AFFINITY INSURANCE

BANCASSURANCE

AFFINITY BANKING

Global Affinity

Finance Club

Finaccord’s newsletter about affinity financial services worldwide

Welcome back to your Club! A trio of significant bancassurance deals focused mainly on the Asia-Pacific region catch the eye this quarter with AIA Group, MetLife and Prudential all taking steps to strengthen relationships with key banking partners. While Prudential has entered into a 15-year partnership with Stan-dard Chartered that paves the way for exclusive distribution of life insurance products in nine out of 11 countries in scope, AIA Group and MetLife have both successfully cemented their relationships with Citigroup. In the former case, AIA Group has also secured a 15-year agreement focused on life insurance in 11 Asia-Pacific coun-tries while MetLife’s deal is for creditor insurance in a total of 15 markets around the world including Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. Other especially noteworthy news items from the most recent quar-ter include: the acquisition of Iké Asistencia by Assurant; the renewal of the motor insurance joint venture of ADAC and Zurich in Ger-many; The Warranty Group’s new joint venture with TVS Automo-tive Solutions; MetLife’s proposed bancassurance joint venture with AMMB Holdings in Malaysia; the launch of Wesbank’s automotive finance joint venture with VW in South Africa; the forthcoming IPO of GE’s North American retailer finance business; and the usual flurry of initiatives in mobile payments from the likes of MasterCard, Visa Europe and Western Union. With best regards, Alan Leach

Director aleach@finaccord.com

For our published reports, news and more please visit

www.finaccord.com

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Affinity Insurance News 4

ACCIDENT INSURANCE 4

AIG France enhances accident cover

for the Fédération Française de Bas-

ketBall 4

ASSISTANCE 4

Assurant expands in Latin America

through investment in Iké Asistencia 4

HomeServe announces several new

distribution partnerships in the US... 4

...including an expansion of its rela-

tionship with Florida Public Utilities 4

Solid Försäkringar and Fiat initiate

partnership for road assistance 5

COMMERCIAL INSURANCE 5

Beazley launches event cancellation

scheme with UK insurance broker

association 5

HEALTH INSURANCE 5

Indian health insurance joint venture

commences operations 5

HDI and DKV extend their distribu-

tion partnership in Germany 5

LIFE INSURANCE 6

Discovery and AIA Group roll out

wellness-based life insurance joint

venture in Australia 6

Aviva secures Indonesian joint ven-

ture with Astra International 6

MOTOR INSURANCE 6

ADAC and Zurich renew German

motor insurance joint venture 6

Direct Line begins co-operating with

Honda for branded insurance 7

Ageas and Vauxhall extend partner-

ship to van insurance 7

NICHE INSURANCE 7

Allianz Global Assistance gains missed

event insurance deal with Tickets.com

7

PET INSURANCE 7

Sterling and BMG Insurance Brokers

tie for new pet insurance offering 7

PRODUCT INSURANCE / WAR-

RANTIES 7

CarGarantie supports Mercedes-Benz

used van extended warranties in Ger-

many 7

Jaguar Land Rover and Real Garant

enhance partnership in Belgium and

Germany 7

Renault selects MAPFRE WAR-

RANTY for extended warranty pro-

gram in Panama 8

The Warranty Group signs multi-year

agreements with North American

partners... 8

... and establishes joint venture with

TVS Automobile Solutions 8

Wertgarantie expands European foot-

print through SFG acquisition 8

Brightstar expands through acquisition

of Softbank subsidiary 8

CNA Warranty and EPIC introduce

new hearing aid protection plans 9

TRAVEL INSURANCE 9

Allianz secures travel insurance ties

with STA Travel and Virgin Group

companies... 9

... and also with UK-based media

group 9

Airtel Money launches travel insurance

with MAPFRE Assistance 9

HanseMerkur extends partnership

agreement with TVG Touristik... 9

... and secures new deal for online

sales with Germanwings 10

GENERAL 10

Junction and Post Office prolong in-

surance partnership through to 2019

10

Bancassurance 10

COMMERCIAL INSURANCE 10

Euler Hermes launches trade credit

insurance for HSBC customers in Ma-

laysia and the US 10

CREDITOR INSURANCE 11

MetLife and Citigroup agree to col-

laborate for creditor insurance

through to 2025 11

LIFE INSURANCE 11

AIA Group and Citibank enter into

exclusive pan-Asian bancassurance

deal... 11

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... while Prudential and Standard

Chartered extend existing partnership

11

Manulife commences sales of annui-

ties through Japanese bank 12

MOTOR INSURANCE 12

Credibom introduces motor insurance

in partnership with BES Seguros 12

GENERAL 12

MetLife acquires equity stakes in Ma-

laysian bancassurance companies 12

Spanish bancassurance joint venture

introduces first non-life insurance

policies 13

MAPFRE consolidates Spanish ban-

cassurance partnership with Bankia 13

AXA and BNP Paribas agree to ter-

minate their shareholders’ agreement

13

Affinity Banking News 13

AFFINITY BANKING 13

NatWest and RBS extend banking

services available at Post Office out-

lets 13

BNP Paribas ties with Paris Bar for

affinity banking deal for young law-

yers 13

AUTOMOTIVE FINANCE 14

Volkswagen Financial Services ac-

quires MAN Finance International...

14

... and launches a joint venture with

WesBank in South Africa 14

CO-BRANDED CARDS 14

MasterCard introduces virtual / tradi-

tional prepaid card with Orange in

Spain 14

CIBC and Tim Hortons unveil new

co-branded loyalty rewards card 14

CONSUMER FINANCE 14

Compass expands distribution net-

work through MPS consumer finance

deal 14

MOBILE / ONLINE PAYMENTS

15

MasterCard ties with Monitise to ac-

celerate mobile payment solutions

worldwide... 15

... and creates HomeSend joint ven-

ture with eServGlobal and BICS... 15

... with these initiatives supplemented

by others in Germany, Lebanon and

the UK 15

Visa Europe rolls out mobile contact-

less payments with Orange in two

French cities... 16

... and collaborates with Caixabank

plus Orange, Telefόnica and Voda-

fone in Spain 16

Visa Europe ties up new partnerships

with 15 IPSPs for V.me by Visa ser-

vice 17

Alpha Bank links with First Data,

Visa Europe and Vodafone for con-

tactless payment pilot 17

Western Union links with Paga for

Nigerian mobile money transfer ser-

vice 17

Bradesco and Claro roll out 'My

Money' as mobile payment account 17

Toyota Financial Services signs up to

Barclays' Pingit for mobile payments

18

Sky chooses Wirecard to process pay-

ments for new online media initiative

18

PAYMENT CARD ACCEPTANCE

AND ISSUANCE 18

Ecobank customers across 28 African

countries gain access to MasterCard

products 18

JCB expands presence in south-east

Asian countries... 18

... with UnionPay following suit in the

same region plus Africa and the Mid-

dle East 19

Société Générale signs agreement

with Discover Financial Services 19

RETAILER CARDS 19

Citibank rolls out co-branded retailer

card with Czech online shopping mall

19

GE Capital Retail Bank extends credit

card program with furniture chain...

