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 partnership 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 addition, it concentrates exclusively on affinity and partnership marketing strategy. Affinity and partnership marketing strategy is an important component of general distribution strategy for a majority of large banks and insurance companies serving consumers and small businesses as successful partnerships 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.

1. AFFINITY INSURANCE
WINTER 2012
BANCASSURANCE
Global Affinity
AFFINITY BANKING
Finance Club
Finaccord’s newsletter about affinity financial services worldwide
Welcome back to your Club!
There should be something for everyone in this latest edition of the
Global Affinity Finance Club.
In the sections about affinity insurance, items cover a broad range of
new initiatives in affinity and partnership marketing including two
about MAPFRE Asistencia in China and three from Swedish affinity
specialist Solid Försäkringar.
In the bancassurance arena, stand-out items include important di-
vestments of formerly captive underwriters by HSBC in several
countries and by KBC in Poland plus a new arrangement involving
BBVA and Liberty Seguros in Spain.
Finally, the ever-increasing number of partnerships in mobile pay-
ments are most visible in the sections about affinity banking with
key deals involving American Express and Lianlian Group in China,
HDFC Bank and Movida in India, Visa and Vodafone on a world-
wide basis, and Western Union and Wind in Italy. However, new
ventures are also tracked in other fields such as automotive finance,
co-branded cards, retailer cards and retailer finance.
As ever, please get in contact if you would like us to include a new
partnership involving your organisation in the next edition covering
events in Spring 2012
With best regards,
Alan Leach
Director
aleach@finaccord.com
For our published reports,
news and more please visit
www.finaccord.com

2. Global Affinity Finance Club
Table of contents
Affinity Insurance News 4 NICHE INSURANCE 5 Bancassurance News 7
ASSISTANCE 4 AXA links with Moneo Payment Solu- LIFE INSURANCE / RETIREMENT
tions for new student-focused affinity SAVINGS 7
Britannia Rescue wins road assistance scheme 5
mandate from Brightside Group 4 Aviva winds down life insurance joint
RSA secures pet insurance affinity deal venture with AIB 7
NKSJ Holdings to enter Japan’s assis- with Home Retail Group 6
tance services market 4 Legal & General cements partnership
Solid Försäkringar secures partners for with the Yorkshire 7
Road China Assistance broadens co- bicycle and missed event cover 6
operation with Dah Sing 4 MOTOR INSURANCE 8
PRODUCT INSURANCE / WAR-
Solid Försäkringar enters into partner- RANTIES 6 BBVA and Liberty Seguros co-operate
ship with Vianor for road assistance 4 for motor insurance in Spain 8
Assurant Solutions secures exclusive
BUSINESS INSURANCE 4 distribution contract with CARCHEX 6 GENERAL 8
Gras Savoye becomes risk management MAPFRE Asistencia seals Chinese ex- HSBC sells off insurance businesses and
partner for the food industry in France 4 tended warranty tie with Toyota 6 signs ten-year bancassurance deals 8
Solid Försäkringar signs a contract with SPB Italia extends its range of insurance Future Generali Life Insurance Compa-
Hantverksförening 4 policies for Mediaworld and Saturn 6 ny creates new bancassurance deal 8
Willis partners with US association of TRAVEL INSURANCE 6 MAPFRE acquires stake in bank-owned
senior living organisations 4 non-life underwriter 8
MAPFRE Asistencia wins distribution
HEALTH INSURANCE 5 in France through CEA deal 6 Nordea and Tryg agree to re-negotiate
cross-selling partnership 8
Catalan sports organisation renews acci- Solid Försäkringar wins travel insurance
dent and health partnership with AXA 5 mandate with Lingmerths 6 KBC divests Polish bancassurance sub-
sidiary to Talanx 8
Cigna and TTK Group prepare for GENERAL 6
launch of joint venture health insurer 5 ———————————————--
Chubb and Vistage International form
Confused.com launches new partnership alliance to address CEO risks 6 Affinity Banking News 9
with ActiveQuote 5
Gallagher Heath secures affinity distri- AFFINITY BANK ACCOUNTS 9
MOTOR INSURANCE 5 bution deal with UIA 7
ADAC begins marketing savings prod-
Swiss automotive group starts collabo- Lifestyle Services Group extends added ucts with DAB Bank 9
rating with Allianz 5 value account tie with Co-operative
