends relation-
new credit card with fuel re- development by Woolworths of ship with charity serving indi-
tail chain a successful financial services viduals with hearing difficul-
business in Australia. ties
In the US, Citi Retail Services, a
division of Citigroup, and CIT- ... and renews multi-year In Spain, Bankinter has estab-
GO, a fuel company, have credit card program with lished a co-operation agreement
launched a new private-label Sam's Club with the Confederación Estatal
consumer credit card that allows de Personas Sordas (CNSE) that
CITGO's customers to earn at a In the US, GE Capital Retail aims to facilitate access to bank-
rate of 0.05 US dollars per gal- Bank, a consumer lending unit ing services to individuals with
lon for fuel purchases at all of of GE, and Sam’s Club, a divi- acute hearing difficulties. This
its outlets. Launched at the be- sion of Wal-Mart Stores, and a relationship will include the pro-
ginning of September, the two leading membership warehouse vision of training services for
partners believe that the pro- club, have announced the re- bank employees so that they are
gram is one of the most robust newal of their multi-year agree- better able to serve the needs of
rewards offerings in the indus- ment to continue providing a such individuals. This follows
try. In particular, the new card credit card program to club's on from similar partnerships
offers customers a long-term members. Specifically, GE Capi- struck up with other charitable
savings opportunity with no tal’s retail finance business, an organisations including a previ-
minimum or maximum purchas- operating entity that provides ous initiative with the CNSE
es required. However, rewards financial solutions to retailers to which led to both the inclusion
are only available in conjunction help grow their customer sales, of videos incorporating sign lan-
with fuel purchases. will continue to manage the guage on the bank's website and
Sam’s Club relationship and to the development of a video-
GE Capital links with New service the account. The financ- calling facility.
Zealand supermarket chain ing program is available at more
for credit card launch... than 600 Sam’s Club locations Bank of Ireland and the UK
across the US and Puerto Rico Post Office extend partner-
In New Zealand, following a and can also be used at Wal- ship through to 2023
tender process, GE Capital has Mart stores, as well as for online
launched a new Visa credit card purchases through the Sam's Bank of Ireland and the UK
in association with Countdown, Club website and at all outlets Post Office have revealed that
a supermarket brand belonging where the Discover card brand they have agreed a new contract
to the Woolworths group, with is accepted. GE Capital Retail and operating model for the
the latter perceiving this to be a Bank began providing a net joint venture financial services
logical entry point for the super- term credit program for mem- business that will see their rela-
market to enter the financial bers of Sam’s Club in 1993 with tionship continue through to
services sector. Each year, more revolving credit programs added 2023. Post Office Financial Ser-
than 80 million payment card in 1995. vices (POFS), the joint venture
transactions are processed entity, has secured over 2.8 mil-
through the network of 161 ———————————— lion customers in total since its
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19. Global Affinity Finance Club
launch with deposit balances of and 3,600 ATMs, and so the
more than GBP 17 billion, a new distribution deal will signifi-
loan book of around GBP 3 bil- cantly expand the number of
lion and with a range of insur- locations at which HSBC and
ance products also offered. First Direct customers can gain
access to their money and inter-
In future, the two companies act with their current accounts.
intend to carry on developing a
recognised consumer financial MasterCard links with
services brand in the UK that shopkick loyalty scheme spe-
represents a serious alternative cialist
to the major UK banks albeit
with banking products now sup- In the US, MasterCard has re-
plied directly by Bank of Ireland vealed that it is joining forces
to the Post Office. Bank of Ire- with shopkick, a loyalty scheme
land will continue to be respon- accessible via a smartphone app
sible for product development that was introduced in August
and delivery while the Post Of- 2010. Specifically, MasterCard
fice will continue to have prima- cardholders are now able to earn
ry responsibility for product rewards and special offers from
sales and marketing and ensur- shopkick when making qualify-
ing that all customer interactions ing purchases with a MasterCard
meet its brand values. card linked to the company's
Buy & Collect program at par-
HSBC agrees account access ticipating retailers across the
deal with the Post Office for country. The proprietary reward
UK customers currency, known as 'kicks', can
be redeemed for gift cards, mu-
In a second development in- sic downloads, movie tickets or
volving the UK Post Office, a other offers. Furthermore, in
new agreement with HSBC addition to everyday opportuni-
means that from spring 2013, ties to earn 'kicks', consumers
HSBC and First Direct personal will receive 250 bonus 'kicks' for
current account customers will each MasterCard card that they
be able to access their bank ac- link to the Buy & Collect pro-
counts and carry out a range of gram for a limited period of
transactions at all 11,500 Post time. It is anticipated that the
Office branches around the UK. relationship will help merchants
Services to be made available to increase sales and better
under this new partnership will measure the effectiveness of
include cash deposits and with- their location-based marketing
drawals, cheque deposits and efforts.
