Belgian Bank KBC has revealed that 120,000 of its banking
customers uploaded a favorite picture onto their payment cards in the
four months after it began offering the service. This means that a
phenomenal 1.2% of Belgium's entire population - estimated at 10.3
million - are carrying an individually designed KBC card in their
wallets.
An exceptional 20% of this figure is made up of new cards and 80%
replacements of existing cards. The age span for those choosing to
personalize their cards, KBC has revealed, runs from 10 years old for
the youngest to 94 for the oldest.
To date, KBC has not charged a fee but has recently begun testing
a EUR 10 charge.
In promoting the initiative, KBC abandoned the traditional direct
mail channel altogether. Instead, the bulk of its marketing was
carried out online via:
-- An email campaign
-- A card design competition giving away digital cameras and
holidays
-- A link from the online banking application
Acquiring just under 24,000 new cards and 7,600 entirely new
banking customers in four months reflects not just the huge demand for
customized cards but the power of online marketing, which can trigger
invaluable viral effects. With the Web 2.0 generation growing
exponentially, online marketing is vital if card issuers are to retain
a competitive advantage over their peers. Learning to monetize online
communities is a must.
The impressive take-up stands in stark contrast to the diminishing
response rates generated by traditional direct mail. In 2006,
according to one independent source, average direct mail response
rates in the US fell to 0.2%.
KBC's design competition, which gave away three eight-day trips to
Kenya and 14 digital cameras, was a perfect example of online
marketing going viral. To increase their chance of winning a trip to
Kenya, applicants were encouraged to get friends and family to go
online and vote for their card design.
Technology provider Serverside is seeing significant interest in
its online card customization technology from card issuing companies
globally. To date, 33 major issuers worldwide have started to offer
personal plastic through Serverside, including ING, ANZ, BMW, KBC,
Advanta, Fortis, First National Bank of Omaha, Heritage Building
Society and Abbey. Many more will be announced in the months ahead.
Visit www.serversidegroup.com to see a list of customer
implementations and the latest online card marketing products from
Serverside.
An Deventer, Product Manager, Cards, KBC, said:
"Since day one, our personal banking cards have been a huge
success. They're going down very well with our customers, and the
number taken out has already exceeded our expectations. Furthermore,
Serverside also provides a highly professional level of support."
Adam Elgar, Serverside President, added:
"The KBC figures - only four months in - reflect the massive
consumer demand for customized cards. Even more, though, they
underscore the importance of embracing the internet and other
alternative channels in card marketing today.
"If KBC had used direct mail and the current average US credit
card response rate applied, they would have needed to send five
separate letters to every man, woman and child in Belgium to get
120,000 respondents. Not a great plan.
"KBC should be very proud of what they've achieved and the way
they have embraced the efficiencies of the internet to reach their
goals."
- Ends -
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 Bank
Technology News.
Serverside Group is headquartered in London and has offices in New
York, Chicago and Auckland, New Zealand. The company has strategic
alliances with Visa, Datacard and Getty Images. For more information
and to see a live card demonstration, visit www.serversidegroup.com.
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