Bank 7 AFFINITY CARDS 9
Volvo and HDI link again to sell motor
insurance in Germany 5 Manulife and RSA reaffirm long- Société Générale’s charity cards pay over
standing collaboration in Hong Kong 7 EUR 1 million since launch 9
———————————————-- Italian bank develops multi-function
university payment card 9
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2

3. Global Affinity Finance Club
AUTOMOTIVE FINANCE 9 MOBILE PAYMENTS 11 Western Union and Wind join forces to
provide mobile transfers 14
Ally Financial named preferred finance Afripay and Stanbic IBTC Bank link
source for the Vehicle Production with Globacom for mobile payments MONEY TRANSFERS 15
Group 9 11
Wells Fargo and Western Union link
SsangYong selects GMAC as preferred American Express links with Chinese with Mexican retailer bank for interna-
finance provider in the UK 9 mobile top-up provider 11 tional remittances 15
BUSINESS BANKING 9 MasterCard ties with online mobile Western Union ties with UniCredit for
payments specialist BOKU 11 remittance services 15
BNL enters into further commercial
affinity deals in Italy 9 MasterCard links with QNB, Qtel and OFFLINE PAYMENTS 15
Oberthur Technologies for mobile pay-
CO-BRANDED CARDS 10 ments in Qatar 12 Wirecard Bank and Lekkerland expand
strategic payments alliance 15
American Express creates new card MasterCard and Telefónica brand mo-
distribution deal with Banco Espírito bile finance joint venture as ‘Wanda’ 12 RETAILER CARDS 15
Santo... 10
MasterCard signs memorandum of Citi re-names US-based retailer credit
... and ties with Morgan Stanley for co- understanding with China Unicom sub- card division... 15
branded cards in the US 10 sidiary 12
... and renews private label card deal
Bankia launches multi-function contact- MasterCard launches partnership pro- with fuel retail brand 15
less card with Valencia transportation gram focused on under-banked con-
agency 10 Citibank and Big C Supercenter intro-
sumers 12
duce new Visa platinum card 15
Bankia and BBVA launch contactless HDFC Bank co-operates with Movida
Visa card in Madrid 10 GE Capital acquires Toys“R”Us card
for mobile payment service in India 13
program assets from JP Morgan
Barclaycard launches co-branded card Visa certifies six new smartphone mod- Chase... 16
with Portuguese fuel retail brand 10 els for use with payWave 13
... and renews private label card rela-
Chase launches a new, premium credit Orange ties with Visa for prepaid ac- tionships with four retail chains 16
card for long-time partner Disney 10 count features within Orange Money 13
Scotiabank gains access to retailer card
MasterCard enters into five-year agree- Visa and Vodafone initiate worldwide portfolio through Banco Colpatria ac-
ment with prepaid card specialist 11 mobile payments partnership 14 quisition 16
Santander extends commercial relation- Western Union enters into a strategic RETAILER FINANCE 16
ship with Ferrari through to end 2017 partnership with Ericsson 14
11 BBVA and Huawei announce technolo-
Western Union and Millicom Interna- gy finance partnership 16
Santander and Iberia Cards combine tional Cellular link for mobile money
for dual co-branded card program 11 GENERAL 16
transfers 14
BNP Paribas and Sberbank finalise
Western Union and Roshan introduce
point-of-sale finance joint venture 16
mobile money transfers in Afghanistan
14
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3

4. Global Affinity Finance Club
Affinity Insurance
Affinity Insurance News in October 2012. In the longer term, Gras Savoye have signed an agreement
the company will likely seek to extend to improve risk management in this
its product offering to include other industry. Gras Savoye will be the part-
ASSISTANCE
types of assistance, such as home assis- ner for ANIA for property and liability
tance, that represent a natural fit with insurance, and will offer its expertise in
Britannia Rescue wins road the group’s range of general insurance risk management, information and
assistance mandate from products. training to members of ANIA; ANIA
Brightside Group consists of 22 national federations by
Road China Assistance sector and 18 regional federations, that
In the UK, Britannia Rescue, the road broadens co-operation with together represent over 10,000 compa-
assistance subsidiary of LV=, has been nies in the food industry of all sizes
appointed by Brightside Group to Dah Sing
and specialities.
