global affinity finance club spring 2012

AFFINITY INSURANCE

BANCASSURANCE

AFFINITY BANKING

Global Affinity

Finance Club

Finaccord’s newsletter about affinity financial services worldwide

Welcome back to your Club! This quarter’s edition of the Global Affinity Finance Club includes news about affinity and partnership marketing in financial services from as many as 45 countries around the world. Starting in the UK, an eye-catching initiative given the increasing woes of the country’s banking sector is that of HSBC and Marks & Spencer who intend to convert their existing M&S Money brand into a full-service retail bank during 2012 with a plan for in-store branches to eventually reach 50 of the retail group’s outlets. Further afield, Chinese payments company UnionPay is visible in a number of items that illustrate how it is seeking to increase its influ-ence both within and outside of China. Otherwise, deals have been coming thick and fast in the areas of as-sistance and product insurance / warranties with new ventures men-tioned involving the likes of Assurant Solutions, CarGarantie, Driven Solutions, Europ Assistance, Jubilee, MAPFRE Asistencia, Mondial Assistance, SPB and Ten Group. Interestingly, in these areas, mobile operator brands are often cited as the partners which illustrates how they are increasingly diversifying into new areas of banking and insurance. With best regards, Alan Leach Director [email protected]

For our published reports, news and more please visit

www.finaccord.com

SPRING 2012

mailto:[email protected]

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Global Affinity Finance Club

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Affinity insurance News 4

ASSISTANCE 4

Driven Solutions partners with My911 for

one-touch access to roadside assistance 4

Europ Assistance and Fiat renew agree-

ment for road assistance in Europe... 4

...while Vodafone chooses Europ Assis-

tance in Hungary 4

MAPFRE Asistencia picks up motorcycle

assistance deal in India 4

Peugeot Scooters awards Italian roadside

assistance contract to MAPFRE Asistencia

4

Mondial Assistance extends road assis-

tance contracts with UK partners 5

Mondial Assistance wins home assistance

deal with online holiday rental company 5

Citibank selects Ten Group for concierge

services in Hong Kong 5

COMMERCIAL INSURANCE 5

CNA endorsed by two US state banking

associations 5

MAPFRE enters into trade credit insur-

ance joint venture with Euler Hermes 5

LIFE INSURANCE 6

Aviva wins five-year life protection affinity

contract with Tesco 6

MS&AD invests in an Indian life insur-

ance joint venture 6

Sun Life and PVI Holdings form Viet-

namese life insurance company 6

PRODUCT INSURANCE / WARRAN-

TIES 6

Assurant Solutions renews deal with

American Financial & Automotive Ser-

vices... 6

... and creates extended warranty partner-

ship with Best Buy subsidiary in China 7

Renault chooses CarGarantie for new

extended warranty products 7

eSecuritel to offer warranty and insurance

cover to customers of Cricket and MTS 7

Jubilee ties with RAC and Santander Con-

sumer Finance for car dealer insurance

products... 7

... and works with Blue Insurances for

mobile gadget and collision damage waiver

cover 8

MAPFRE Asistencia gains extended war-

ranty deal with Mexican telecoms com-

pany 8

Orange appoints SPB as mobile insurance

provider in Belgium and Luxembourg 8

TRAVEL INSURANCE 8

Allianz Global Assistance and Iberia re-

new travel insurance partnership 8

Europ Assistance wins travel insurance

contracts in France and the USA 9

HanseMerkur broadens distribution part-

nership with JT Touristik 9

GENERAL 9

Allianz signs worldwide memorandum of

understanding with Western Union 9

Gallagher Heath sets up new insurance

scheme with medical charity 9

Sanitas and Swiss Life expand their exist-

ing distribution agreement 10

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Bancassurance News 10

CREDITOR INSRUANCE 10

Genworth Financial wins mandate with

Welsh building society 10

LIFE INSURANCE / RETIREMENT

SAVINGS 10

Barclays secures special terms from AE-

GON for corporate protection solutions

10

Legal & General wins life insurance and

pensions mandate with First Trust Bank...

10

... and is appointed exclusive partner for

protection products by UK building soci-

ety 11

MOTOR INSURANCE 11

Direct Line and Veneto Banca enhance

partnership with hotel stay offer 11

GENERAL 11

RSA renews long-standing partnership

with National Australia Group's UK bank-

ing brands 11

Talanx and Meiji Yasuda buy into Polish

bancassurance opportunity 11

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Affinity Banking News 11

AFFINITY BANK ACCOUNTS 11

BAWAG P.S.K. introduces affinity cur-

rent accounts with retail chain 11

BNP Paribas offers savings account in

association with Habitat 11

Newcastle Building Society launches affin-

ity savings with local cancer charity 12

Table of contents

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AFFINITY CARDS 12

BMO launches a co-branded card pro-

gram with three Canadian soccer teams 12

Société Générale continues to extend its

range of affinity cards 12

AUTOMOTIVE FINANCE 12

Forest River adds Ally Financial as whole-

sale finance provider 12

GMAC secures finance deals with Opel in

Chile and MG Motor in the UK 13

GE Capital Retail Bank extends consumer

lending scheme with Yamaha 13

BUSINESS BANKING 13

Italian banks establish new affinity bank-

ing deals with trade associations 13

Sberbank links with Russian Guild of

Realtors for mort 14

CO-BRANDED CARDS 14

Barclaycard unveils new Black Visa card in

partnership with international hotel group

14

Billpay ties with Hanseatic Bank and Visa

for credit card linked to loyalty program

14

Chase launches US co-branded card prod-

uct for Fairmont Hotels and Resorts… 14

…and Ritz-Carlton becomes a points

transfer partner for Chase Ultimate Re-

wards 14

Commerzbank and German football fed-

eration launch co-branded credit card 14

CONSUMER FINANCE 15

Cetelem offers point-of-sale finance for

Bombardier Recreational Products 15

INTERNATIONAL REMITTANCES 15

Wells Fargo and HDFC Bank partner to

create new US-India remittance service 15

Western Union teams up with quartet of

banking institutions in the US... 15

... and renews money transfer contract

with Spanish post office 15

INTER-BANK CARD DISTRIBUTION

16

JCB increases card circulation with China

and Indonesia through new relationships...

16

... and signs up to merchant licensing

agreement with African bank 16

UnionPay secures card distribution links

with two further Korean card issuers... 16

... and ties with merchant acquirers in

Denmark and Iceland 16

MOBILE BANKING 16

Monitise rolls out new mobile banking

partnerships in Indonesia and the UK 16

MOBILE PAYMENTS 17

Barclaycard and Orange seek to expand

usage of contactless payment service 17

BOKUsecurespaymentspartnerships

withDeutscheTelekom and Sprint 17

PayPal and Softbank establish Japanese

digital payments joint venture 17

UnionPay kicks off mobile payments col-

laboration with China Mobile 18

Visa Europe secures mobile payments

partnership with Telefónica 18

VocaLink ties with Clairmail for advanced

mobile banking and payments 18

Western Union links with MTN for inter-

national mobile payments service... 19

... adding to a growing roster of mobile

money transfer agreements around the

world 19

ONLINE PAYMENTS 19

Microsoft and UnionPay tie for online

payments in China 19

Western Union launches WU Pay online

payment platform 19

RETAILER BANKING 20

HSBC and M&S to offer full retail bank-

ing services and very long opening hours

20

Scotiabank expands ATM network

through deal with 7-Eleven and Cardtron-

ics 20

RETAILER CARDS 20

American Express introduces prepaid

cards with two major US retail chains... 20

... and through Zynga Serve Rewards with

a provider of social games services 20

Chase extends its card issuing relationship

with Amazon in North America 21

GE Capital Retail Bank extends two tyre

finance partnerships 21

Scotiabank and SportChek announce a

new range of NHL credit card products 21

UnionPay enters into strategic agreement

with Shell in China 22

RETAILER FINANCE 22

Ikano and Credit Europe Bank tie up for

Russian joint venture 22

DFS selects LaSer UK for retailer finance

venture in Ireland 22

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Affinity Insurance News

ASSISTANCE

Driven Solutions partners with My911 for one-touch ac-cess to roadside assistance

North American road assistance specialist Driven Solutions (part of Drive America Holdings) has signed a distribution partnership with My911, a provider of emer-gency-related solutions and communications services, by means of which users of the My911 service are now able, via their mobile phones, to auto-matically summon help from the local emergency services in the event of accident or breakdown, with additional options for road assistance.

The technology uses GPS track-ing, works across several mobile platforms (including Android and iOS) and can also be inter-faced with most cars' engine management and diagnostic sys-tems. This allows the phone to report accidents and serious problems and to summon help even if the driver is uncon-scious. In less critical situations, pushing the My911 roadside assistance button will result in the driver being connected to a Driven Solutions customer care centre.