19

... and prepares for IPO and re-

branding as Synchrony Financial 20

GENERAL 20

American Express and Universal Stu-

dios expand marketing relationship 20

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Affinity Insurance News

ACCIDENT INSURANCE

AIG France enhances acci-dent cover for the Fédération Française de BasketBall

In France, AIG has disclosed the renewal of its partnership with the Fédération Française de BasketBall (FFBB) for four more seasons. Members of the FFBB can benefit from addi-tional covers designed to meet the specific needs of basketball players such as osteopathy treat-ment, higher payments for seri-ous injuries and assistance for injuries sustained outside the country. The FFBB has 515,000 members across 4,700 clubs, which means that basketball is the second most popular team sport in France. Moreover, AIG states that an average of around 2,000 claims is made each year, highlighting the need for tai-lored insurance of this type.

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ASSISTANCE

Assurant expands in Latin America through investment in Iké Asistencia

Speciality insurance group As-surant has reached an agreement to make an equity investment of USD 115 million in Iké Asisten-cia, an assistance operator active in Mexico and other countries in

Latin America. Following the completion of the first phase of the transaction, which involved Iké Asistencia’s Mexican busi-ness, the second phase, relating to the firm's other Latin Ameri-can operations, was expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2014.

Based in Mexico City, Iké Asis-tencia is an important provider of home, road and travel assis-tance in several Latin American countries, and is also involved in providing insurance for mobile devices and other protection products, with the majority of its services offered through banks, retailers, car manufactur-ers and telecoms providers. Iké Asistencia will continue to oper-ate independently but will col-laborate with Assurant Solutions to offer clients a broader range of products and services.

Under the terms of the agree-ment, Assurant has the option of acquiring the remaining inter-est in Iké Asistencia over time.

HomeServe announces sev-eral new distribution partner-ships in the US...

In the US, home emergency as-sistance provider HomeServe has signed distribution partner-ships with four water utility pro-viders – specifically Apple Val-ley Ranchos Water Company in California, Birmingham Water Works in Alabama, Great Oaks

Water Company in San Jose, and Park Water Company in Los Angeles – plus one energy utility provider, namely Florida Public Utilities. The agreement with Park Water (and its subsidi-ary Apple Valley) will allow HomeServe to market its op-tional water supply pipe, sewer-age pipe, interior plumbing and drainage repair service to around 90,000 customers be-longing to these two providers combined. Similar arrangements with Birmingham Water Works and Great Oaks will see the same types of service offered to 190,000 and 20,000 homeown-ers respectively.

...including an expansion of its relationship with Florida Public Utilities

Meanwhile, HomeServe's new arrangement with Florida Public Utilities (which is a subsidiary of Chesapeake Utilities) relates principally to the optional provi-sion of repair services for exte-rior gas supply pipes plus the internal gas piping running from the meter to each appliance. Un-der the terms of the deal, these gas-related service plans will be offered to 80,000 natural gas customers in Southern and Cen-tral Florida, although those same customers will also be able to take advantage of Home-Serve's other policies. Note also that Florida Public Utilities and HomeServe have previously col-laborated in a similar fashion,

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notably by offering an electrical surge protection program to customers in 2013. In total, HomeServe reports that it has a portfolio of around 1.5 million customers across North Amer-ica.

Solid Försäkringar and Fiat initiate partnership for road assistance

In Scandinavia, Solid Försäkrin-gar and Fiat have together launched FGA Assistans, a road assistance service included free for customers buying Alfa Ro-meo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep or Lancia vehicles. The assis-tance is valid in Denmark, Nor-way and Sweden, and gives cus-tomers professional help if they experience a problem with the vehicle. FGA Assistans extends to light commercial vehicles and camper vans as well as passen-ger cars.

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COMMERCIAL INSURANCE

Beazley launches event can-cellation scheme with UK in-surance broker association

In the UK, the British Insurance

Brokers' Association (BIBA) has selected Beazley to provide an event insurance scheme for its members. The tailored scheme will provide access for BIBA members to Beazley's event can-cellation cover for a wide range of events both in the UK and internationally. In addition to protection against financial loss arising from cancellation, dis-ruption or re-scheduling of an event resulting from circum-stances beyond the control of the organiser, Beazley is also offering event equipment and cash cover free of charge through the scheme. Brokers will also have access to other event cancellation policy en-hancements such as terrorism, communicable disease and na-tional mourning cover.

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HEALTH INSURANCE

Indian health insurance joint venture commences opera-tions

In India, commencement of trading has been announced by Cigna TTK Health Insurance a joint venture between US-based health insurance company Cigna

and Indian conglomerate TTK Group. The company aims to encourage customers to stay healthy and live life to the fullest by delivering products and ser-vices that will educate and assist them to lead healthier lifestyles. In particular, given the contin-ued rise in medical costs in In-dia, coupled with a parallel in-crease in lifestyle-related dis-eases, the company believes that there is an urgent need to stimu-late health insurance penetration in the country. As such, it states that it is committed to providing affordable and innovative health insurance solutions to meet its customers' daily health chal-lenges without compromising on quality customer service.

HDI and DKV extend their distribution partnership in Germany

In Germany, HDI Versicherun-gen (owned by Talanx) and DKV Deutsche Krankenversi-cherung (belonging to ERGO) have extended a long-standing distribution partnership which enables the former company to offer health insurance products underwritten by the latter. The agreement had already been run-ning for ten years and has been

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renewed for at least another five years. While HDI is one of the largest German insurers in both life and non-life insurance it does not underwrite health in-surance. DKV, on the other hand, is Germany’s second-largest health insurer.

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LIFE INSURANCE

Discovery and AIA Group roll out wellness-based life insur-ance joint venture in Austra-lia

Following on from the creation of AIA Vitality as a strategic joint venture to introduce a wellness-based life insurance model to the Asia-Pacific re-gion, South Africa's Discovery and the AIA Group have launched operations on a na-tionwide basis in Australia. This launch to the wider Australian market follows a reportedly suc-cessful pilot phase where a lim-ited number of financial advisers had the opportunity to trial the AIA Vitality program which was first launched in Singapore in 2013.

AIA Vitality aims to combine AIA’s brand, distribution prow-ess and life insurance expertise with Discovery’s proprietary wellness-based experience. Moreover, it offers protection products that are designed to deliver better health and lower

premium rates for AIA's cus-tomers, and is tailoring the dy-namic approach of linking well-ness incentives to life and health insurance, first pioneered by Discovery in South Africa.

According to Discovery, the rising incidence of chronic dis-eases and the resultant increase in healthcare costs and prema-ture deaths is a global issue. It sees these trends in South Af-rica, the UK and the US which means that Australia and the broader Asia-Pacific region are likely to be no different. First launched in 1997, the company's 'Vitality' program currently has more than 5 million customers worldwide spanning South Af-rica, UK and the USA, plus China and Singapore.

Aviva secures Indonesian joint venture with Astra Inter-national

In Indonesia, Aviva and local company Astra International, the country's largest publicly-listed company, have entered into an agreement to form Astra Aviva Life, a joint venture owned in equal proportions to sell and distribute life insurance products. Astra Aviva Life will be the preferred provider of a range of life insurance products to Astra and its subsidiaries and, subject to regulatory approvals, the company will enter into dis-tribution arrangements with a number of the Astra group

companies, including Permata-Bank. The joint venture will also offer life insurance to the wider consumer market through a va-riety of digital, agency and part-ner channels.