provide breakdown recovery insurance
In China, Road China Assistance, a
to road assistance customers within its Solid Försäkringar signs a
breakdown recovery subsidiary of
broker division. The win has seen Bri- contract with Hantverks-
MAPFRE, has extended its co-
tannia Rescue take on around 90,000
existing Brightside customers from the
operation agreement with local insurer förening
Dah Sing. Specifically, it will provide
start of February 2012 in the context
road assistance to customers of Dah In Sweden, Solid Försäkringar has
of a book that consists of a range of
Sing with motor insurance policies signed an agreement with
vehicles including cars and motor cy-
plus an accident management service the Hantverkarföreningen to offer
cles, as well as commercial fleet busi-
specifically designed for taxi drivers business insurance to members of the
ness. Policies underwritten by the fol-
insured with the same company. Utilis- craft association. In addition to insur-
lowing Brightside brands are included:
ing its growing network, Road China ance providers, Solid Försäkringar will
Commercial Vehicle Direct, Motor and
Assistance is offering services such as also provide computer assistance ser-
Home Direct including One Bike, One
these to an increasing number of cli- vices. Hantverkarföreningen represents
Business Insurance Solutions, Taxi
ents in China including local insurers, over 4,000 entrepreneurs.
Direct and You Choose. Britannia
other financial institutions and car
Rescue believes that it is the fourth
largest road assistance company in the
manufacturer brands. Willis partners with US asso-
UK operating a network of over 3,000 ciation of senior living organ-
technicians.
Solid Försäkringar enters into isations
partnership with Vianor for
NKSJ Holdings to enter road assistance Willis has announced a partnership
Japan’s assistance services with the Assisted Living Federation of
Solid Försäkringar has signed an agree- America (ALFA) to provide innovative
market ment with Vianor to provide road as- insurance and risk management ser-
sistance in Sweden. Vianor is a Nordic vices to ALFA’s members. ALFA is
Japanese insurance group NKSJ Hold-
specialist in automotive aftermarket the largest national association for
ings – which is the parent company of
services with 79 workshops in Sweden professionally-operated, consumer-
general insurers NIPPONKOA and
and over 900 workshops across the driven senior living communities.
Sompo Japan, among others – has
Nordic countries and Russia com-
announced its decision to enter the Under the terms of the deal, Willis will
bined.
assistance services market by launching be the sole endorsed risk management
a joint venture with Prestige Interna- ——————————————— adviser, insurance broker and employ-
tional, a large private-sector assistance ee benefits consulting partner for AL-
services provider. The new company BUSINESS INSURANCE FA and its members who will have
will be known as Prime Assistance and access to the expertise and resources
will initially focus on providing road-
side assistance services linked to the
Gras Savoye becomes risk of the senior living practice group of
management partner for the Willis via a web-based portal.
motor insurance policies issued by
NIPPONKOA and Sompo Japan. food industry in France This group has developed a number of
Pending the relevant official and regu- specialised workers’ compensation and
latory approvals, roadside assistance In France, ANIA (Association Natio- occupational risk control programs for
operations are expected to commence nale des Industries Alimentaires) and this industry; its clients range from
www.finaccord.com
4

5. Global Affinity Finance Club
Affinity Insurance
single location communities to large Confused.com launches new for the distribution of motor insurance
national providers, covering continu- partnership with ActiveQuote through Volvo dealerships. In 2010,
ing care retirement communities, inde- HDI Direkt had already started a part-
pendent and assisted living communi- In the UK, Confused.com has entered nership with Volvo Auto Bank which
ties, Alzheimer’s care facilities, skilled a partnership with the health insurance was the car finance provider for Volvo
nursing facilities, and home healthcare comparison website ActiveQuote. This in Germany at the time. When Volvo
organisations throughout North Amer- par t ner sh ip wil l p ower Con- Car Germany changed its car finance
ica. fused.com’s private medical insurance partnership from Volvo Auto Bank to
comparison service thereby widening Santander Consumer Bank in late 2011
——————————————— customer choice in this field. In addi- the marketing partnership with HDI
tion, Confused.com has added Aviva’s Direkt became obsolete. The new
HEALTH INSURANCE Quotemehappy.com to its list of mo- agreement between Volvo Car Germa-
tor insurance supplies and unveiled a ny and HDI Direkt therefore restores
Catalan sports organisation new three-month promotion with continuity from the point of view of
renews accident and health Nectar, the UK’s largest coalition loy- Volvo’s customers.
partnership with AXA alty program.