Europ Assistance and Fiat renew agreement for road as-sistance in Europe...

Europ Assistance has been the road assistance partner for Fiat group in Europe since 1995, and the two partners have an-nounced that this agreement has been renewed for a further four years. It covers the Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Jeep and Lancia marques in France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Switzerland, which amounts to 80% of Fiat group vehicles on the road. The ser-vices offered include roadside rescue in case of accidents or breakdown (including flat bat-tery, lack of fuel or punctured tyre), plus a replacement car or alternative transportation to reach a destination, with cover-age 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

...while Vodafone chooses Europ Assistance in Hungary

Meanwhile, Vodafone Hungary has announced that customers can now use their smartphones to access assistance services di-rectly through a new partnership with Europ Assistance. Custom-ers can register online to sub-scribe to the AutoSOS app, the price of which is added to their monthly mobile phone invoice.

MAPFRE Asistencia picks up motorcycle assistance deal in India

By means of India Assistance, the company through which it has been active in India since 2008, MAPFRE Asistencia has won a mandate with motorcycle manufacturer Piaggio to provide roadside assistance to customers driving Vespa motorcycles. The deal is significant given that In-dia is the world's second largest market by volume for motorcy-cles with sales of around 13 mil-lion units in 2011. Piaggio has been present in India since 1999 and possesses a network of over 800 dealer outlets although its prestige Vespa brand has been promoted only since April 2012.

Peugeot Scooters awards Ital-ian roadside assistance con-tract to MAPFRE Asistencia

In Italy, MAPFRE Asistencia has won an agreement with Peu-geot Scooters, the company be-longing to Peugeot Citröen that specialises in motor cycles, for the provision of both roadside assistance and general customer services. These will be provided by means of a free telephone number available on a 24/365 basis. With regards to the road-side assistance proposition, the service means that customers who break down with a repair time of more than 36 hours will be either returned to their point of departure or taken to their

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destination. MAPFRE Asisten-cia has been active in Italy since 2006 and, since then, has built up a strong position in the country's extended warranty market. Moreover, it also man-ages breakdown repair services on behalf of more than 1,000 dealerships across the country.

Mondial Assistance extends road assistance contracts with UK partners

In the UK, Volvo has disclosed that it is working with Mondial Assistance to offer service-activated roadside assistance to its customers. Specifically, Volvo customers who have a full manufacturer's scheduled service carried out at a Volvo authorised repairer are given 12 months of complimentary road assistance, operated by Mondial Assistance. Volvo has posi-tioned this as a way to increase customer loyalty; it reports that it carries out more than 40,000 services a year through its ap-proved network, and that many of these will qualify for free as-sistance, which costs up to GBP 99 for a year if purchased sepa-rately.

Separately, Mondial Assistance has renewed a partnership it be-gan with HSBC in the UK in 2008 for a further three years. This partnership is focused on the provision of road assistance to HSBC Advance and first di-rect customers.

Mondial Assistance wins home assistance deal with online holiday rental com-pany

Meanwhile, in France, Abritel, a leading online holiday rental company, has signed a partner-ship with Mondial Assistance through the broker Innoserve in order to offer home emergency insurance and assistance to the owners of holiday homes and apartments who do not live near their properties. Abritel, the French subsidiary of the HomeAway group, has over 280,000 properties offered for rent worldwide, including 70,000 in France. This policy is offered to owners who use Abritel to rent their properties; coverage includes kitchen appli-ances, boilers, air conditioning, blinds, and electrical and plumb-ing equipment, with emergency help available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In case of a failed boiler or water heater, Mondial Assistance also offers to relocate tenants.

Citibank selects Ten Group for concierge services in Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, Citigroup has selected concierge provider, Ten Group, to supply lifestyle conci-erge services to affluent custom-ers with Citibank Ultima credit cards. The service will operate on a 24/7 basis and be provided in English, Cantonese and Man-

darin. It is intended that card-holders based in Hong Kong will benefit from the connec-tions and expertise of Ten’s life-style managers in both Hong Kong and, if required, any of its other offices worldwide.

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COMMERCIAL INSURANCE

CNA endorsed by two US state banking associations

CNA has announced that it has been endorsed by two state banking associations in the US: the Arkansas Bankers Associa-tion (ABA) and the California Bankers Association (CBA). Both have selected the insurer as the preferred provider of spe-cialised coverage for the associa-tions' member institutions. CNA's portfolio of cover for banks and financial institutions includes liability cover for direc-tors and officers, bankers' pro-fessional liability, lender liability, employment practices liability, fiduciary liability, property and casualty insurance, cyber liability and information risk and fidelity bonds, as well as the provision of a dedicated banking support team.

MAPFRE enters into trade credit insurance joint venture with Euler Hermes

With a focus on Spain and four countries in Latin America –

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namely, Argentina, Chile, Co-lombia and Mexico - MAPFRE has entered into a joint venture with Euler Hermes, an insur-ance group specialising in trade creditor insurance that is con-trolled by Allianz. Subject to authorisation by the relevant local authorities, the joint ven-ture, which is owned equally by each party, will commence busi-ness from the start of 2013 and should achieve gross written premiums of around EUR 135 million in its first year. The joint venture aims to combine MAP-FRE's strong distribution capa-bilities in Spain and Latin Amer-ica with the expertise of Euler Hermes in the specific field of trade credit insurance, which includes an ability to analyse the financial stability of around 40 million businesses around the world.

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LIFE INSURANCE

Aviva wins five-year life pro-tection affinity contract with Tesco

In the UK, Aviva and Tesco Bank, a retailer bank owned by supermarket chain Tesco, have established a partnership for life protection products with a dura-tion of five years. The agree-ment, which will begin later in 2012, will involve the distribu-tion of Aviva's main protection products including life insurance

and critical illness cover. These products will be available online via Tesco Bank or over the tele-phone, and customers will also be able to obtain information about them through some of Tesco’s network of around 2,900 stores. This expands Tesco’s existing relationship with Aviva which already pro-vides a private medical insur-ance scheme for Tesco’s em-ployees.

MS&AD invests in an Indian life insurance joint venture

Japan's MS&AD Insurance Group has agreed to acquire from US firm New York Life 26% of the Indian insurer Max New York Life Insurance Com-pany. The new company, whose majority shareholder will con-tinue to be Max India Group, will be known simply as Max Life Insurance Company. This new venture (which constitutes the maximum foreign owner-ship permitted under Indian regulatory law) will mean that MS&AD is active in five over-seas life insurance markets within the Asia-Pacific region. As part of the capital alliance, MS&AD will also dispatch vari-ous employees to the renamed Indian firm, with two of these being due to serve as directors. Fuelled by dramatic increases in the number of middle-class citi-zens, India's life insurance mar-ket has averaged 24% growth per annum over the past decade,

and life insurance penetration still remains fairly low by inter-national standards.

Sun Life and PVI Holdings form Vietnamese life insur-ance company

In Vietnam, Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (part of Sun Life Financial) has agreed to form a life insurance joint ven-ture with PVI Holdings, a Viet-namese insurance and invest-ment group. The new company will be known as PVI Sun Life, in which PVI Holdings will be the majority shareholder (with 51% of equity), with all remain-ing shares being held by Sun Life Financial. PVI Holdings is currently active in the Vietnam-ese markets for both life and non-life insurance plus reinsur-ance and other financial ser-vices. The group, which ac-counts for around a fifth of the country's non-life insurance market, generated premiums of USD 202 million in 2011.

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PRODUCT INSURANCE / WARRANTIES

Assurant Solutions renews deal with American Financial & Automotive Services...

In the US, Assurant Solutions, a global provider of extended ser-vice contracts, has announced an extension of its long-term,

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exclusive relationship with American Financial & Automo-tive Services. By means of this, customers who purchase vehi-cles at any of American Finan-cial's affiliated dealerships in the US and elsewhere will be of-fered vehicle extended service plans from Assurant Solutions, just as they have since 2000.

... and creates extended war-ranty partnership with Best Buy subsidiary in China

Meanwhile, in China, it has en-tered into a partnership with Five Star, a wholly-owned affili-ate of Best Buy, whereby Assur-ant Solutions will serve as the exclusive provider of extended protection products and services for more than 200 stores in mainland China. The contract is exclusive and has a duration of five years. Assurant Solutions began offering extended protec-tion programs and related ser-vices in China in 2007.