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MOTOR INSURANCE

ADAC and Zurich renew Ger-man motor insurance joint venture

In Germany, ADAC, the coun-try's largest automotive associa-tion, and Zurich have renewed the agreement underpinning their joint venture entity ADAC Autoversicherung which was set up originally in 2007. In particu-lar, the two organisations have agreed to extend their partner-ship for jointly running the mo-tor insurance underwriter for another five years having been encouraged by growth in the number of policies in force from about 300,000 to 630,000 over the course of six years. The partners also disclosed that gross premiums written by ADAC Autovers icherung amounted to EUR 223 million in 2013. 51% of the equity of the Munich-based joint venture is owned by Zurich with the remaining shares held by ADAC-Schutzbrief Versicherung, ADAC’s own insurance com-pany.

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Direct Line begins co-operating with Honda for branded insurance

Also in Germany, Direct Line Versicherung, a subsidiary of the UK's Direct Line Group, has commenced a partnership with Honda Insurance Services to underwrite Honda-branded car and motor cycle insurance policies. Beginning in January 2014, the deal means that Honda dealers in Germany are able to distribute Direct Line's policies to their customers.

Ageas and Vauxhall extend partnership to van insurance

Strengthening a relationship that has already spanned five years, Ageas and UK automotive manufacturer brand Vauxhall have broadened their partner-ship to encompass the provision of van insurance in the UK, as well as personal motor insur-ance. This means that Vauxhall can now offer insurance to cus-tomers buying vans via its dealer network for the first time. Spe-cifically, Vauxhall will be offer-ing a complimentary five-day 'free-to-go' policy for vans pur-chased directly from Vauxhall dealers, as well as the option to purchase a full annual insurance policy. A team within Ageas In-surance Solutions, a division based in Stoke-on-Trent, ser-vices the Vauxhall Insurance business, managing all customer sales and service administration.

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NICHE INSURANCE

Allianz Global Assistance gains missed event insurance deal with Tickets.com

In the UK, Tickets.com – which provides ticketing and market-ing solutions to entertainment, sports and visitor attractions worldwide – has partnered with Allianz Global Assistance in or-der to provide all of its UK ven-ues with the option of offering missed event insurance. Tick-ets.com works with more than 300 venues in the UK. By means of this new deal, custom-ers of those venues that opt in to the scheme will be able to select missed event and ticket insurance at the online check-out, meaning that they would then be able to obtain a refund if they could not attend the event for a number of reasons, including personal illness or se-vere weather disruption.

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PET INSURANCE

Sterling and BMG Insurance Brokers tie for new pet insur-ance offering

In the UK, Sterling Insurance and BMG Insurance Brokers have announced the formation of a new partnership which will provide an independent facility

and white-labelled, end-to-end solution for providers of pet insurance in the UK. The new venture, known as Sterling Pet Solutions, is intended to inject new capacity and increased competition into the pet insur-ance market. Sterling's expertise in administration will see it pro-viding sales fulfilment, website design and claims handling ser-vices, whilst underwriting capac-ity will be sourced by BMG.

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PRODUCT INSURANCE / WARRANTIES

CarGarantie supports Mer-cedes-Benz used van ex-tended warranties in Ger-many

In Germany, CarGarantie has been the partner for passenger car and van warranties offered by Daimler group (the owner of Mercedes-Benz) since 2005. Moreover, it has now an-nounced the introduction of a new extended warranty for used Mercedes-Benz vans, thereby filling a gap in its product range not previously covered.

Jaguar Land Rover and Real Garant enhance partnership in Belgium and Germany

Real Garant, a specialised ex-tended warranty provider owned by Zurich, has improved the warranty that it offers to Jaguar

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Land Rover customers in Bel-gium and Germany, having al-ready worked with the automo-tive group for several years. Spe-cifically, it has announced that the extended warranty that it offers on new Jaguar Land Rover cars is now almost as comprehensive as the factory warranty, and that there is also now a comprehensive warranty for buyers of nearly-new cars.

Renault selects MAPFRE WARRANTY for extended warranty program in Panama

In Panama, MAPFRE WAR-RANTY and Renault have en-tered into an agreement by means of which the automotive manufacturer brand's customers can purchase extended warran-ties. In particular, the extended warranty affords the same cov-erage as the original manufac-turer guarantee, prolonging it by another two years from three years to five. MAPFRE WAR-RANTY has been present in this sector in Panama since 2013 and considers itself to be the market leader in the country.

The Warranty Group signs multi-year agreements with North American partners...

In North America, The War-ranty Group has announced multi-year agreements, including one agreement extension, with two key partners.

Specifically, it has negotiated terms with electronics retailer Micro Center to provide sup-port for its US-based protection plan program. The Warranty Group will provide underwriting services through its wholly-owned subsidiary Virginia Surety Company, as well as regulatory, marketing and ad-ministrative services.

In addition, The Warranty Group and Safe-Guard Prod-ucts, a provider of finance and insurance products to the auto-motive industry, have an-nounced the extension of an existing multi-year agreement. In fact, the Warranty Group has been providing underwriting and actuarial services to Safe-Guard Products in Canada and the US for nearly ten years.

... and establishes joint ven-ture with TVS Automobile Solutions

Meanwhile, The Warranty Group has also announced the formation of a joint venture with TVS Automobile Solu-tions. This joint venture will of-fer extended warranties and re-lated services throughout Bang-ladesh, India and Sri Lanka as well as portions of the Middle East. The new company will serve manufacturers, distribu-tors and retailers of both motor vehicles and consumer elec-tronic products, offering a range of service contracts, extended

warranties, original warranties and prepaid maintenance pro-grams.

Wertgarantie expands Euro-pean footprint through SFG acquisition

German warranty specialist Wertgarantie has announced the acquisition of France-based SFG (Société Française de Ga-rantie) from the UK's Home-Serve. The new addition to the German group will expand to France and Belgium a European presence already established in Austria, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland, as well as in Germany. SFG is a provider of technical and repair services for white, brown and grey goods, including both manufacturer and extended warranty cover-age.

Brightstar expands through acquisition of Softbank sub-sidiary

US-based Brightstar has an-nounced it will acquire the com-merce and services division of Japan's SoftBank BB, a distribu-tor of information and commu-nications technology hardware and software products, plus mo-bile accessories. Note that Soft-Bank BB's parent company, SoftBank, itself acquired a 57% stake in Brightstar in late 2013. After the acquisition, expected to be finalised by April 2014, the resulting company will be

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named SoftBank Commerce & Services and will be a subsidiary of Brightstar.

CNA Warranty and EPIC in-troduce new hearing aid pro-tection plans

In the US, CNA Warranty & Alternative Risks, a division of CNA, has formed an agreement with Ear Professionals Interna-tional Corporation (EPIC) to offer hearing device protection plans and inland marine insur-ance policies to hearing aid us-ers. The plans are designed to protect the significant invest-ments made by hearing aid users and will offer benefits including protection against mechanical failure, accidental damage and unintended loss.

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TRAVEL INSURANCE

Allianz secures travel insur-ance ties with STA Travel and Virgin Group compa-nies...