———————————————
In Spain, AXA and the Catalan Feder- ———————————————
ation of Cycling (FCC) have renewed NICHE INSURANCE
their agreement by means of which the MOTOR INSURANCE
insurer is providing accident insurance AXA links with Moneo Pay-
cover and medical insurance abroad to Swiss automotive group starts ment Solutions for new stu-
the federation itself, plus cycling clubs collaborating with Allianz dent-focused affinity scheme
and cyclists who are members of the
FCC. This scheme offers cyclists’ in- AMAG, the Swiss importer of the Moneo Payment Solutions and AXA
surance in excess of the mandatory Audi, Seat, Škoda and Volkswagen have a launched a new affinity scheme
level, and higher levels of cover for brands has begun marketing motor for students in France, called AXA
medical insurance; it is being managed insurance in co-operation with Allianz Campus. This aims to offer to students
through the broker Maresme 2.000. Suisse as part of an agreement reached insurance packages that they can buy
in December 2011. As a result of the online with a Moneo student card.
Cigna and TTK Group pre- partnership, AMAG’s 80 tied dealer-
pare for launch of joint ven- ships and the 300 independent dealer- Nearly 1.5 million students in 22 uni-
ships collaborating with AMAG are versities have a Moneo card, which
ture health insurer they can use as an identity card, to pay
offering motor insur-
ance intermediated by Volkswagen for meals in university restaurants and
Cigna and Indian conglomerate TTK
Versicherungsdienst (VVD) and un- cafeterias, at vending machines, for
Group have unveiled further details
derwritten by Allianz Suisse at the photocopies and for other small pur-
concerning their joint venture to sell
point of sale. At the time of the an- chases. Now they can use it to buy
health insurance products across India.
nouncement Allianz Suisse emphasised insurance policies in the AXA Campus
Headquartered in Mumbai, Cigna TTK
that the new partnership fits with the range, which consists of four packages
will develop and sell a suite of prod-
insurer’s growth strategy as a rising designed for students’ needs (for ex-
ucts and services including health ben-
number of car buyers in Switzerland ample covering trips abroad, skiing
efits for expatriates, individual private
tend to take out insurance for their holidays, losing keys, accidents and
medical insurance and supplemental
cars through dealerships. other risks), with suitable pricing. Mo-
accident and health products. Pending
neo Payment Solutions and AXA plan
approval by India’s regulatory authori-
Volvo and HDI link again to to promote this through marketing
ties, the joint venture is expected to
sell motor insurance in Ger- initiatives including social networks,
begin operations in early 2013 and will
blogs and other Internet tools.
build its workforce locally. many
AXA Campus is only available via the
Volvo Car Germany, the importer of internet and mobile phones, and stu-
Volvo passenger cars in Germany, and dents can pay online using their Mo-
HDI Direkt Versicherung, a subsidiary neo student card.
of Talanx, have reached an agreement
www.finaccord.com
5

6. Global Affinity Finance Club
Affinity Insurance
RSA secures pet insurance and CARCHEX, an online provider of TRAVEL INSURANCE
affinity deal with Home Re- extended warranties for vehicles, have
disclosed an exclusive strategic part- MAPFRE Asistencia wins
tail Group nership to benefit customers and cli- distribution in France
ents of both companies. For Assurant
In the UK, RSA has been appointed
Solutions, the agreement provides its through CEA deal
by the Home Retail Group as the sole
customers and clients with access to
provider of pet insurance for its Argos In France, MAPFRE Asistencia has
the online capabilities of CARCHEX,
and Homebase retail brands. The part- reported that it has concluded a strate-
including proprietary technology and
nership, which has a duration of five gic alliance with Compagnie Euro-
other services from a company active
years, commenced in January 2012 and peenne d’Assurances (CEA) whereby
in the provision of extended vehicle
means that both new and existing pet the former will take on responsibility
protection directly to consumers for
insurance customers of the two brands for management and underwriting of
over a decade. In return, the strategic
will be able to access a newly- travel insurance policies sold by the
partnership provides CARCHEX with
developed product that provides them latter mainly through travel trade enti-
a modest infusion of capital to acceler-
with benefits such as vet fees cover of ties. In addition, more than 50 staff
ate growth and further strengthen its
up to GBP 7,500, third party liability currently employed by CEA will be
brand.