Renault chooses CarGarantie for new extended warranty products

In Germany, Renault has signed a new partnership with CarGa-rantie for extended warranties for Renault and Dacia cars whose manufacturer warranty is about to expire. It notes that this will be a major benefit to car dealers because only 30% to 40% of customers buy a service and maintenance contract with a

new car, and this decreases rap-idly after expiry of the manufac-turer warranty; it is expected that more customers will take out these contracts when they hold an extended warranty.

The BestTime warranty being introduced by Renault and Dacia runs for either 12 months or for 24 months up to 100,000 kilometres, following the end of the manufacturer's warranty. At the expiry of the warranty, cus-tomers can choose to buy an-other year's cover up to a maxi-mum of ten years after initial registration and up to 200,000 kilometres. The warranty is tied to the vehicle and thus transfers to a new owner when the car is sold.

eSecuritel to offer warranty and insurance cover to cus-tomers of Cricket and MTS

In North America, handset in-surance and extended warranty provider eSecuritel, a subsidiary of Brightstar, has disclosed two new partnerships for specialised mobile phone cover. Canadian mobile network MTS Allstream and US-based prepaid network Cricket Communications have both agreed to offer eSecuritel's customised insurance and ex-tended warranty products to their customers.

MTS customers will be offered eSecuritel's wireless protection program, which offers three

tiers of coverage: the so-called Complete Program covers acci-dental damage (including liquid damage), loss, theft and mal-function after the warranty ex-pires; the Enhanced Program covers accidental damage, loss and theft; and the Extended Warranty Program covers mal-function or mechanical failure after the manufacturer's war-ranty expires.

In the US, Cricket Communica-tions is also offering an eSecu-ritel extended warranty and in-surance product to its custom-ers. This covers a range of de-vices, including tablets, giving protection against accidental damage, loss and theft, as well as technical malfunction and other issues experienced beyond the handset manufacturer’s con-ventional warranty.

Jubilee ties with RAC and Santander Consumer Finance for car dealer insurance prod-ucts...

In the UK, Jubilee Insurance has disclosed a first step into the market for niche insurance products sold through automo-tive dealers by means of a new partnership established with RAC and Santander Consumer Finance. Specifically, the Lloyd's entity has been appointed by the RAC as the underwriter for a range of new products, the first of which to launch are a com-bined tyre and alloy wheel pro-

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tection policy and a minor acci-dental damage policy which are specifically targeted at the dealer partners of Santander Consumer Finance.

The scheme has been designed to provide dealers with insur-ance cover on a scale usually only available to larger dealer-ships and it is anticipated that the range of products will help them to both extend their cus-tomer relationships at the point of sale and in after-sales activi-ties. Also, by enabling dealers to undertake their own repairs, it is hoped that the scheme will help to enhance both financial ser-vices margins and customer re-tention. The new scheme is the first of a number of RAC-branded products being devel-oped to support the extension of its product portfolio.

The scheme will be marketed initially via around 3,000 dealers that use Santander Consumer Finance and will be sold along-side car sales and finance pack-ages.

... and works with Blue Insur-ances for mobile gadget and collision damage waiver cover

Another affinity relationship created by Jubilee Insurance is that with insurance broker Blue Insurances, a prominent pro-vider of travel and niche insur-ance policies in Ireland and the

UK, focused on mobile gadget and collision damage waiver in-surance. Jubilee's appointment will see it building on Blue In-surances' existing gadget insur-ance product, launched in 2010, with an all-risks scheme that provides customers with a claims replacement programme managed in Ireland by Jubilee’s claims service partner Out-source Services Group (OSG), an independent, specialist out-sourcing firm. Meanwhile, the collision damage waiver cover will be offered alongside Blue Insurances' travel insurance product providing higher limits of cover compared to its previ-ous scheme, and also offering supplemental liability cover for North America.

MAPFRE Asistencia gains extended warranty deal with Mexican telecoms company

In Mexico, MAPFRE Asistencia has been selected by Telmex, a telecoms company owned by América Móvil, as its provider of extended warranties sold in conjunction with mobile com-puting products. The proposi-tion is available to customers acquiring mobile computing products from any of the 388 retail outlets belonging to Tel-mex and who take out the asso-ciated card. MAPFRE Asisten-cia has been active in Mexico since 1991.

Orange appoints SPB as mo-bile insurance provider in Belgium and Luxembourg

SPB has announced that it has taken over the insurance pro-grams of Mobistar, the Orange operator in Belgium, and of Or-ange Luxembourg. There are two policies available, one for private customers and another for professionals, which cover theft, accidental damage, break-down and fraudulent use of mo-bile phones. The partnership between SPB and Orange began in France in 2002 and now ex-tends to five European coun-tries: Belgium, France, Luxem-bourg, Spain and Switzerland. In addition, SPB has launched an-other new service for Orange customers called Point Service Mobiles, provided by an epony-mous company. This allows Or-ange customers to have their phone repaired or replaced in under 40 minutes at a location near their home. SPB acquired a majority interest in Point Service Mobiles in February 2012.

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TRAVEL INSURANCE

Allianz Global Assistance and Iberia renew travel insurance partnership

Allianz Global Assistance and Iberia have announced the sign-ing of a renewed partnership agreement for a further three

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years, covering the sale of travel insurance policies via the air-line's website. This partnership was originally signed in 2006, and has since then expanded to a total of 19 countries, including Brazil, France, Italy and the US, as well as Spain.

Europ Assistance wins travel insurance contracts in France and the US

In France, Europ Assistance has won the contract to supply travel insurance alongside the sale of train tickets by Voyages-sncf.com, a subsidiary of SNCF, the country's national railway network. This contract is for three years running from the start of July 2012, and follows a tender process that began in au-tumn 2011; the previous pro-vider was Mondial Assistance.

This programme is being intro-duced during the second half of 2012 across the nine European countries where Voyages-sncf.com manages the sale of train tickets, beginning with the actual www.voyages-sncf.com website.

By the end of the year, it is planned to cover all mobile sales (i.e. the www.voyages-sncf.mobi site) and the Horaires et Résa application which is currently available for iPhone and iPad, Android, BlackBerry and Win-dows Phone 7 devices. It will also be extended to international

customers purchasing rail tickets from the www.tgv-europe.com and www.raileurope.co.uk web-sites.

Meanwhile, in the USA, Protect Your Bubble has chosen CSA Travel Protection, an American subsidiary of Europ Assistance, for its travel insurance proposi-tion. Protect Your Bubble launched in the UK to cover everyday 'little things' such as holidays, pets and smartphones, and has now entered the US market with a similar concept.

HanseMerkur broadens dis-tribution partnership with JT Touristik

HanseMerkur Re isevers i -cherung, the travel insurance division of Hamburg-based HanseMerkur, and JT Touristik, a Berlin-based tour operator, have announced the extension of a distribution agreement al-ready running since 2008. The new agreement includes a broader number of insurance products than before as JT Touristik will not only sell travel health insurance but will also market travel interruption and travel inconvenience cover un-derwritten by HanseMerkur Reiseversicherung.

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GENERAL

Allianz signs worldwide memorandum of understand-ing with Western Union

At a global level, Allianz and Western Union have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop, design and distribute insurance products in several countries around the world. The two partners intend to work closely to develop solutions for customers with the aim of reaching millions of potential clients. In turn, opportunities will also be explored for the marketing of Western Union products to the customers of Allianz.

Gallagher Heath sets up new insurance scheme with medi-cal charity

In the UK, Gallagher Heath In-surance Services (GHIS) has established a partnership with Pancreatic Cancer UK to pro-vide an insurance proposition to individuals affected by the con-dition, as well as their carers and other supporters of the charity. Specifically, the GHIS team has designed a scheme which in-cludes travel, household and motor insurance packages. In particular, the travel product includes the ability to cover the whole travelling party under the same policy with premiums cal-culated on the basis of each in-dividual’s declaration in terms of

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age, pre-existing and declared medical conditions, and destina-tion. The cover is being under-written by a panel of insurers, ranging from the Lloyd’s market to composite insurance compa-nies. In future, GHIS and Pan-creatic Cancer UK also antici-pate introducing life insurance products.

Sanitas and Swiss Life ex-pand their existing distribu-tion agreement

In Switzerland, Sanitas, one of the largest health insurance pro-viders in the country, and Swiss Life have launched a program called Swiss Life SimplyCare which complements their exist-ing distribution agreement. Swiss Life SimplyCare combines mandatory basic health coverage with supplementary insurance for inpatient and outpatient care to create a customised health-care plan. With their launch of this new health insurance con-cept which is available exclu-sively through Swiss Life advi-sors, Sanitas and Swiss Life have reinforced their joint distribu-tion and market development partnership. While Sanitas aims to boost Swiss Life’s sales of life insurance products, Swiss Life helps to promote the marketing and distribution of the health insurance products offered by Sanitas.