balance enquiries. HSBC cur-
rently operates 1,200 branches ————————————-
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20. Global Affinity Finance Club
Organisations in this issue
ACE Group, 7 Electrolux, 6 Sberbank, 12
AEG, 6 eNett International, 17 Schweizerische Mobiliar, 8
Ageas, 7, E-Plus Gruppe, 16 Scotiabank, 13, 14
Agricultural Bank of China, 12 eTRAVELi, 7 Scottish Friendly, 6
AIR MILES, 10 Everything Everywhere, 14, 15 shopkick, 19
Ally Financial, 11 familia, 16 Société Générale, 10
American Bar Association, 4 Fédération Française de Golf, 10 Solid Försäkringar, 7
American Express, 13 Finansbank, 9 Targobank, 16
AppelrathCüpper, 16 First Direct, 19 tegut, 16
ARAL, 16 Fujian Benz Automotive, 4 Telefónica, 17
Aria Assistance, 4, Fujian Motor Industry Group, 4 Tengelmann, 16
ASKY, 7 GCube, 7 Tesco Bank, 5
Associated Newspapers, 16 GE Capital, 18 Thalia Buchhandlungen, 16
Assurant, 7 Generali, 10 The Co-operative Bank, 16
Aviva, 5 Genworth Financial, 8 The Walt Disney Company, 11
AXA, 4, 6, 9 Glasbranschföreningen, 4 Tourism New South Wales, 14
AXA Assistance, 4 HDFC Bank, 11 Towers Watson, 5
Bank Danamon, 9 HSBC, 19 UK Post Office, 18, 19
Bank Internasional Indonesia, 13 Hussel, 16 UnionBank, 12
Bank of China, 16 ICBC, 9, 12 Uralsib Bank, 13
Bank of Ireland, 18, 19 Indesit, 6 Videocon Industries, 8
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, 10 Itaú Unibanco, 5 Vincento Payment Solutions, 15
Bank of Xi'an, 14 JCB International, 13 Visa, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18
Bankinter, 18 Jet Airways, 11 Wal-Mart Stores, 18
BASE, 16 JetPrivilege, 11 Western Union, 12, 13
BAWAG P.S.K., 10 John Lewis, 7, 8 Westpac, 15
Best Buy Europe, 16 Komerční banka, 17 Wirecard, 17
BGL Group, 6 Kotak Mahindra Bank, 14 Yorkshire Building Society, 8
BMO Bank of Montreal, 10 Liberty Mutual, 8 Zanussi, 6
BNP Paribas Cardif, 5 Lojas Americanas, 5 Zurich, 4, 6
BNP Paribas Personal Finance, 12 Lumen, 6
Cabcharge, 14 LV=, 5
Cetelem, 12 Macquarie University, 14
Chase, 11, 21 Magazine Luiza, 5
China Everbright Bank, 12 Manulife, 9, 10
China Minmetals Corporation, 9 MAPFRE Asistencia, 4
China Mobile, 14 MAPFRE Warranty, 6
China UnionPay, 12, 14 Marriott International, 11
Christ, 16 MasterCard, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19
Chubb, 4 McDonalds, 16
Cigna, 9 MDS, 5
Circle Insurance Services, 4 Mitsubishi Motors, 11
CITGO, 18 Mobile Money Network, 16
Citi Retail Services, 18 Moderna Försäkringar, 4
Citigroup, 18 MoneyGram, 12
Club14, 6 Monitise, 16
Commonwealth Bank of Australia, 14 Myanmar Oriental Bank, 13
Concordia, 8 myTaxi, 17
Confederación Estatal de Personas Sordas, 18 National Australia Bank, 14
Countdown, 18 Nomura Securities, 10
Crédit Mutuel, 16 Pannone, 4
Daimler, 4, 6 PayPal, 13
Deutsche Telekom, 15, 17 Porsche, 4
DeviceFidelity, 15 Postal Savings Bank of China, 12
Discover, 13, 18 RAC, 5, 7
Domestic & General, 6 RSA, 8
Douglas, 16 Sam’s Club, 18
EDEKA, 16 Samsung, 17
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