Product design in UK Plastic Cards - What can be learnt from Abroad?

STANDARD DESCRIPTION:

Introduction
Part of the UK Plastic Cards 2008 series, this brief provides insight into some of the most innovative value propositions from card issuers around the world and examines how such products could be adapted by issuers in the UK. The brief examines products that encourage good account management, as well as customer segmentation and products that link payment cards to mortgages.

Scope
The brief looks at products in the US, Europe and the Middle East. Includes a detailed discussion on payment card account management, a particularly topical subject. Contains several examples of how issuers have used their cards to cross sell other financial products. Examines customisable credit cards from overseas markets, discussing how suitable such products would be in the UK.

Highlights
Issuers in the US and Asia pacific regions have created products that reward good account management. This has been achieved by designing reward programs around timely repayments in addition to transactional loyalty. In North America, several issuers have card loyalty schemes that help cardholders to pay off their mortgages by using cashback from transactions to make overpayments. While the long term benefits can be very valuable to the cardholder, there are several potential obstacles to overcome in order for an issuer to set up such a program. Card individualization has been taken to new levels by issuers in the US. Cardholders can customize the trade-off between rewards earned, interest rates charged and interest free periods to create their ideal card. However, there are pitfalls for such models, which could explain the withdrawal of the Accucard product from the UK market in 2006.

Reasons to Purchase
Find out what issuers are doing in other markets to attract and retain cardholders. Understand innovative product designs across the areas of account management, loyalty, and customer segmentation. Discover how innovations in other markets could be applied in the UK.

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