In the UK, Allianz Global As-sistance has secured travel insur-ance distribution partnerships with student travel specialist STA Travel plus two Virgin Group companies (namely Vir-gin Holidays and its Florida-specific subsidiary, Travel City Direct).

The agreement with STA

Travel, which operates more than 200 branches across 12 countries, was the result of a global tender. STA Travel spe-cialises in cheap flights, adven-ture tours, gap-year travel and career breaks, having mainly catered for the student market for nearly 35 years. The travel insurance policies offered under this new arrangement will be designed specifically for younger travellers and students.

Separately, the two Virgin Group companies will act as appointed representatives for Allianz Global Assistance, and will be able to sell travel policies directly to customers in person, by phone and online via white-labelled websites.

... and also with UK-based media group

Also in the UK, Allianz Global Assistance has entered into a relationship with media group H Bauer Publishing to provide travel insurance and assistance policies under H Bauer's own insurance brand, Dove Insur-ance Services. Through this

deal, Allianz will be the sole pro-vider of travel policies marketed via Dove Insurance Services to readers of H Bauer’s publica-tions. Globally, H Bauer pub-lishes more than 570 magazines and operates around 50 radio and television stations; its lead-ing UK magazines include 'Take a Break' and 'Bella', which lay claim to a combined readership of more than 3 million adults.

Airtel Money launches travel insurance with MAPFRE As-sistance

In Gabon, MAPFRE Assistance has entered into an agreement with Airtel Money, the financial services arm of telecoms group Bharti Airtel, to promote a travel insurance product. Spe-cifically, travel cover will be made available via the mobile phones of customers of Airtel, including those that lack online connectivity. In this latter case, it will make use of the USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) data transmission system. Across all of the coun-tries in which it is active, Airtel Money has built up a customer base of around 28 million cli-ents.

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HanseMerkur extends part-nership agreement with TVG Touristik...

In Germany, HanseMerkur and

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TVG Touristik, a specialised travel company, have revealed the extension of their distribu-tion partnership for travel insur-ance through to 2018. TVG Touristik – which operates the Reisebüro, Flugbörse and 5vor-Flug travel portals – first en-tered into a partnership with HanseMerkur in 2008 and the companies have agreed to ex-tend the agreement for a further five years.

... and secures new deal for online sales with German-wings

In the same country, German-wings, a subsidiary of the Luf-thansa airline, has entered into a travel insurance partnership agreement with HanseMerkur focused on customers booking flights via its website. The part-nership will start later in 2014 and will run for a minimum pe-riod of three years.

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GENERAL

Junction and Post Office pro-long insurance partnership through to 2019

In the UK, Junction, the part-nerships business of BGL

Group, has unveiled a major new agreement with the Post Office to continue managing motor and household insurance for the brand until 2019. For the first time, the new contract also includes the administration and distribution of commercial vehi-cle insurance.

Junction initially began working with the Post Office in 2004 and states that it has helped drive considerable growth for its part-ner's insurance products. Most recently, it supported the Post Office in the delivery of one of the industry's fastest in-branch, quote-and-buy systems for household insurance, which has reportedly more than doubled sales in the face-to-face channel since launch.

The next phase of the partner-ship will see Junction and the Post Office launching new ini-tiatives and further developing their 'guaranteed-to-beat' mar-keting strategy. In addition, the two businesses will work to-gether to launch a major new branch engagement plan to help maximise direct sales and re-ward loyal Post Office custom-ers.

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Bancassurance

COMMERCIAL INSURANCE

Euler Hermes launches trade credit insurance for HSBC customers in Malaysia and the US

Euler Hermes has revealed that it will become the exclusive sup-plier of trade credit insurance products to HSBC's commercial banking customers in Malaysia. This partnership fits within the global distribution agreement signed by the two parties in 2013. In particular, HSBC cus-tomers trading on ‘open ac-count’ will enjoy favourable ac-cess to the trade credit solutions of Euler Hermes. Policies will be issued by local partner Al-lianz Malaysia, a sister company to Euler Hermes within the Al-lianz group although Euler Her-mes itself will provide reinsur-ance plus credit assessment and monitoring services.

Meanwhile, as a result of the same distribution agreement, Euler Hermes has also formal-ised a partnership to provide direct access to trade credit in-surance for HSBC's commercial banking customers in the US.

In fact, Euler Hermes and

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HSBC have worked as distribu-tion partners for trade credit insurance in Brazil, Mexico and the UAE since 2008. Further-more, in 2013, the partnership was also rolled out in France, Hong Kong, Singapore, Turkey and the UK.

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CREDITOR INSURANCE

MetLife and Citigroup agree to collaborate for creditor in-surance through to 2025

MetLife and Citigroup have an-nounced that they have entered into a ten-year distribution agreement that will allow Met-Life to provide creditor insur-ance products to Citi's borrow-ers in 15 markets through to 2025. This agreement expands upon an existing distribution agreement between MetLife and Citi that will expire in 2015. Building on the existing partner-ship, the new arrangement makes MetLife and its affiliates the underwriter or reinsurer of creditor insurance products

available to Citi's customers in 15 countries (13 on an exclusive basis), namely Australia, Argen-tina, Brazil, Bahrain, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Indo-nesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Spain, Thailand and the UAE.

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LIFE INSURANCE

AIA Group and Citibank en-ter into exclusive pan-Asian bancassurance deal...

AIA Group and Citibank have entered into a 15-year bancas-surance partnership that spans 11 markets across the Asia-Pacific region, specifically Aus-tralia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philip-pines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. This is an exclusive arrangement and will be applied to all retail distri-bution channels, including in-branch, tele-marketing and online activities. The product areas covered under the deal are retail and group life insurance

policies, and AIA will duly gain access to Citibank's corporate clients plus approximately 13 million retail customers and cardholders across these 11 ter-ritories.

... while Prudential and Stan-dard Chartered extend exist-ing partnership

Prudential and Standard Char-tered have announced that they have entered into a new agree-ment expanding the term and geographic scope of an existing pan-Asian bancassurance part-nership. The new 15-year agree-ment, which covers 11 markets and will commence in July 2014, deepens a relationship that was first established in 1998. Under the terms of the new agreement, a wide range of Prudential's life insurance products will be dis-tributed on an exclusive basis through Standard Chartered branches in nine countries – Hong Kong, Singapore, Indone-sia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Phil-ippines, Vietnam, India and Tai-wan – subject to applicable regulations in each country. Moreover, in China and South

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Korea, Standard Chartered will distribute Prudential's life insur-ance products on a preferred basis.

Manulife commences sales of annuities through Japanese bank

In Japan, Manulife has an-nounced that it will commence sales of 'Lifetime Currency', a foreign currency-denominated individual fixed annuity product, through Chiba Bank. The prod-uct enables clients to receive an annuity in the selected foreign currency over the course of their lifetime.

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MOTOR INSURANCE

Credibom introduces motor insurance in partnership with BES Seguros

Credibom, the Portuguese sub-sidiary of Crédit Agricole Con-sumer Finance, has launched a new motor insurance policy for its customers. Specifically, cus-tomers taking out a Credibom loan to buy a car at a dealership can now buy motor insurance at the same time, with a choice of three levels of cover. This policy is backed by its local insurance partner, BES Seguros, itself a joint venture co-owned by Crédit Agricole and Espírito Santo Financial Group.