cover of up to GBP 2 million; and transferred to MAPFRE Asistencia.
access to Vetfone, a 24-hour hotline to
MAPFRE Asistencia seals
qualified veterinary staff. Solid Försäkringar wins travel
Chinese extended warranty
insurance mandate with
Solid Försäkringar secures tie with Toyota
Lingmerths
partners for bicycle
In China, MAPFRE Asistencia has
and missed event cover announced the creation of an agree- In Sweden, Solid Försäkringar and
ment with Toyota for the distribution Lingmerths have entered into a part-
In Sweden, Solid Försäkringar nership by means of which the insurer
of extended warranty products. MAP-
and bicycle retail chain Tvåhjulmästar- will provide comprehensive travel in-
FRE Asistencia has been present in
na have established a relationship by surance to the customers of Ling-
China since 2005 with operations
means of which Solid will provide merths. This company was established
headquartered in Shanghai.
bicycle insurance to Tvåhjulmästarna in 1950 and is currently active across a
shops and their customers. In addi- variety of travel-related activities with a
tion, Solid Försäkringar and sports
SPB Italia extends its range
particular specialisation in business
tour operator EuroTravel Sports have of insurance policies for Me- travel.
entered into an agreement through diaworld and Saturn
which the latter will promote ———————————————
Solid’s missed event cov- As the insurance provider for the two
er to its customers. Eu- brands owned by Metro, SPB Italia has GENERAL
ro Travel Sports was founded in previously offered insurance and war-
1999and is today one of Sweden’s larg- ranty policies for televisions and Chubb and Vistage Interna-
est tour operators specialising in sport phones sold in 110 Mediaworld and tional form alliance to ad-
events. Saturn shops. Since the end of 2011 it
has also offered an ‘outdoor protec- dress CEO risks
——————————————— tion’ policy for mobile gadgets exclud-
Insurance group Chubb and Vistage
ing laptop PCs, which insures these
International, an association of private
PRODUCT INSURANCE / goods against theft and accidental
company chief executives with over
WARRANTIES damage.
14,000 members worldwide, have
——————————————— formed an alliance to help the associa-
Assurant Solutions secures tion’s members to address personal
exclusive distribution con- and commercial risk management
tract with CARCHEX needs. As part of the alliance, Chubb
will provide Vistage members with risk
In the US, Assurant Solutions, a global management education, programs and
provider of extended service contracts,
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6

7. Global Affinity Finance Club
Bancassurance
access to an array of products and added value accounts. Having already Bancassurance News
services tailored to their needs. been in place for three years, the new
agreement will see Lifestyle Services
Chubb will offer a selection of services Group continue to provide forms of LIFE INSURANCE / RE-
and benefits to Vistage members, in- cover such as breakdown recovery TIREMENT SAVINGS
cluding an annual premium reimburse- insurance, mobile gadget and phone
ment of up to 10% of the premium for insurance, and travel insurance as im-
an employment practices liability poli-
Aviva winds down life insur-
portant features of these accounts.
cy, for using one of more than 120 ance joint venture with AIB
Chubb pre-approved law firms, human Manulife and RSA reaffirm
resources consulting firms or labour long-standing collaboration Aviva has revealed that its Ark Life
economist statistical firms for loss joint venture for life insurance and
mitigation and prevention services; up
in Hong Kong pensions with Irish bank AIB will dis-
to six free employee background inves- continue business in its current format.
After 18 years of bancassurance collab-
tigations; one free hour of workplace It has also stated that it is exploring the
oration in Hong Kong, Manulife and
violence consulting per incident, up to possibility of extending and continuing
RSA (Royal & SunAlliance) have an-
four times per year; a 50% credit on elements of the distribution and ad-
nounced the renewal of their general
approved vendor safety training; and a ministration business during the sepa-
insurance distribution agreement for
10% credit on corporate business trav- ration process and that it will work
another five years. Under the extended
el accident policies. closely with AIB over the coming
agreement, RSA will continue to be
months to agree the separation pro-
Manulife’s major general insurance
Gallagher Heath secures af- partner. Manulife distributes a broad
cess. Following that, employees cur-
finity distribution deal with rently supporting the Ark Life business
range of customised, co-branded per-
UIA sonal lines insurance products under- will transfer to AIB or an agreed pro-
vider. Nevertheless, AIB continues to
written by RSA, including travel insur-
In the UK, Gallagher Heath Insurance act as a partner to Aviva for motor and
ance, domestic helper insurance and
Services (GHIS) has disclosed the cre- health insurance.
