Key industry magazine, Bank Technology News, has
confirmed the growing demand for card personalization in the banking
sector by naming Serverside Group as one of its 'Top 10 Technology
Companies to Watch'. This is the fifth year running that BTN has
selected 10 key tech companies to keep an eye on going forward, and
London-based Serverside - a company specializing in digital payment
card design - is excited to be one of them. The article can be seen in
full at www.banktechnews.com.
Serverside's inclusion in the BTN Top 10 reflects how an
ever-increasing number of card issuers globally are embracing online
card personalization technology. With more and more people banking on
the internet, and the general move towards personalization - think
Myspace.com and mobile phone ringtones - allowing people to design
their own cards online is a logical next step, and one that is fast
becoming a customer expectation.
With its phenomenal viral marketing potential, such as 'send to a
friend' email functionalities and customer design competitions, card
personalization is also a great platform for banks to engage and
acquire new customers at low cost. Viral acquisition channels are
certainly proving attractive given the paltry returns being generated
by direct mail. Earlier this year, one Serverside client generated an
exceptional 120,000 responses from 10,000 emails, a figure that is
turning traditional marketing techniques on their head.
Another bonus, for the banks, is that front of card customization
leads to front-of-wallet utilization. Very simply, people will use a
payment card more if it has got a picture of a pet, friend or family
member on it. This is confirmed by Stephen Eulie, Credit Card
Marketing Director, First National Bank of Omaha, another Serverside
client: "We know that people who have personalized cards use them more
often than other cards in their wallet."
London-based Serverside Group, which has a strategic alliance with
Visa, is the global leader in digital card design. Currently, 26
financial institutions globally have taken advantage of Serverside's
technology, including Abbey, ING, Advanta, First National Bank of
Omaha and KBC. Many more clients will be announced in the months
ahead.
Adam Elgar, President, Serverside Group, commented:
"We're very pleased to have been recognized as a company at the
forefront of one of the major trends in banking technology; it
underscores the demand we're seeing from issuers and cardholders alike
for increased choice and personalization in their products. We believe
our technologies, with the excellent new digital print technologies
available from our partners, will continue to shape the next
generation of card marketing and drive great returns to our
customers."
Niki Manby, Senior Vice President, Visa USA, added:
"Serverside's unique solution helps create an emotional connection
between cardholders and their payment cards, encouraging
front-of-wallet placement for Visa products. We are excited about our
alliance with Serverside. The flexibility to customize any of our card
products drives tremendous value to Visa issuers and consumers."
About Serverside Group Limited
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 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,
visit www.serversidegroup.com.