GENERAL

MetLife acquires equity stakes in Malaysian bancas-surance companies

In Malaysia, MetLife has reached an agreement with AMMB Holdings to seek regula-tory approval of a proposed strategic partnership involving AmLife Insurance (AmLife) and A m F a m i l y T a k a f u l (AmTakaful). Upon receipt of regulatory approvals and satis-faction of certain other condi-tions, the proposed transaction will result in MetLife owning an equity stake of 50% plus one share in AmLife with the re-maining shares to be owned by AMMB, and AMMB owning an equity stake of 50% plus one share in AmTakaful with the remaining shares to be held by MetLife.

In addition, the proposed trans-action will result in AmLife and

AmTakaful entering into exclu-sive 20-year bancassurance and 'bancatakaful' agreements for the distribution of life insurance and family takaful products through the distribution net-work of AMMB’s banking sub-sidiaries, AmBank and AmIs-lamic Bank in Malaysia. The to-tal consideration for the pro-posed transaction payable by MetLife upon completion is RM 812 million (equivalent to around USD 249 million), sub-ject to customary adjustments.

AMMB is the holding company of the fifth-largest banking group in Malaysia by market capitalisation (AmBank Group) with MYR 129 billion of assets, 187 branches, and over 4 million retail customers. AmLife is an established life insurance busi-ness that has been operating since 1973 and that distributes protection, savings and invest-ment-linked products through agency, bank and group chan-

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nels. Meanwhile, AmTakaful started operations in January 2012 and distributes Shariah-compliant products.

Spanish bancassurance joint venture introduces first non-life insurance policies

In Spain, Bankinter Seguros Generales, a joint venture un-de rwr i t e r co -owned by Bankinter and MAPFRE, has introduced its first products in the areas of commercial and fu-neral expenses insurance. These will be followed by further new product launches, mainly in the field of health insurance. Note that Bankinter and MAPFRE have co-operated since 2007 in the area of life insurance by means of a separate joint ven-ture underwriter, Bankinter Seguros de Vida.

MAPFRE consolidates Span-ish bancassurance partner-ship with Bankia

Also in Spain, MAPFRE has entered into an agreement to become the exclusive bancassur-ance partner of banking group Bankia for both life and non-life insurance products. Simultane-ously, it has acquired for EUR 151.7 million the 51% equity stakes held by Bankia in Aseval and Laietana Vida, plus a 100% holding in Laietana Seguros. These are three 'legacy' bancas-surance underwriters that be-came part of Bankia following

its creation through the merger of a number of different re-gional banks.

AXA and BNP Paribas agree to terminate their sharehold-ers’ agreement

AXA and BNP Paribas have announced a mutual decision to terminate an agreement con-cluded in 2010 concerning re-ciprocal shareholdings. In force for an initial period of three years, this agreement was renew-able automatically for successive periods of one year. As at April 2014, the residual reciprocal shareholdings of AXA and BNP Paribas were lower than 0.1% of the equity capital of each. Nev-ertheless, AXA and BNP Paribas have reaffirmed their intent to maintain their relation-ship otherwise.

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Affinity Banking News

AFFINITY BANKING

NatWest and RBS extend banking services available at Post Office outlets

In the UK, NatWest and RBS have disclosed that they are ex-tending the services that per-sonal and business customers can use through around 11,500 branches of the Post Office to include paying in of cash and cheques from later in 2014. This

means that customers of the two brands will have access to 22,500 locations across the UK where they can carry out every-day banking as well as being able to bank online or by phone. Ac-cording to research, 90% of the UK population lives within one mile of a Post Office outlet while 99% live within three miles of one.

BNP Paribas ties with Paris Bar for affinity banking deal for young lawyers

In France, BNP Paribas and the Barreau de Paris (the Paris Bar) have signed a partnership agree-ment to help young lawyers to establish themselves more easily through the provision of prefer-ential conditions and rates asso-ciated with banking products. In particular, the bank has created a special package for lawyers registered with the Paris Bar and who are setting up on their own for the first time, with finance of up to EUR 25,000 being made available without requiring any collateral, consisting of a line of credit of up to EUR 20,000 and / or a property lease of up to EUR 5,000. The branch of BNP Paribas serving the law courts employs 11 staff dedicated to serving barristers.

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AUTOMOTIVE FINANCE

Volkswagen Financial Ser-vices acquires MAN Finance International...

Volkswagen Financial Services has announced the acquisition of Munich-based MAN Finance International. This purchase en-ables Europe’s largest automo-tive financial services provider to expand its business to include financing, leasing and rental ac-tivities for MAN Truck & Bus, and it has stated that truck and bus activities will become a core business in future at Volks-wagen Financial Services. The services of MAN Finance Inter-national range from leasing and hire purchase through to credit solutions for the trucks and buses of MAN Truck & Bus. As of June 2013, the company had 515 employees and total assets of EUR 3.4 billion.

... and launches a joint ven-ture with WesBank in South Africa

Meanwhile, Volkswagen Finan-cial Services has launched a new automotive finance joint venture in South Africa with WesBank, a subsidiary of the FirstRand group. Known as Volkswagen Financial Services South Africa, the Germany-based automotive captive owns 51% of the equity of the new company while Fir-stRand holds the remaining 49% through WesBank, which is a

specialised operator in the vehi-cle and asset finance business. Prior to the creation of the joint venture, WesBank had already been the finance partner for VW group in South Africa; thus, the new arrangement is an extension of that existing relationship.

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CO-BRANDED CARDS

MasterCard introduces vir-tual / traditional prepaid card with Orange in Spain

In Spain, Orange and Master-Card have unveiled the launch of 'Orange Cash', a co-branded prepaid card that is recharge-able, and that can be used within smartphones or as a traditional payment card. Specifically, card-holders can make secure online payments, can send money to the mobile phones of other Or-ange Cash users for free and, using the traditional prepaid card with contactless functional-ity, can pay any merchant or withdraw cash at MasterCard ATMs worldwide. Use of 'Orange Cash' does not require a bank account, and the product works with all phone numbers of every Spanish carrier with a mobile app that is compatible with mobile phones on both Android and Apple iOS operat-ing systems.

CIBC and Tim Hortons un-veil new co-branded loyalty rewards card

In Canada, CIBC and food ser-vice chain Tim Hortons have announced plans to launch a co-branded loyalty rewards Visa credit card. The new card is scheduled to be made available from May 2014 and will allow cardholders to accumulate 'Tim Cash' rewards for all purchases made on it. Cardholders will earn 1% 'Tim Cash' on all pur-chases made using the card, with that rewards 'currency' then re-deemable instantly, using the same card, at participating Tim Hortons locations to purchase coffee, baked goods or any other products. Tim Hortons runs more than 3,500 food ser-vice outlets in Canada, plus a smaller number within the US and the Middle East.