pet insurance. A business insurance
ation of a five-year partnership with package is also available to protect
UIA to provide motor and travel in- small and medium-sized companies Legal & General cements
surance to members of the UK’s lead- against unexpected losses arising from partnership with the York-
ing trade unions. Launched in January property damage, burglary, fire and shire
2012, both products are being provid- other eventualities.
ed and serviced through the affinity
broker’s call centre in Wakefield. Mo- ——————————————— In the UK, Legal & General has ex-
tor insurance is being sourced from a tended its relationship with the York-
panel of underwriters and UIA’s cus- shire Building Society with the former
tomers are also receiving a 40% dis- establishing itself as the latter’s main
count on breakdown recovery insur- provider of financial service advice and
ance from RAC. Meanwhile, the travel products. In recent years, the York-
insurance proposition allows custom- shire has grown significantly as a result
ers to tailor cover specific to their trav- of three mergers (with the Barnsley,
el needs, simultaneously providing a Chelsea and Norwich & Peterborough
comparison for single trip and annual building societies) plus the acquisition
policies. of the mortgage and savings books of
Egg, an online bank. Legal & General
Lifestyle Services Group ex- was already providing financial advice
in the Barnsley and Yorkshire branded
tends added value account tie branches and contact centres and this
with Co-operative Bank partnership will now be rolled out to
the Chelsea branches and contact cen-
Also in the UK, Lifestyle Services tre later in 2012. The two partners
Group has announced the extension of anticipate taking advantage of oppor-
its contract with the Co-operative tunities thrown up by the Retail Distri-
Bank for insurance linked to the bank’s
www.finaccord.com
7

8. Global Affinity Finance Club
Bancassurance
bution Review (RDR) which is sched- million. In a related deal, QBE will have reached an agreement for the
uled for January 2013. also acquire Hang Seng General Insur- eventual purchase by the latter of a
ance (Hong Kong) from Hang Seng 50.1% stake in Bankinter Seguros
——————————————— Bank, in which HSBC holds a 62% Generales, a non-life underwriter ac-
equity stake. tive in insurance for businesses plus
creditor, funeral expenses and health
MOTOR INSURANCE insurance. Policies will be distributed
Following completion of these sales,
new ten-year bancassurance partner- through all of Bankinter’s channels and
BBVA and Liberty Seguros ships between the various HSBC bank- managed on a day-to-day basis by
co-operate for motor insur- ing brands (including Hang Seng Bank) Bankinter although the company will
and AXA and QBE will come into continue not to operate in the motor,
ance in Spain household or travel branches.
force. AXA will become the exclusive
provider of general insurance products
In Spain, Liberty Seguros has disclosed
distributed by HSBC’s banks to cus- Nordea and Tryg agree to re-
the creation of an agreement with
tomers in China (other than customers negotiate cross-selling part-
BBVA Seguros (the bancassurance
of Hang Seng Bank and HSBC's Chi-
subsidiary of BBVA) focused on the
nese rural banks), Hong Kong, India,
nership
co-insurance and distribution of motor
Indonesia (other than customers of
insurance over a ten-year period begin- In Scandinavia, Nordea and Tryg have
Bank Ekonomi Raharja) and Singa-
ning in September 2012. Specifically, been co-operating for more than ten
pore, and also non-life products dis-
the two companies will collaborate to years in the field of bancassurance and
tributed by HSBC’s banks to custom-
design motor insurance policies have announced that the current part-
ers in Mexico. Under similar arrange-
adapted to different client needs with nership agreement is to be bench-
ments, QBE will become the exclusive
Liberty Seguros responsible for aspects marked and re-negotiated before it
provider of general insurance products
of service provision including claims terminates in mid-2013. Tryg’s non-life
distributed by banks belonging to
management and roadside assistance. insurance products are offered by
HSBC to customers in Argentina and
Policies will be sold through BBVA’s Nordea in the four Nordic countries
by Hang Seng Bank to customers in
various distribution channels, including while Nordea’s life and pensions prod-
China and Hong Kong.
its network of more than 3,000 ucts are offered by Tryg in Denmark
branches. and Norway. The partnership agree-
Future Generali Life Insur- ment between Nordea and Tryg will
——————————————— ance Company creates new continue unaffected until the agree-
bancassurance deal ment expires in mid-2013.