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Bancassurance News

CREDITOR INSURANCE

Genworth Financial wins mandate with Welsh building society

In the UK, the Wales-based Monmouthshire Building Soci-ety has appointed Genworth Financial as its new mortgage indemnity insurance provider. The agreement came into force in May 2012 and aims to pro-vide a practical and viable solu-tion for mortgage borrowers.

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LIFE INSURANCE / RE-TIREMENT SAVINGS

Barclays secures special terms from AEGON for cor-porate protection solutions

In the UK, Barclays Corporate & Employer Solutions (Barclays C&ES), the employee benefits and worksite marketing arm of Barclays, has agreed special terms with AEGON to supply corporate protection solutions to its small and medium-sized business clients. While Barclays C&ES offers advice and services from the whole of the market, the special arrangement with AEGON is designed to offer clients a differentiated proposi-tion. Specifically, AEGON has worked with Barclays to enable the bank’s financial underwriting

to be accepted in place of AE-GON’s usual financial require-ments. As part of this arrange-ment, the clients of Barclays will potentially receive: an individual pricing facility that may poten-tially make the prices quoted among the best in the market; immediate cover for clean appli-cations while medical underwrit-ing is taking place; mobile medi-cal checks and detailed medical reports; and enhanced service standards including prioritised follow-up of outstanding infor-mation in order to further re-duce time between application and completion.

Legal & General wins life in-surance and pensions man-date with First Trust Bank...

Legal & General and First Trust Bank, a banking brand of AIB with 48 branches in Northern Ireland, have announced a long-term joint distribution agree-ment for a range of life insur-ance, investment and pension products. First Trust's financial consultants will sell Legal & General products throughout the branch network on an ap-pointed representative basis, using Legal & General's Retail Distribution Review (RDR) model for banks and building societies.

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... and is appointed exclusive partner for protection prod-ucts by UK building society

In addition, Legal & General has also won a new business partnership with the Mansfield Building Society for the provi-sion of protection products. Specifically, Legal & General will now provide mortgage-related and family-related pro-tection cover to be sold on an exclusive basis by the building society's dedicated team of mortgage specialists.

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MOTOR INSURANCE

Direct Line and Veneto Banca enhance partnership with hotel stay offer

In Italy, Direct Line and Veneto Banca, which have been part-ners for motor insurance for over ten years, are offering cus-tomers who buy motor insur-ance at one of the bank's branches a complimentary one night stay at any of the three and four star hotels participating in the scheme nationwide.

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GENERAL

RSA renews long-standing partnership with National Australia Group's UK bank-ing brands

In the UK, RSA has disclosed the renewal of its partnership for household and motor insur-ance with the Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank networks for a further five years. Accord-ing to the two partners, the deal means that both new and exist-ing customers buying through these two subsidiaries of Na-tional Australia Group, will benefit from newly-developed products, providing them with a range of insurance to suit their individual needs.

Talanx and Meiji Yasuda buy into Polish bancassurance opportunity

In Poland, Talanx International and Japan Meiji Yasuda Interna-tional Life Insurance have com-pleted a joint acquisition of in-surer Europa Group from Getin Holding enabling them to enter the country's bancassurance market. In December 2011, Getin Holding, the owner of Idea Bank, had announced its intention to launch a bancassur-ance partnership with the two insurers once the sale of Europa Group was completed. Under the terms of the agreement, Ta-lanx will own 50% of the equity capital of Europa with Meiji Ya-

suda taking 28% and Getin Holding retaining 16.5%.

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Affinity Banking News

AFFINITY BANK AC-COUNTS

BAWAG P.S.K. introduces affinity current accounts with retail chain

In Austria, BAWAG P.S.K., a retail bank owned ultimately by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, has en-tered into a partnership with Tchibo, an international retail and coffee house chain, to dis-tribute current account prod-ucts. The accounts, branded as KontoBox Gold, can be pur-chased across all 140 Tchibo stores in Austria and also in-clude a credit card.

BNP Paribas offers savings account in association with Habitat

In France BNP Paribas has launched a savings account in partnership with Habitat, named the Compte Epargne Maison (Home Savings Account), fol-lowing the success of a previous Holiday Savings Account launched in July 2011 with Voy-ages-sncf.com. This savings ac-count is only available online and offers customers a discount of 15% on purchases made in

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Habitat stores in France and Monaco or on the Habitat web-site.

Moreover, it is an instant access account and carries an interest rate of 1.50% (gross) with a pos-sible 'loyalty bonus' of 0.25%. BNP Paribas notes that French households spend an average of between EUR 1,000 and EUR 4,000 on furniture and furnish-ings each year, which implies a saving of EUR 150 and EUR 600 through this partnership; note that the interest rate is no higher than for the standard sav-ings account, so the benefit to customers comes from this dis-count.

Newcastle Building Society launches affinity savings with local cancer charity

In the UK, the Newcastle Build-ing Society has launched an ISA (Individual Savings Account) affiliated with local cancer char-ity the Sir Bobby Robson Foun-dation. The new account, called the Sir Bobby Robson Founda-tion ISA, which was launched on the foundation's fourth anni-versary, pays a variable rate of up to 2.60% gross AER with free withdrawals, while paying an additional 0.10% to the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation it-self.

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AFFINITY CARDS

BMO launches a co-branded card program with three Ca-nadian soccer teams

In Canada, BMO Bank of Montreal, which has been closely associated with soccer in the country for several years, has launched the BMO Major League Soccer MasterCard pro-gram with three teams, namely Montreal Impact, Toronto and Vancouver Whitecaps. With an estimated 2.6 million Canadians playing both competitively and casually, soccer is Canada's high-est participation sport, and is also very keenly followed. These new affinity credit cards will al-low fans of the above teams to benefit from added-value fea-tures at games and venues, in-cluding a dedicated stadium en-trance for BMO customers, a chance to participate in the offi-cial coin toss before the game, and the opportunity to win seat upgrades or hospitality vouch-ers.

Société Générale continues to extend its range of affinity cards

In France, Société Générale has launched two new charity cards, one with the Emmaüs Solidarité association and another with the Fédération Française Handis-port, a charity that helps handi-capped people to play sport. It has also introduced an affinity

card with the rugby club Stade Toulousain plus a business pay-ment card targeted at entrepre-neurs that support France Initia-tive, an association that provides finance and support for new enterprises. In addition, it has launched a new version of its So Music Rolling Stones payment card, and reported that it had issued 28,000 cards in this col-lection following launch in De-cember 2009.

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AUTOMOTIVE FINANCE

Forest River adds Ally Finan-cial as wholesale finance pro-vider

Forest River, a manufacturer of recreational vehicles in the US has selected Ally Financial as an additional provider for dealer inventory financing. Eligible dealers can receive an interest rebate from Forest River for units sold to retail customers within 90 days of invoice. In addition to wholesale financing, Ally is also offering dealers real estate and commercial loans, inventory insurance, remar-keting services for trade-ins of recreational vehicles, and con-sumer financing to support new and used sales.

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GMAC secures finance deals with Opel in Chile and MG Motor in the UK

In Chile, Opel and GMAC, a subsidiary of Ally Financial, have announced a new strategic alliance for automotive finance. GMAC’s funding, which can cover up to 100% of the cost of a vehicle, has several options including conventional financing ranging from four to 60 months and a program called Smart Buy which is an alternative for cus-tomers who like to renew their cars frequently and incorporates the option for including mainte-nance.

In addition, Opel customers can choose a program called 50/50 by means of which the customer provides 50% of the value of the car as a down-payment, pays 12 instalments of interest and then pays the remaining 50% of the cost in the last instalment. The GMAC financing system enables dealers to offer a per-sonalised plan that calculates payments for the customer us-ing an iPad and the vendor is then able to approve a loan within 20 minutes.

Furthermore, in the UK, MG Motor, a niche car manufacturer brand, has appointed GMAC UK as its preferred wholesale financing provider for dealer-ships. This means that MG deal-ers are now able to obtain wholesale financing from

GMAC for new, demonstrator and used vehicle inventory. This initiative expands on the existing preferred retail financing rela-tionship between the two com-panies established in October 2011.

GE Capital Retail Bank ex-tends consumer lending scheme with Yamaha

In conjunction with Yamaha Motor Corporation, GE Capital Bank has announced a multi-year renewal of an instalment lending program. Since the Ya-maha program began in 2004, more than USD 2 billion of new and pre-owned power sports equipment has been financed and the program is available through around 1,700 Yamaha motor sports and watercraft dealerships for purchases of ve-hicles, parts, garments and ac-cessories.