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CONSUMER FINANCE

Compass expands distribu-tion network through MPS consumer finance deal

In Italy, banking group Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) and Compass, a consumer credit company owned by Medio-banca, have signed an agreement for the distribution of the lat-ter's consumer finance products through over 2,300 branches of the bank. The deal is in line with

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the banking group's business plan for the period from 2013 to 2017 and aims to expand its range of lending products, also available from Consum.it, its own consumer finance subsidi-ary. Meanwhile, Compass bene-fits from a substantial increase in its distribution network to around 7,500 bank branches that belong to a combined total of more than 50 Italian banks.

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MOBILE / ONLINE PAY-MENTS

MasterCard ties with Moni-tise to accelerate mobile pay-ment solutions worldwide...

In a variety of territories around the world, MasterCard has en-tered into a number of new agreements focused on mobile payments.

First, it has announced its inten-tion to enter into a commercial agreement with Monitise to ac-celerate the development and deployment of mobile wallets and digital payment solutions by financial institutions worldwide. Simultaneously, MasterCard also intends to make a minority in-vestment in Monitise. Monitise provides solutions that are de-signed to help consumers bank anywhere, pay anyone and buy anything through mobile appli-cations. It is hoped that the combination of MasterCard and

the complementary expertise of Monitise in developing mobile platforms for commerce and banking will result in additional innovative and secure solutions.

... and creates HomeSend joint venture with eServ-Global and BICS...

Secondly, MasterCard has re-vea led the creat ion of HomeSend, a joint venture co-owned by eServGlobal (a mobile money solutions provider) and BICS (a telecoms services com-pany), which will enable con-sumers to send money to and from mobile money accounts, payment cards, bank accounts or cash outlets regardless of their location or that of the re-cipient. In particular, the joint venture will leverage the current HomeSend platform, a remit-tance hub based on eServGlobal technology and developed as part of a strategic partnership between eServGlobal and BICS. This platform was the first to market in offering international mobile remittances and cur-rently has live deployments in 50 countries plus commercial contracts with mobile network operators (MNOs) and money transfer operators (MTOs) that represent more than 1.2 billion subscribers – the equivalent of one in seven of the world’s population – and 200,000 cash agents.

By connecting MNOs and

MTOs worldwide to over 24,000 financial institutions on the MasterCard network, it is intended that the joint venture will provide consumers with new options and flexibility for sending or receiving funds and will enable cross-border remit-tance payments worldwide. In particular, for individuals in de-veloping markets, the receipt of funds from friends and family is an important lifeline and, based on World Bank estimates, remit-tances to developing countries will reach a value of around USD 515 billion by 2015.

... with these initiatives sup-plemented by others in Ger-many, Lebanon and the UK

Thirdly, in Germany, Master-Card has disclosed that it will collaborate with Deutsche Tele-kom, Telefónica Deutschland, Vodafone and TREVICA (a European payment processing company owned by MasterCard itself) to create a new mobile platform and to accelerate the development of mobile pay-ments in the country. The three mobile operators account for around 80% of mobile subscrib-ers in Germany, which means that the agreement will allow banks and financial institutions to accelerate hugely their ability to provide mass-market mobile payment services to consumers. Instead of connecting to indi-vidual mobile operators, issuing banks can now connect to TRE-

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VICA and gain access to a num-ber of mobile operators with one single integration to the TREVICA platform.

Fourthly, in Lebanon, Master-Card has partnered with Bank Audi plus mobile operators Alfa and Touch to introduce a new cashless mobile payment solu-tion ('Tap2Pay') that allows con-sumers to make everyday pay-ments safely, quickly and easily by means of near field commu-nication (NFC) technology. In addition to providing value-added benefits to cardholders, the contactless payment solution – which will be available later in 2014 – will also enable mer-chants to operate more effi-ciently, will reduce the risks as-sociated with cash handling, and will allow them to differentiate themselves from competitors. There are 2,100 contactless ter-minals across Lebanon that have the capacity to accept NFC pay-ments available at a wide range of locations including supermar-kets, retail stores, gas stations, restaurants, theatres and tourist attractions. As Bank Audi in-creases investment to roll out new terminals, this number is set to increase to 3,000 by the end of 2014.

Finally, in the UK, MasterCard is partnering with Weve, a joint venture of the UK’s three larg-est mobile operators, to acceler-ate the development of what the partners report as being the

UK’s most comprehensive con-tactless mobile payments sys-tem. In particular, it is intended that the partnership will provide consumers with a fast, safe and convenient way to pay via their mobile phones at point of pur-chase by simply tapping their mobile phone to make a pay-ment. Under the terms of their agreement, MasterCard will pro-vide technology and integration services to banks and financial institutions wishing to take ad-vantage of Weve’s payments platform, accelerating their abil-ity to offer customers mobile payments. It is hoped that the arrangement of Weve with MasterCard will create the most ubiquitous platform for contact-less mobile payments in the UK.

Visa Europe rolls out mobile contactless payments with Orange in two French cities...

In France, Visa Europe and Or-ange have undertaken the com-mercial launch of 'Orange Cash' in Caen and Strasbourg, two of the cities with the highest use of contactless payments in France. By means of the launch, Orange becomes the first mobile net-work operator in France to offer mobile contactless payments to its customers.

Specifically, the 'Orange Cash' application acts as a ‘mobile purse’, taking the form of a Visa prepaid card linked to a phone. In order to take full advantage

of the Visa contactless payment solution, Orange customers who have an NFC smartphone com-patible with 'Orange Cash' will have to go into an Orange store. Once the app has been downloaded, it is then straight-forward for users to activate the service, regardless of their bank.

The 'Orange Cash' application is based on a prepaid account that customers can top up via any debit or credit bank card. Once the app has been topped up, customers can use the smart-phone like any other wallet, in any retail outlet that accepts Visa contactless payments worldwide. To make a payment, users simply place their mobile phone on a payment terminal that accepts contactless pay-ments with a passcode chosen by the user required for any pay-ment over the contactless limit.

... and collaborates with Caix-a b a n k p l u s O r a n g e , Telefόnica and Vodafone in Spain

Meanwhile, in Spain, Visa Europe is co-operating with CaixaBank plus mobile network operators Orange, Telefόnica and Vodafone, to launch what they claim to be Europe’s largest commercial mobile contactless payments service. In particular, since February 2014, CaixaBank customers have been able to make contactless payments quickly and safely using their

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contactless-enabled smart-phones. The partnership with the three mobile operators en-ables the card details of custom-ers who register for the Caixa-Bank mobile payments service to be encrypted and securely stored on a contactless-enabled SIM card. These customers are then able to use the CaixaBank mobile banking application to easily manage their money and make contactless payments globally anywhere that they see the Visa contactless symbol.

With the combined customer base of Orange, Telefόnica and Vodafone accounting for more than 80% of the Spanish market, the service will be available to an extensive number of consumers from the outset.

Visa Europe ties up new part-nerships with 15 IPSPs for V.me by Visa service

Visa Europe has also announced new partnerships with 15 inter-net payment service providers (IPSPs), thereby endowing its V.me by Visa digital wallet ser-vice with access to their exten-sive e-commerce merchant port-folios, and supporting the con-tinued growth and availability of the multi-market wallet service. The agreements increase sub-stantially the reach of V.me by Visa and, as a result, Visa ex-pects that many more retailers will have access to V.me and be capable of processing transac-

tions by the end of 2014. Spe-cifically, and in alphabetical or-der, its new IPSP partners in E u r o p e a r e : B e 2 B i l l (Rentabiliweb); Capita Software Services; CreditCall; Dotpay; eCard; First Data; FIS; Paybox (Point VeriFone); Payline (by Monext); Payzen (by Lyra Net-work); Pensio; Sage Pay; The Logic Group; Verifone; and Worldline (an Atos subsidiary in e-payment services).