GENERAL
In India, Future Generali Life Insur- KBC divests Polish bancas-
ance Company and Karnataka State Co surance subsidiary to Talanx
HSBC sells off insurance -operative Apex Bank have announced
businesses and signs ten-year a bancassurance partnership to provide
bancassurance deals an array of insurance protection ser- KBC has reached an agreement with
vices to customers. Future Generali is Talanx International for the sale of
a joint venture between the Future 100% of the shares of KBC’s Polish
As part of the bank’s on-going strategy insurance subsidiary TUiR Warta for
to externalise its general insurance Group of India and Generali. This
partnership will allow Future General- EUR 770 million. Closing of the trans-
businesses and focus on its core bank- action is subject to the customary regu-
ing activities, HSBC has agreed to sell i’s insurance products to be distributed
to the Indian bank’s customers in the latory approvals and is expected to be
around USD 1.2 billion worth of its completed in the second half of 2012.
general insurance subsidiaries to AXA Karnataka area.
and QBE. In combined deals worth
around USD 444 million, AXA will The existing bancassurance collabora-
MAPFRE acquires stake in tion between Warta and Kredyt Bank
acquire various HSBC businesses in bank-owned non-life under-
Asia, Hong Kong, Mexico and Singa- (KBC’s banking subsidiary in Poland)
pore. QBE, on the other hand, will writer regarding the distribution of Warta’s
acquire HSBC’s Argentine general life and non-life insurance products
insurance operations for USD 784 In Spain, Bankinter and MAPFRE through the Kredyt Bank branch net-
www.finaccord.com
8

9. Global Affinity Finance Club
Affinity Banking
work, will remain in place for the fore- AFFINITY CARDS Ally Financial will offer wholesale fi-
seeable future. nancing, business insurance and re-
marketing services for VPG dealers as
Société Générale’s charity well as retail financing for their cus-
Kredyt Bank itself is the subject of a
separate divestment process, and is
cards pay over EUR 1 million tomers. In the US, Ally Financial is
being merged with Banco Santander’s since launch already the preferred financing provid-
Polish banking subsidiary, Bank er for Chrysler, Fiat, General Motors,
Zachodni WBK. Following the pro- The success of charity payment cards Maserati, Saab and Suzuki vehicles.
posed merger, Santander will hold in France can be measured by news
approximately 76.5% of the merged from Société Générale for 2011. Socié- SsangYong selects GMAC as
bank and KBC around 16.4%. The rest té Générale was an early leader in the preferred finance provider in
will be held by other minority share- issue of charity-related cards, which it
holders. KBC intends to sell off its first launched in May 2008. By the end
the UK
remaining stake, mostly to external of 2011, it had issued 66,000 of these
investors although Santander has also cards in support of 22 organisations, SsangYong Motor in the UK has se-
committed to acquire up to 5% of the with the Emmaüs Solidarité associa- lected GMAC, a subsidiary of US-
merged bank to assist KBC’s exit from tion scheduled to be the next. It pays based Ally Financial, to be its preferred
Poland. these charities EUR 0.05 for every financing provider for SsangYong ve-
transaction, and these donations had hicles. GMAC will provide wholesale
——————————————— exceeded EUR 1 million by the end of financing for SsangYong’s 54 dealers
2011 – with almost EUR 500,000 of and motor finance for customers.
this amount paid in 2011 alone. GMAC is already the preferred finance
Affinity Banking News source for Chevrolet, Saab and Vaux-
hall dealers and their customers in the
Italian bank develops multi- UK, as well as the accredited provider
A FF I NI TY BA N K AC- function university payment of consumer financing for MG vehi-
COUNTS card cles.
ADAC begins marketing sav- In Italy, UBI Banca and the Università ———————————————
ings products with DAB Carlo Cattaneo have created a multi-
Bank function payment card designed for BUSINESS BANKING
use by both staff and students for
banking and university-related services.