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BUSINESS BANKING

Italian banks establish new affinity banking deals

In Italy, as has often been the case in previous quarters, several banks have established new agreements with trade associa-tions with the aim of supporting small and medium-sized enter-prises (SMEs).

Firstly, Intesa Sanpaolo has re-

newed an agreement with Rete Imprese Italia (a body that itself brings together five separate bodies - Casartigiani, CNA, Confartigianato, Confesercenti and Confcommercio) to support its members with a fund worth EUR 5 billion. Rete Imprese Italia represents around 2.6 mil-lion enterprises employing some 11 million professionals who themselves constitute 60% of the Italian workforce.

Secondly, it has created an agreement with Unionfidi to support SMEs in the north-west of Italy, this time through a fund of EUR 20 million to be used for both lines of credit with a duration of up to 18 months and longer-term invest-ments. This sum is being added to an existing fund of EUR 1.2 billion available to enterprises in the Liguria, Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta regions plus a further facility of EUR 500 million ear-marked for the leasing of capital goods.

Thirdly, BNL (owned by BNP Paribas) is working with Confidi Sardegna, a trade association based in Sardinia, to support local SMEs with a fund worth EUR 20 million. Grants made from this fund can be invested in both operational management and the development of projects both in Italy and abroad.

Finally, Veneto Banca has made a fund worth EUR 100 million

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available to support SMEs based in the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia re-gion for medium- and long-term project financing. This is being made available through Confidi Pordenone, a local organisation offering loan guarantees.

Sberbank links with Russian Guild of Realtors for mort-gage lending deal

In Russia, Sberbank and the Russian Guild of Realtors have signed an agreement by means of which estate agencies can start working with Sberbank to source mortgages by completing a single form and generally avoiding the bureaucracy of the usual verification procedure which can take up to two months. This deal is designed to improve interaction between Sberbank and estate agencies across all 60 Russian regions.

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CO-BRANDED CARDS

Barclaycard unveils new Black Visa card in partner-ship with international hotel group

In the UK, Barclaycard has an-nounced the launch of the Pri-ority Club Rewards Black Visa card in association with Inter-Continental Hotels Group (IHG). The new card offers members of the Priority Club Rewards loyalty scheme - which

has around 60 million members worldwide - to earn more points on hotel stays and purchases which can then be redeemed for free nights or for many other rewards. Specifically, customers with a Black Visa card are re-warded with double the amount of points compared to the stan-dard Visa card, earning them four points for every GBP 1 spent at IHG hotels and two points for every GBP 1 spent elsewhere.

Billpay ties with Hanseatic Bank and Visa for credit card linked to loyalty program

In Germany, Billpay, an online payment service provider based in Berlin that works with online merchants to facilitate transac-tions and instalment payments, has launched a new co-branded credit card in co-operation with Hanseatic Bank and Visa. The Billpay Visa card, which is being issued by Hanseatic Bank, is linked to a new loyalty program that will enable customers to collect bonus points for using the card at a variety of online retailers.

Chase launches US co-branded card product for Fairmont Hotels and Re-sorts…

In the US, Chase has been se-lected as the issuing partner for the first ever credit card product launched by Fairmont Hotels

and Resorts. Fairmont is a lux-ury brand owned by FRHI Holdings, whose other hotel brands include Raffles and Swissôtel. In total, the group controls more than 100 luxury hotels and resorts. Holders of the Fairmont Visa Signature card will earn Fairmont Rewards with all of their purchases, and cardholders spending more than USD 1,000 within the first three months will also receive two complimentary overnight stays, complete with breakfast.

…and Ritz-Carlton becomes a points transfer partner for Chase Ultimate Rewards

On a related note, Chase has expanded its Ultimate Rewards program to include a new points transfer partner, namely high-end travel brand The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. Under this new deal, cardholders are able to convert Ultimate Reward points into Ritz-Carlton Re-wards points at a ratio of 1:1, and with no restrictions on transfer quantity. Ritz-Carlton Rewards points can be earned and redeemed at Ritz-Carlton hotels and resorts, as well as at 3,500 partner hotels around the world.

Commerzbank and German football federation launch co-branded credit card

In Germany, Commerzbank, a sponsor of the country's na-

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tional football federation, the Deutscher Fußball-Bund (DFB), has launched a new co-branded MasterCard credit card with the DFB as part of a renewed part-nership. This agreement is part of a wider sponsorship initiative whereby Commerzbank is also advertising its bank accounts and other financial services in association with the DFB.

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CONSUMER FINANCE

Cetelem offers point-of-sale finance for Bombardier Rec-reational Products

In France, Bombardier Recrea-tional Products (BRP), the pro-ducer of motorised recreational vehicles such as the Ski-Doo, Lynx, Sea-Doo, Evinrude, John-son, Rotax and Can-Am, has signed an agreement with Cetelem whereby the consumer finance subsidiary of BNP Paribas will be the finance pro-vider for independent BRP deal-ers in France. Dealers will be able to offer customers the full range of Cetelem's financial products, such as loans and leas-ing with the option to buy, plus related services such as insur-ance and payment via its Aurore card.

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INTERNATIONAL REMIT-TANCES

Wells Fargo and HDFC Bank partner to create new US-India remittance service

Non-resident Indians living in the US will soon be able to send money home via a new channel as a result of an initiative be-tween Wells Fargo and HDFC Bank. International remittance is a large and growing market and, whereas HDFC Bank has tradi-tionally been strong in remitting funds from various Middle Eastern countries to India, this new partnership for US-India transfers is one that the two partners believe could be highly significant. According to the World Bank, remittance flows to developing countries were an estimated USD 351 billion in 2011, up 8% from the previous year. Wells Fargo provides retail banking and other financial services via a network of around 9,000 branches. The first transaction under this new scheme will need to be conducted in person at a Wells Fargo branch, but all sub-sequent activity can take place either online or via phone. Western Union teams up with quartet of banking institu-tions in the US...

In the US, Western Union has announced new agreements

with four financial institutions, namely Citizens Bank, and MIDFLORIDA Credit Union, Right Choice Money Services (owned by Redstone Federal Credit Union) and Veridian Credit Union. The respective agreements will enable the insti-tutions to offer Western Union's global money transfer and bill payment services to their cus-tomers.

... and renews money transfer contract with Spanish post office

Furthermore, in Spain, Western Union and CORREOS, the country's post office network, have signed a new agreement lasting five years to continue marketing the Western Union Money Transfer service and to introduce the Western Union Business Solutions service. Thanks to the new contract, CORREOS will expand the range of Western Union services that are available throughout its network of over 2,260 branch offices. The Western Union Business Solutions service en-ables companies of all sizes to send and receive international payments.

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INTER-BANK CARD DIS-TRIBUTION

JCB increases card circula-tion with China and Indone-sia through new relation-ships...

Japanese payments company JCB has signed new card issuing agreements with Bank Interna-sional Indonesia (BII) and with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). BII, one of the largest commercial banks in Indonesia, will launch the BII-JCB Platinum credit card, the first JCB platinum card in Indo-nesia. The card will target a range of affluent customers in the country, including Indone-sians who frequently travel to Japan and Japanese individuals living in Indonesia. Meanwhile, ICBC's flagship credit card will now be issued carrying the JCB logo, providing customers with travel-related services such as the JCB Plaza and JCB Plaza Lounge in addition to ICBC's own loyalty program and other functions and services. Custom-ers may also choose to be billed for their international spending on the card in US dollars or in Japanese yen. ICBC claims to have issued more credit cards than any other bank in China.

... and signs up to merchant licensing agreement with Af-rican bank

Elsewhere, JCB has signed a

merchant licensing agreement with Equity Bank in Africa through which JCB cards will be accepted from the start of De-cember 2012 at all of the bank's merchant locations in Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

UnionPay secures card distri-bution links with two further Korean card issuers...

In South Korea, UnionPay has announced agreements with card-issuing firms KB Kookmin Card and Korea Shinhan Card Company, whereby the firms will issue UnionPay payment cards throughout the country. This will increase the Chinese payment card firm's distribution in South Korea, where cards carrying its name are issued al-ready by Korea BC Card Com-pany and Lotte Card Company, with approximately 2.45 million UnionPay cards in circulation in total. UnionPay credit and debit cards are increasingly accepted across Korea and can also be used for cash access at roughly half the ATMs in the country.

... and ties with merchant ac-quirers in Denmark and Ice-land

In a separate deal, Icelandic bank card specialist Borgun has agreed to start accepting Union-Pay cards across all of its mer-chant outlets. This covers virtu-ally all retailers accepting card

payments in Iceland and means that Chinese language interfaces will be added to around 90% of ATMs in the country. More-over, in a comparable arrange-ment in Denmark, Danish card service provider Nets has stated that it will now accept UnionPay cards throughout that country.