Alpha Bank links with First Data, Visa Europe and Voda-fone for contactless payment pilot

In Greece, Alpha Bank and Vo-dafone, in partnership with Visa Europe and First Data, have introduced 'Tap ΄n Pay' as the country's first mobile phone ap-plication for contactless pay-ments. This mobile wallet app uses near field communication (NFC) technology for fast and secure transactions. Contactless transactions for purchases below EUR 25 are possible in shops where contactless card accep-tance terminals are in use by debiting bank accounts linked to the card. However, for pur-chases over EUR 25, a passcode is required. Initially, the service is being trialled on a pilot basis for users of selected Samsung Galaxy handsets.

Western Union links with Paga for Nigerian mobile money transfer service

In Nigeria, Western Union has unveiled the launch of a new mobile money transfer service in co-operation with Paga, a mo-bile payment platform with more than 1.2 million users. Paga users now have the option of receiving Western Union transfers directly to their Paga account and can then withdraw the money by sending it to a bank account, withdrawing it from an ATM or receiving it through Paga’s network of over 4,000 agents across the country. They can also choose to pick up their funds at participating Western Union locations in Ni-geria.

Bradesco and Claro roll out 'My Money' as mobile pay-ment account

In Brazil, banking group Bradesco and mobile network operator Claro have begun mar-keting 'My Money', a prepaid co-branded payment product, on a nationwide basis. Specifically, 'My Money' is a payment ac-count that permits prepaid transactions in affiliated shops, transfers between customers, withdrawals and direct reloading through mobile phones, and it can be used at over 47,000 loca-tions across Brazil. The launch follows the completion of a pi-lot period that began in October

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2013.

Toyota Financial Services signs up to Barclays' Pingit for mobile payments

In the UK, Toyota Financial Services, the financial services arm of automotive manufacturer Toyota, has begun offering cus-tomers the option to make addi-tional payments on car finance plans by simply using their mo-bile phone. Specifically, Toyota Financial Services has signed up to Pingit, which will enable its customers to make quick, easy and secure additional and final payments on their plans by us-ing a smartphone or tablet. The app is free to download and can be used by anyone who has a UK mobile number and a UK bank account.

Sky chooses Wirecard to process payments for new online media initiative

In Austria and Germany, Wire-card has announced that it has begun processing cashless pay-ments for Snap, the new online media library of satellite broad-caster Sky. The video-on-demand platform has been avail-able in the two countries since mid-December 2013. Wirecard will allow customers to make payments for media subscrip-tions as well as one-off rental payments using stored, en-crypted payment information linked to their Sky account.

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PAYMENT CARD ACCEP-TANCE AND ISSUANCE

Ecobank customers across 28 African countries gain access to MasterCard products

With a focus on up to 28 sub-Saharan countries in Africa, MasterCard and the Ecobank Group have unveiled a multi-country licensing agreement which will provide the bank's customers with access to MasterCard’s electronic pay-ments solutions. The agreement is the culmination of a memo-randum of understanding origi-nally signed in November 2011 and, importantly, facilitates po-tential electronic payments ac-cess to more than 60% of Af-rica’s population.

In particular, Ecobank subsidi-aries in 28 countries across sub-Saharan Africa are now licensed to issue and accept electronic payments through MasterCard prepaid, debit and credit cards. With this partnership, Eco-bank’s customers in this fast-growing region will have access to MasterCard’s credit, debit and prepaid card products, whilst MasterCard will leverage Ecobank’s strong pan-African footprint to provide its elec-tronic payments solutions to a wider customer base.

Under the terms of the memo-

randum of understanding, MasterCard partnered with Eco-bank to explore joint business development opportunities across the African continent where Ecobank has a presence. In addition, the banking group became an issuer and acquirer of MasterCard products in more than 1,200 branches across Af-rica, giving its customers access to over 35.9 million acceptance points – including 2.1 million ATMs – in over 210 countries and territories worldwide where MasterCard cards are accepted.

JCB expands presence in south-east Asian countries...

Japan-based payment services company JCB has unveiled a trio of deals that aim to expand its footprint in south-east Asia. In Cambodia, it has forged an agreement with ACLEDA Bank which will see the bank add JCB to the list of cards accepted by its merchant clients, meaning that JCB cards will be accepted at over 650 locations through-out the country. In Laos, JCB and Phongsavanh Bank (PSVB), the largest domestic private commercial bank, have an-nounced the launch of the first ever JCB credit card in the country. Finally, in Myanmar, JCB has secured a deal with the Myanmar Payment Union, the country's national payment net-work, meaning that its cards have been accepted at over 2,000 affiliated merchants from

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the beginning of 2014.

... with UnionPay following suit in the same region plus Africa and the Middle East

Likewise, UnionPay, the domi-nant payment services provider in China, has also established several new agreements in emerging markets.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it has combined with Rawbank to announce a raft of new measures including the ac-ceptance of UnionPay cards at all Rawbank ATMs and the ex-pansion of UnionPay accep-tance through Rawbank POS terminals, as well as an agree-ment to issue the first ever Un-ionPay RMB card in the coun-try. As the largest commercial bank in the Democratic Repub-lic of the Congo, Rawbank's lo-cal ATMs and merchant net-work hold a share of around 30% of their respective markets. Meanwhile, in Kuwait, Union-Pay has signed a memorandum of understanding with Kuwaiti bank card switching network KNET, aimed at expanding its card business in the country to the network's ATMs and POS terminals.

In Laos, UnionPay and com-mercial bank BCEL have agreed to upgrade UnionPay cards is-sued in the country in future to cards with a security micro-chip, as well as to upgrade the ATMs

and POS terminals operated by the bank so that they accept these new UnionPay chip cards. Finally, in Myanmar, UnionPay has created a card-issuing part-nership with CB Bank, a co-operative bank. The new Union-Pay cards will be accepted by all POS terminals operated by the bank which should help Union-Pay to reach an acceptance rate of over 90% among merchants in the country. The two parties have also made plans to start issuing UnionPay debit and in-ternational prepaid cards over the course of 2014.

Société Générale signs agree-ment with Discover Financial Services

In France, Société Générale has agreed to add cards linked to the Diners Club and Discover net-works to those accepted by its merchants from early 2014, as part of its strategy to support these merchant customers when dealing with foreign tourists. This strategy began with an agreement between the bank and UnionPay in June 2013 that was focused on Chinese tourists. Discover Financial Services (the owner of Diners Club Interna-tional) aims to build an exten-sive network of merchants ac-cepting its cards for customers living or travelling abroad, and France is an important market for it as one of the world's lead-ing tourist destinations.

