Serverside Group: A Virtual Solution to a Very Real Problem for Card Issuers - Monetizing the Niche

The card marketing landscape is changing irreversibly. The demand
for self-expression that is integral to Web 2.0 has meant that
targeting a mass audience with mass-produced designs is no longer
relevant. As with many other sectors, the future of issuers lies in
addressing the long tail of special interest subgroups -- and their
increasingly creative demands.

But how do issuers engage with small, high value subgroups with
the scale they require, and without the prohibitive inventory issues
that have plagued them to date? How do they move away from the fierce
competition at the generic end of the cards spectrum and monetize the
lucrative long tail of affinity groups, which cannot be profitably
addressed through conventional channels?

The solution is Virtual Portfolio, a revolutionary and highly
disruptive web-based management tool created by global technology
provider, Serverside Group
(www.ssgl.com/products/virtual_portfolio.html). Virtual Portfolio
allows issuers to offer an infinite variety of stock (and personally
designed) cards to an unlimited number of affinity groups free from
restrictive inventory issues, e.g. forecasting how many cards are
required, dealing with the problems of over- and under-printing, and
storage costs.

Via a simple online interface, an issuer's marketing team can now
rapidly launch card programs targeting any number of affinity
partners, subgroups, co-brands, individual branches and even specific
events, e.g. a football match. Utilizing the latest inline digital
printing technology supplied by Datacard Group, they can then print
high quality cards 'on demand'.

The result is a high volume, low cost and zero inventory card
delivery system in which card printing has shifted from the point of
manufacture to the point of personalization. Through Virtual
Portfolio, all stakeholders in the card creation and management
process can create, collaborate, review, approve and market cards
through a single online system.

There are other risk controls, too. Serverside's technology allows
issuers to assess response rates in real time and tweak or change
their campaigns accordingly, e.g. prioritizing successful cards and
removing unsuccessful ones. Knowledge management has never been
easier.

Until now, launching a new card design was a major undertaking. No
more. With Virtual Portfolio, the speed to market for new card
products targeting subgroups and niche communities is massively
increased, and they can be launched and managed at little, if any,
cost. The system is fully compatible with offline card applications
and requires no sensitive information to be disclosed. Virtual
Portfolio is protected under a series of patent applications around
the world.

Adam Elgar, President, Serverside Group, commented:

"With Virtual Portfolio, issuers no longer need to worry about
issues of scale and inventory when addressing subgroups. Now, they can
rapidly create card programs for any sized affinity group, manage and
adjust those programs in real time, and print cards on a
'just-in-time' basis. Personalization and the fragmentation of demand
go hand in hand with Web 2.0, and Virtual Portfolio is the solution.
As well as allowing issuers to build a much stronger relationship with
their customers, offering card programs tailored to specific subgroups
also results in greater activation, increased transactions and larger
balances."

About Serverside

Founded in 2003, Serverside Group is the global technology leader
in digital card design and a provider of innovative software solutions
for issuers, personalization bureaus and card manufacturers. The
company's flagship product, AllAboutMe, is a web-based application
that allows cardholders to design their unique payment card online.
Serverside's innovation and growth were confirmed recently when it was
named 'One of the Top Ten Technology Companies to Watch' by respected
industry magazine, Bank Technology News.

Serverside Group is headquartered in London and has offices in
Taipei, New York, Chicago and Auckland, New Zealand. The company has
strategic alliances with Visa and Datacard Group. For more information
and to see a live card demonstration, visit www.serversidegroup.com.