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MOBILE BANKING

Monitise rolls out new mobile banking partnerships in In-donesia and the UK

Mobile banking and payment specialist Monitise has an-nounced new partnerships with three organisations namely, As-tra Graphia Group, HSBC and The Co-operative Bank.

The relationship with Astra Graphia Group in Indonesia takes the form of a joint ven-ture. Named AGIT Monitise Indonesia, it will combine the expertise of Monitise Asia Pa-cific, itself a joint venture be-tween Monitise and the First Eastern Investment Group, and Astra Graphia Information Technology (AGIT). Thus far, AGIT Monitise Indonesia has completed the installation of a data centre in Jakarta to support mobile banking, payments and commerce, which will allow banks, mobile operators, retail-ers and other service providers to connect via a shared and se-

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cure network, enabling the de-livery of mobile services to both banked and unbanked custom-ers. The first service using the new platform will be launched in conjunction with Permata-Bank, one of the top ten banks in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, in the UK, both HSBC and The Co-operative Bank are introducing iPhone banking apps designed by Moni-tise, with apps for other smart-phone platforms including An-droid and BlackBerry expected to follow. The Co-operative Bank will also offer its custom-ers without smartphones an alert and enquiry service based on text messaging, also designed by Monitise.

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MOBILE PAYMENTS

Barclaycard and Orange seek to expand usage of contact-less payment service

In the UK, Barclaycard and Or-ange have announced that their Quick Tap contactless mobile payment service will shortly be available on selected handsets which use the Android operat-ing system, as well as to credit and debit card customers of all UK banks. Orange expects to announce soon the first handset compatible with Quick Tap handsets that uses the Android operating system with a series of

further devices from a variety of manufacturers planned for launch throughout the year.

In addition, Barclaycard is intro-ducing a new functionality, which will allow credit or debit card customers at any UK bank to connect to the Quick Tap service. This will be the first time that Quick Tap will be available to those without cards issued by Barclays or Barclay-card. Specifically, customers will be able to transfer up to a limit of GBP 150 directly from their account onto a Quick Tap app.

Once loaded with money, the mobile is then ready to make single payments of up to GBP 20 by simply being tapped on a contactless terminal. The Bar-claycard payment app, which sits on the home screen of all handsets compatible with Quick Tap, contains information such as electronic statements detail-ing Quick Tap purchases so that customers can keep an eye on their spending and manage fi-nances easily while on the move.

By the end of 2012 it is pre-dicted that there will be over 130,000 merchant outlets across the UK where customers can make contactless payments, in-cluding major retail chains with a high footfall such as Boots, Co-Op, Tesco and Waitrose plus leading food service chains like EAT, McDonalds, Prêt a Man-ger and Subway.

BOKUsecurespaymentspartnershipswithDeutscheTelekom and Sprint

US-based mobile payments spe-cialist BOKU has announced deals with both Deutsche Tele-kominGermany and Sprint in the US.Thepartnership will allow the customers of T-Mobile and Sprint to make pay-ments using only their mobile telephone numbers for digital goods and services, including games, music and Facebook credits. Specifically, customers will enter their mobile number to pay and will confirm their payment by responding to an SMS message; the charge will then appear on their wireless bill. The partnerships come hard on the heels of BOKU's an-nouncement that it has received a USD 35 million strategic in-vestment from multiple sources, including private equity firm NEA, Telefónica and other in-vestors, to develop its mobile payments and billing platform as well as to fund future interna-tional expansion.

PayPal and Softbank estab-lish Japanese digital pay-ments joint venture

PayPal and Softbank have an-nounced a planned joint venture company, to be known as Pay-Pal Japan. The new venture combines PayPal's experience in digital payment processing with Softbank's base of 29 million

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mobile subscribers. PayPal and Softbank plan to invest equally in the joint venture, with each party putting forward JPY 1 bil-lion (around USD 12.5 million) each. The new venture will al-low Softbank customers to make payments via PayPal ac-counts using their mobile phones at retailers and other institutions using the PayPal Here network. Hence, Japan will become the fifth nation to offer PayPal Here, following Austra-lia, Canada, Hong Kong and the US.

Small businesses using PayPal Here will also be able to accept credit card payments via a small card reader linked to a smart-phone, allowing businesses to accept credit cards without a separate merchant agreement. There are no account fees paid by merchants, with a flat 5% charge per transaction; the card reader itself costs approximately JPY 1,200. The apps will be available initially for iPhone, with Android apps available shortly thereafter.

UnionPay kicks off mobile payments collaboration with China Mobile

China Mobile and UnionPay have concluded an agreement to co-operate in the field of mobile payments in areas including re-search and development, com-mon technical standards and marketing and advertising of

mobile payments in a joint ef-fort to promote the industry as a whole. Moreover, China Mobile and UnionPay also hope to de-velop a SIM-based product which would enable the users of virtually any phone to make mo-bile payments including contact-less payments in retail stores and vending machines. As part of this agreement, the two compa-nies intend to launch multiple joint pilot projects in select cit-ies throughout China.

Visa Europe secures mobile payments partnership with Telefónica

Visa Europe and Telefónica Digital have revealed the crea-tion of a wide-ranging strategic partnership to drive new busi-ness opportunities within mo-bile commerce across Tele-fónica’s operations in Europe. The agreement will see both companies co-invest in the de-velopment of innovative prod-ucts and services in areas such as mobile wallets, contactless payments (NFC), acquirer ser-vices for mobile point of sale, and merchant offers.

The agreement builds on the existing relationship of Tele-fónica and Visa Europe in mar-kets such as the UK and Ireland, formalising it at a Europe-wide level and establishing Visa Europe as Telefónica’s pre-ferred partner for the issuance of co-branded payment cards

and the development of related mobile payment services.

Mobile commerce is a key focus area of Telefónica’s new Digital unit which has been formed to drive business opportunities within the digital space. In Europe, Telefónica has already launched a mobile wallet service in the UK and is working to launch mobile wallet products across its other operating busi-nesses.

Telefónica has stated that it is committed to striking wide-ranging, open partnerships with a range of companies in order to develop the best possible mobile commerce services. In addition to Visa Europe, it has also formed partnerships with Gie-secke & Devrient and Sybase.

VocaLink ties with Clairmail for advanced mobile banking and payments

In the UK, payments company VocaLink has announced a part-nership with mobile banking and payments firm Clairmail, now part of Monitise, to offer integrated mobile banking and payments solutions. The part-nership will enable banks to use Clairmail's Smart Client mobile delivery system coupled with VocaLink's real-time capabili-ties, allowing for faster payment processing and delivery.

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Western Union links with MTN for international mo-bile payments service...

In Uganda, Western Union has entered into a partnership with MTN, a mobile operator brand, for the launch of a mobile money transfer service that al-lows the operator's customers to send and receive money on a cross-border basis using just their mobile phones for the first time. This allows more than 2 million customers in Uganda using Mobile Money, MTN’s mobile money transfer service, to add funds to their accounts sent through Western Union’s system. The new service also enables MTN's customers to send money on an international basis directly from their Mobile Money accounts either for cash payout at Western Union agent locations around the world or to subscribers of other selected mobile operators with which Western Union has agreements.

... adding to a growing roster of mobile money transfer agreements around the world

Generally, Western Union has revealed that it now has mobile money transfer agreements with a total of 26 mobile wallet pro-viders in 22 countries. 20 of these agreements are with mo-bile operators, collectively repre-senting over 285 million sub-scribers, while the remaining six are with banks and other inde-

pendent institutions. Specifi-cally, the company has already launched mobile money transfer services in nine countries: Bang-ladesh, Burkina Faso, Canada, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, the Philippines, Tanzania and the US.

Indeed, Western Union also an-nounced recently the launch of new mobile payment services in Bangladesh with Banglalink, in Burkina Faso with Inova, and in Madagascar with Telma. These three launches follow four new strategic alliances previously an-nounced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

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ONLINE PAYMENTS

Microsoft and UnionPay tie for online payments in China

Microsoft and UnionPay have announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding regarding online payments and other opportunities of mutual interest in China. The two com-panies have agreed to co-operate in the field of online payments with the expectation of delivering increased conven-ience for UnionPay cardholders when purchasing Microsoft products and services. This ser-vice will first be enabled on Mi-crosoft's Chinese trading plat-form, with payments organised via UnionPay's online payment

platform. Eventually, the parties plan to extend this area of co-operation to other countries and regions.