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RETAILER CARDS

Citibank rolls out co-branded retailer card with Czech online shopping mall

In the Czech Republic, Citibank has unveiled a new credit card in co-operation with MALL.CZ, one of the largest online shop-ping galleries in the country, thus expanding its credit card portfolio. One of the principal benefits of the new Citi MALL.CZ contactless credit card is the convenience of ap-plying for the card online through the MALL.CZ website. In addition, cardholders may spread out their purchases on MALL.CZ in instalments with-out incurring surcharges as well as gaining 2% of the value of the purchase for every transac-tion with the card up to a total of CZK 1,000 per month. Moreover, as is the case is with all customers with credit cards issued by Citibank in the Czech Republic, those with the Citi MALL.CZ contactless credit card can also benefit from dis-counts of up to 25% with the more than 400 partners of the Citi Club program across the country.

GE Capital Retail Bank ex-tends credit card program with furniture chain...

In the US (and Puerto Rico),

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Republic, those with the Citi MALL.CZ contactless credit card can also benefit from dis-counts of up to 25% with the more than 400 partners of the Citi Club program across the country.

GE Capital Retail Bank ex-tends credit card program with furniture chain...

In the US (and Puerto Rico), GE Capital Retail Bank has an-nounced that it has extended its agreement with the Ashley Fur-niture HomeStore chain to con-tinue providing consumer fi-nancing through more than 480 stores that are independently owned and operated. As part of the multi-year agreement, GE Capital’s retail finance business will carry on managing the Ash-ley Furniture HomeStore con-sumer credit card program, which was first introduced in 2011. This program provides special financing with conven-ient monthly payments to ap-proved cardholders, as well as exclusive discounts and online account management.

... and prepares for IPO and re-branding as Synchrony Fi-nancial

Moreover, GE has also dis-closed that it has filed a registra-tion statement with the Securi-ties and Exchange Commission for the initial public offering (IPO) of its North American

retail finance business, which includes GE Capital Retail Bank. Expected to take place later in 2014, this IPO is the first step in a planned staged exit from that business. After completion of the IPO, the business will operate under its new name, Synchrony Financial. GE is planning to complete its exit from the retail finance busi-ness through a 'split-off' transac-tion in 2015 although it may also decide to exit by selling or otherwise distributing or dispos-ing of all or a portion of its re-maining interest in the business.

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GENERAL

American Express and Uni-versal Studios expand mar-keting relationship

American Express and Univer-sal Studios have announced an expanded multi-year agreement that brings the latter's theme parks and filmed entertainment together with the brand of American Express with the aim of creating exclusive consumer benefits and experiences. The agreement also enables Ameri-can Express, for the first time, to acquire new card members directly through Universal theme parks and web sites. While the two partners have worked together since 2008, they hope that the expanded partnership presents new and

innovative marketing opportuni-ties for both companies.

In particular, it will now include marketing opportunities that leverage Universal Pictures’ re-tail partners, consumer licensing and digital media platforms on a global basis. At the same time, American Express has the first opportunity among payment services providers to participate in product placement and co-promotion on Universal Pic-tures’ films. In addition, the partners will also work together to offer Universal’s assets, in-cluding special holiday and sea-sonal theme park events, film premieres and VIP screenings of selected Universal films, to eligi-ble American Express card members and prospects world-

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ACLEDA Bank, 18 ADAC, 6 Ageas, 7 AIA Group, 6, 11 AIG, 4 Airtel Money, 9 Alfa, 5, 16 Alfa Romeo, 5 Allianz, 7, 9, 10 Allianz Global Assistance, 7, 9 Alpha Bank, 17 AmBank Group, 12 American Express, 20 AMMB Holdings, 12 Apple, 4, 14 Ashley Furniture HomeStore, 20 Assurant, 4 Atos, 17 AXA, 13 Bank Audi, 16 Bankia, 13 Bankinter, 13 Barclays, 18 BCEL, 19 Be2Bill, 17 Beazley, 5 BES Seguros, 12 Bharti Airtel, 9 BICS, 15 BMG Insurance Brokers, 7 BNP Paribas, 13 Bradesco, 17 Brightstar, 8, 9 British Insurance Brokers' Association, 5 Caixabank, 16 CaixaBank, 16 Capita Software Services, 17 CarGarantie, 7 Chiba Bank, 12 Chrysler, 5 CIBC, 14 Cigna, 5 Citibank, 11, 19 Citigroup, 11 Claro, 17 CNA Warranty, 9 Compass, 14 Credibom, 12 Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance, 12 CreditCall, 17 Daimler, 7 Deutsche Telekom, 15

Direct Line, 7 Discover Financial Services, 19 Discovery, 6 DKV, 5, 6 Dodge, 5 Dotpay, 17 Dove Insurance Services, 9 eCard, 17 Ecobank, 18 EPIC, 9 ERGO, 5 eServGlobal, 15 Espírito Santo Financial Group, 12 Euler Hermes, 10 Fédération Française de BasketBall, 4 Fiat, 5 First Data, 17 FIS, 17 Florida Public Utilities, 4 GE Capital Retail Bank, 19, 20 Germanwings, 10 H Bauer Publishing, 9 HanseMerkur, 9, 10 HDI, 5, 6 HomeSend, 15 HomeServe, 4, 5, 8 Honda Insurance Services, 7 HSBC, 10, 11 Iké Asistencia, 4 Jaguar Land Rover, 7, 8 JCB, 18 Jeep, 5 Junction, 10 Lancia, 5 MALL.CZ, 19 MAN Finance International, 14 Manulife, 12 MAPFRE, 8, 9, 13 MAPFRE Assistance, 9 MAPFRE WARRANTY, 8 MasterCard, 14, 15, 16, 18 Mediobanca, 14 Mercedes-Benz, 7 MetLife, 11, 12 Micro Center, 8 Monext, 17 Monitise, 15 Monte dei Paschi di Siena, 14 NatWest, 13 Orange, 14, 16, 17 Paga, 17 Paris Bar, 13

Paybox, 17 Payline, 17 Payzen, 17 Pensio, 17 Post Office, 10, 13 Prudential, 11, 12 Rawbank, 19 RBS, 13 Real Garant, 7 Renault, 8 Safe-Guard Products, 8 Sage Pay, 17 Sky, 18 Société Française de Garantie, 8 Société Générale, 19 Softbank, 8 Solid Försäkringar, 5 STA Travel, 9 Standard Chartered, 11 Sterling, 7 Synchrony Financial, 20 Talanx, 5 Telefónica Deutschland, 15 Telefόnica, 16, 17 The Logic Group, 17 The Warranty Group, 8 Tickets.com, 7 Tim Hortons, 14 Touch, 16 Toyota Financial Services, 18 TREVICA, 15, 16 TTK Group, 5 TVG Touristik, 9, 10 TVS Automobile Solutions, 8 UnionPay, 19 Universal Pictures, 20 Universal Studios, 20 Vauxhall, 7 Verifone, 17 Virgin Group, 9 Virginia Surety Company, 8 Visa, 14, 16, 17 Visa Europe, 16, 17 Vodafone, 15, 16, 17 Volkswagen Financial Services, 14 Wertgarantie, 8 WesBank, 14 Western Union, 17 Weve, 16 Wirecard, 18 Worldline, 17 Zurich, 6, 7

Organisations in this issue

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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

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.

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., 2014 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: info@finaccord.com 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-

sis@finaccord.com 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:

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