Western Union launches WU Pay online payment platform

In the US, Western Union has announced that it will launch WU Pay, a new electronic pay-ments platform that aims to im-prove both general customer experience and safety for indi-viduals seeking to make online payments or to transfer money. The new WU Pay platform al-lows online shoppers in the US to pay for purchases from their existing bank accounts or in cash at Western Union agent locations. WU Pay is based on the eBillme platform, which Western Union acquired in Oc-tober 2011. The service is avail-able as a payment option through hundreds of online merchant sites including Buy.com, Kmart and Sears, and the payment option can also be used to purchase over 60 lead-ing virtual gift cards including those of Amazon, American Airlines, Dell and Home Depot.

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RETAILER BANKING

HSBC and M&S to offer full retail banking services and very long opening hours

Having worked closely together

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since 2004 when HSBC ac-quired the M&S Money range of payment card and loan products from UK retail group Marks & Spencer, the duo now plans to launch in-store bank branches and to offer a far wider range of retail banking services to both the existing book of around 3 million customers and new cli-ents. The first M&S Bank is ex-pected to open within London's flagship Marble Arch store in the summer of 2012, with a fur-ther 50 in-store locations planned to open over the fol-lowing two years. M&S Bank will initially offer current ac-counts and then, at a later date, mortgages. Aside from the strength of the M&S brand, the main selling point of this new venture is that each in-store branch will precisely mirror the opening hours of that store, seven days a week, creating a very high degree of convenience for the customer.

Scotiabank expands ATM network through deal with 7-Eleven and Cardtronics

Scotiabank has disclosed that customers in various parts of Canada (namely Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan) will soon be able to use ATMs located within 7-Eleven convenience stores without incurring charges. Card-tronics owns and operates more than 50,000 ATMs in North America and other locations,

and is the exclusive provider of such units for 7-Eleven, which operates or licenses around 9,200 retail outlets across North America. The new deal effec-tively adds around 500 fee-free ATMs to Scotiabank's existing network, which represents an increase of more than 15%.

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RETAILER CARDS

American Express introduces prepaid cards with two major US retail chains...

In the US, American Express has announced the launch of three important new initiatives in the market for co-branded prepaid cards.

Firstly, in association with book retailer chain Barnes & Noble, it has introduced the Campus Edi-tion prepaid card in both tem-porary, one-time load and per-sonalised, reloadable versions available in more than 500 col-lege bookstores which provides college students with a spending and budgeting tool that can be used anywhere that American Express cards are accepted. The personalised, reloadable card can be charged online through a bank account, through cash loading via MoneyPak or at the register at participating Barnes & Noble campus bookstores. Students constitute a new cus-tomer target for American Ex-

press as it does not otherwise market charge of credit cards to this constituency. Students with the personalised, reloadable card benefit from purchase protec-tion insurance, road assistance and travel assistance plus vari-ous entertainment-related cus-tomer offers and discounts at selected merchants.

Secondly, it has launched a com-parable pair of prepaid cards in association with Office Depot, a specialised retailer of office products with more than 1,100 outlets in the US. Like the Bar-nes & Noble products, the tem-porary, one-time load card can be used anywhere in the US where American Express is ac-cepted while the personalised, reloadable product has interna-tional functionality with mer-chants accepting American Ex-press.

... and through Zynga Serve Rewards with a provider of social games services

Finally, a prepaid card is also a part of the proposition that American Express has devel-oped with Zynga, a provider of social games services, the main-stay of which is Zynga Serve Rewards, a loyalty program tied to the Serve digital wallet that offers in-game incentives for everyday expenditure. Specifi-cally, it allows players of Zynga's FarmVille game to earn virtual game cash by learning about

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Serve and signing up to receive the benefits of this digital wallet. Individuals applying successfully to join the Zynga Serve Rewards program receive a Zynga Serve co-branded prepaid card by post. In the second half of 2012, the initiative will be broadened in a number of respects includ-ing the extension of the Zynga Serve Rewards program to addi-tional games such as CastleVille and CityVille.

Chase extends its card issu-ing relationship with Amazon in North America

Chase Card Services Canada and online retailer Amazon have launched a co-branded Visa credit card product, which will also feature Visa payWave con-tactless technology. This is the second initiative involving Chase and Amazon in North America, as the companies have also been offering a similar product to US consumers since 2002. Canadians using the new cards to make purchases from the www.amazon.ca website will earn reward points at double the standard rate that applies when the card is used at other retail-ers. Furthermore, for larger qualifying purchases from Ama-zon, cardholders will gain access to additional six-month and 12-month finance options.

GE Capital Retail Bank ex-tends two tyre finance part-nerships

In the US, GE Capital Retail Bank and the Tire Industry As-sociation (TIA) have unveiled a multi-year renewal of their pri-vate label credit card program, enabling association members to offer finance to customers through the CarCareONE card network. First introduced in 1984, the TIA CarCareONE program provides customers with convenient payment op-tions for tyre replacement and repair purchases at TIA member dealer locations. Cardholders can qualify for rebates, promo-tional financing terms, e-billing and e-payments, and other op-tions and the CarCareONE card is accepted nationwide by over 6,000 participating merchants and can also be used at Exxon and Mobil gasoline locations. The TIA is an association repre-senting all segments of the tyre industry, including those that manufacture, repair, recycle, sell, service or use new or retreaded tyres, as well as suppliers or in-dividuals who furnish equip-ment, material or services to the industry.

In a related development, GE Capital Retail Bank has also dis-closed a multi-year renewal to continue providing finance for customers of Discount Tire, a independent tyre retailer in the US. The Discount Tire Car-

CareONE credit card program, which began in 1997, provides customers with payment solu-tions at any of more than 800 physical outlets across 23 states p l u s o n l i n e v i a t h e www.d i scount i re . com or www.tires.com websites.

Scotiabank and SportChek announce a new range of NHL credit card products

In Canada, Scotiabank has launched a new co-branded Sco-tiaHockey NHL Visa program in conjunction with sporting goods retailer SportChek. The credit cards can be branded ei-ther with the official logo of any NHL (National Hockey League) team, or with the NHL shield. Expenditure on the new cards generates SportChek reward points, which can be used for both online and in-store pur-chases. For a limited time, addi-tional benefits for new card-holders include the ability to earn points at five times the standard rate when making pur-chases at SportChek, and receiv-ing a free skate sharpening with any in-store purchase. Sport-Chek is part of FGL Sports which, via its numerous brands, is one of Canada's largest retail-ers of sporting goods. Note also that Scotiabank is the official bank of both the NHL and sev-eral individual teams.

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UnionPay enters into strate-gic agreement with Shell in China

In China, payment card com-pany UnionPay and Shell have signed a strategic agreement with plans to co-operate gener-ally in the areas of payment ac-ceptance, customer loyalty pro-grams and card issuance. Shell maintains 700 petrol stations in China and these have begun ac-cepting UnionPay cards.

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RETAILER FINANCE

Ikano and Credit Europe Bank tie up for Russian joint venture

Credit Europe Bank and Ikano Group have started the registra-tion process for the creation of a joint venture bank in Russia. It is intended that the new bank will offer financial services to Ikano’s customers in Russia. Netherlands-based Credit Europe Bank has been active in Russia since 1997 and currently serves more than 3 million Rus-sian customers through more than 120 branches and 8,500 sales points while Ikano has been active in Russia since 2006.

DFS selects LaSer UK for re-tailer finance venture in Ire-land

In Ireland, the largest sofa re-

tailer in the UK, DFS, has an-nounced that it is opening a store in Dublin as its first strate-gic move to enter the European market. Moreover, it has chosen LaSer UK to provide retail fi-nance for this store, as the UK-based finance provider that it believes to be best placed to support multi-channel, cross-border European transactions.

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Affinity Banking

23


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7-Eleven, 20 Abarth, 4 Abritel, 5 AEGON, 10 AIB, 10 Alfa Romeo, 4 Allianz, 6, 8, 9 Ally Financial, 12, 13 Amazon, 19, 21 América Móvil, 8 American Airlines, 19 American Express, 20 American Financial & Automotive Services, 6, 7 Arkansas Bankers Association, 5 Assurant Solutions, 6, 7 Astra Graphia Group, 16 Aviva, 6 Banglalink, 19 Bank Internasional Indonesia, 16 Barclaycard, 14, 17 Barclays, 10, 17 Barnes & Noble, 20 BAWAG P.S.K., 11 Best Buy, 7 Billpay, 14 Blue Insurances, 8 BMO Bank of Montreal, 12 BNL, 13 BNP Paribas, 11, 12, 13, 15 BOKU, 17 Bombardier, 15 Boots, 17 Borgun, 16 Brightstar, 7 Buy.com, 19 California Bankers Association, 5 CarCareONE, 21 Cardtronics, 20 CarGarantie, 7 Casartigiani, 13 Cerberus Capital Management, 11 Cetelem, 15 Chase, 14, 21 China Mobile, 18 Citibank, 5 Citizens Bank, 15 Clairmail, 18 Clydesdale Bank, 11 CNA, 5, 13 Commercial Bank of China, 16 Commerzbank, 14 Confartigianato, 13 Confcommercio, 13 Confesercenti, 13 Confidi Pordenone, 14 Confidi Sardegna, 13 CORREOS, 15 Credit Europe Bank, 23 Cricket Communications, 7 CSA Travel Protection, 9 Dell, 19 Deutsche Telekom, 17 Deutscher Fußball-Bund, 15 DFS, 23 Direct Line, 11 Discount Tire, 21

Driven Solutions, 4 EAT, 17 Emmaüs Solidarité, 12 Equity Bank, 16 eSecuritel, 7 Euler Hermes, 5, 6 Europ Assistance, 4, 9 Exxon and Mobil, 21 Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, 14 Fédération Française Handisport, 12 Fiat, 4 First Trust Bank, 10 Forest River, 12 FRHI Holdings, 14 Gallagher Heath, 9 GE Capital Retail Bank, 13, 21 Genworth Financial, 10 Getin Holding, 11 Giesecke & Devrient, 18 GMAC, 13 Habitat, 11 Hanseatic Bank, 14 HanseMerkur Reiseversicherung, 9 HDFC Bank, 15 Home Depot, 19 HomeAway, 5 HSBC, 5, 16, 17, 20 Idea Bank, 11 Ikano, 23 India Assistance, 4 Innoserve, 5 Inova, 19 InterContinental Hotels Group, 14 Intesa Sanpaolo, 13 JCB, 16 Jeep, 4 JT Touristik, 9 Jubilee, 7, 8 KB Kookmin Card, 16 Kmart, 19 Korea BC Card Company, 16 Korea Shinhan Card Company, 16 Lancia, 4 LaSer UK, 23 Legal & General, 10, 11 Lotte Card Company, 16 M&S Money, 20 Mansfield Building Society, 11 MAPFRE Asistencia, 4, 5, 8 Marks & Spencer, 20 MasterCard, 12, 15 Max New York Life Insurance Company, 6 McDonalds, 17 Meiji Yasuda, 11 MG Motor, 13 Microsoft, 19 MIDFLORIDA Credit Union, 15 Mobistar, 8 Mondial Assistance, 5, 9 Monitise, 16, 17, 18 Monmouthshire Building Society, 10 MS&AD, 6 MTN, 19 MTS Allstream, 7 My911, 4 National Australia Group, 11

NEA, 17 Newcastle Building Society, 12 Office Depot, 20 Opel, 13 Orange, 8, 17 Outsource Services Group, 8 Pancreatic Cancer UK, 9, 10 PayPal, 17, 18 PermataBank, 17 Peugeot Citröen, 4 Piaggio, 4 Prêt a Manger, 17 Protect Your Bubble, 9 PVI Holdings, 6 RAC, 7, 8 Redstone Federal Credit Union, 15 Renault, 7 Rete Imprese Italia, 13 Ritz-Carlton, 14 RSA, 11 Russian Guild of Realtors, 14 Sanitas, 10 Santander Consumer Finance, 7, 8 Sberbank, 14 Scotiabank, 20, 21 Sears, 19 Shell, 22 Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, 12 SNCF, 9 Société Générale, 12 Softbank, 17 SPB, 8 SportChek, 21 Sprint, 17 Stade Toulousain, 12 Subway, 17 Sun Life, 6 Swiss Life, 10 Sybase, 18 Talanx, 11 Tchibo, 11 Telefónica, 17, 18 Telma, 19 Telmex, 8 Ten Group, 5 Tesco, 6, 17 The Co-operative Bank, 16, 17 Tire Industry Association, 21 Unionfidi, 13 UnionPay, 16, 18, 19, 22 Veneto Banca, 11, 13 Veridian Credit Union, 15 Visa, 14, 18, 21 VocaLink, 18 Vodafone, 4 Volvo, 5 Voyages-sncf.com, 9, 11 Wells Fargo, 15 Western Union, 9, 15, 19 WU Pay, 19 Yamaha, 13 Yorkshire Bank, 11 Zynga, 20

Organisations in this issue

24


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About GAFC

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 partner-

ship 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 addi-

tion, it concentrates exclusively on

affinity and partnership marketing

strategy.

Affinity and partnership marketing

strategy is an important component of

general distribution strategy for a ma-

jority of large banks and insurance

companies serving consumers and

small businesses as successful partner-

ships 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

[email protected]. Thereafter, each

quarter, we will send you a link to the

page of our website with fresh news

and future editions of this document.

About Finaccord

Finaccord is a leading market research, publishing and consulting company specializing in financial services. We provide our clients with insight with a particular focus on marketing and distribution strategies, including affin-ity and partnership marketing.

Our areas of expertise include: affinity and partnership marketing; automotive financial services; bancassurance; com-mercial non-life insurance brokers; consumer intelligence; creditor insur-ance; distribution channels; extended warranties; insurance and assistance linked to payment cards and bank accounts; mobile gadget and telephone insurance; retailer financial services; small business financial services; and travel insurance and assistance.

Our international network of consult-ants is able to deliver information quickly and accurately across a range of countries worldwide, basing re-search projects on robust data and knowledge rather than supposition and theory.

© Finaccord Ltd., 2012 Registered in London No. 4542931 The Office Farringdon 24 Greville Street London, EC1N 8SS

Phone: +44 20 3178 2556 Fax: +44 20 7198 7902 Email: [email protected] www.finaccord.com

Does your organisation have

news about its affinity or part-

nership marketing relationships

that we missed in this newslet-

ter? To produce it, we system-

atically research close to 300

major financial services institu-

tions from around the world

each quarter. However, if you

would also like us to include

your company in this research,

please send an e-mail to analy-

[email protected] and we will

ensure that it is tracked in fu-

ture quarters.

To access the archive of news

from the Global Affinity Fi-

nance Club please visit

www.finaccord.com/afi

Finaccord’s latest published reports include:

Commercial Non-Life Insurance Brokers in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe GBP 2,495

Commercial Non-Life Insurance Brokers in Southern and Western Europe GBP 2,495

Global Mobile Operators: Strategies in Insurance and Assistance GBP 1,995

Global Mobile Operators: Strategies in Payments and Banking GBP 1,995

Global Mobile Operators: Strategies in Payments, Banking, Insurance and Assistance GBP 2,995

Insurance and Assistance linked to Payment Cards and Bank Accounts in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe GBP 2,495

Insurance and Assistance linked to Payment Cards and Bank Accounts in Southern and Western Europe GBP 2,495

Payment Metrics: Consumer Attitudes towards and Usage of Traditional and Emerging Means of Payment in the UK GBP 1,995

Channel Metrics: Consumer Distribution Trends in UK Financial and Professional Services GBP 2,995

Manufacturer-Branded and Dealer-Intermediated Motor Insurance and Road Assistance in Emerging Global Markets GBP 1,995




http://www.finaccord.com/afi

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http://twitter.com/#!/Finaccord

http://www.finaccord.com/uk/report_commercial-non-life-insurance-brokers-in-northern,-central-and-eastern-europe.htm

http://www.finaccord.com/uk/report_commercial_non-life_insurance_brokers_southern_western_europe.htm

http://www.finaccord.com/uk/report_global-mobile-operators:-strategies-in-insurance-and-assistance.htm

http://www.finaccord.com/uk/report_global-mobile-operators:-strategies-in-payments-and-banking.htm

http://www.finaccord.com/uk/report_global-mobile-operators:-strategies-in-payments,-banking,-insurance-and-assistance.htm

http://www.finaccord.com/uk/insurance-and-assistance-linked-to-payment-cards-and-bank-accounts-in-northern-central-and-eastern-europe.htm

http://www.finaccord.com/uk/insurance-and-assistance-linked-to-payment-cards-and-bank-accounts-in-southern-and-western-europe.htm

http://www.finaccord.com/uk/report_payment-metrics_consumer-attitudes-towards-and-usage-of-traditional-and-emerging-means-of-payment-in-the-uk.htm

http://www.finaccord.com/uk/report_channel_metrics_consumer_distribution_trends_uk_financial_and_professional_services.htm

http://www.finaccord.com/uk/report_manufacturer-branded-and-dealer-intermediated-motor-insurance-and-road-assistance-in-emerging-global-markets.htm

global affinity finance club spring 2012

Economy & Finance

new insurance

assistance deal

commercial insurance

insurance barclays

europ assistance

assistance contract

road assistance

roadside assistance