ADAC, Germany’s largest automotive BNL enters into further com-
The card uses contactless technology
association, has partnered up with
DAB Bank for the marketing of sav-
and can be used both within the cam- mercial affinity deals in Italy
pus as well as in both national and
ings products. Munich-based DAB is a
international contexts. In Italy, several new agreements have
direct bank owned by the UniCredit
group. The two partners will offer been established by BNL with trade
three products, namely ADAC Flex- ——————————————— associations with the aim of providing
Sparen, ADAC Führerschein-Sparen finance to small and medium-sized
and ADAC Traum-Sparen to ADAC’s AUTOMOTIVE FINANCE enterprises. Firstly, BNL has estab-
17.8 million members. Previously, lished a partnership with Confagricol-
ADAC was offering savings products tura, a national federation of agricul-
in collaboration with Deutsche Bank. Ally Financial named pre- tural businesses, which includes the
ferred finance source for the provision of finance worth up to EUR
Vehicle Production Group 1 billion. Secondly, the same bank is
———————————————
working in a similar context with Lega-
coop, an association with around
The Vehicle Production Group (VPG)
14,000 members, all of which are co-
which manufactures and distributes
operatives. In a separate deal, BNL is
vehicles that are accessible to wheel-
providing EUR 10 million to support
chairs has chosen Ally Financial as its
around 1,200 enterprises in the service
preferred financing provider in the US.
and tourism sectors that belong to
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9

10. Global Affinity Finance Club
Affinity Banking
Mediocom Liguria, a regional associa- ion. Barclaycard launches co-
tion. branded card with Portu-
Bankia launches multi- guese fuel retail brand
——————————————— function contactless card
with Valencia transportation Barclaycard and Cepsa, one of the
CO-BRANDED CARDS agency largest energy and oil companies in
Portugal and Spain, have launched a
American Express creates new co-branded credit card in the for-
In Spain, in collaboration with the
new card distribution deal mer country. The Cepsa Porque EU
Agencia Valenciana de Movilidad
(aVM), Bankia has launched the Volto card offers users a discount of
with Banco Espírito Santo... between 4% and 5% on petrol pur-
Bankia Mobilis card which allows both
chases and also awards points to cus-
the purchase of tickets and storage of
In Portugal, American Express and tomers equivalent to 1% of all pur-
transport information on a contactless
Banco Espírito Santo, have unveiled a chases, which can be used in exchange
payment card. The card will be usable
new partnership that will enable Banco for additional discounts on petrol, and
on metro trains, trams and buses in
Espírito Santo to issue its own range gifts and services from Cepsa.
Valencia as well as for bicycle hire,
of American Express credit cards in
with ongoing discussions to expand
Portugal. The new cards issued by
the program to commuter trains serv- Chase launches a new, premi-
Banco Espírito Santo will be designed
to meet the financial requirements and
ing Valencia. The Bankia Mobilis card um credit card for long-time
will also act as a normal debit card, as partner Disney
lifestyles of its customers and will fea-
well as featuring contactless payment
ture both the American Express and
technology allowing payments up to
Banco Espírito Santo logos on the Chase has extended its collaboration
EUR 20 at merchants equipped with a
front of the cards. Under the terms of with The Walt Disney Company by
contactless card reader, with no need
the agreement, Banco Espírito Santo introducing a premium co-branded
for a signature or PIN. Payments over
will be responsible for creating the credit card (the Disney Premier Visa
EUR 20 may still be made using con-
products, issuing the cards, overseeing card), which will be linked to the Dis-
tactless functionality but require PIN
credit management and managing the ney Reward Dollars loyalty scheme.
authentication.
customer accounts. Chase has been issuing and managing a
regular co-branded credit card for Dis-
... and ties with Morgan Stan- Bankia and BBVA launch ney since 2003, although the arrival of
ley for co-branded cards in contactless Visa card in Ma- this premium version – whose annual
the US drid fee is USD 49 – will allow cardholders
to earn reward points at double the
Bankia and BBVA, collaborating with normal rate. Disney Dream Reward
In the US, American Express and Dollars can be redeemed against Dis-
Visa Europe, have developed a con-
Morgan Stanley have combined for the ney hotel stays, theme park tickets,
tactless Visa card for the use of both
launch of two co-branded cards, one cruises, movie tickets and merchan-
banks’ customers in Spain. The cards
of which carries platinum status. The dise. Points earned via the premium
work on a network of 7,000 new con-
new cards offer exclusive benefits for cards can also be used to fund air trav-
tactless terminals, used by merchants
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney clients el, and the cards feature complimen-
in and around Madrid, with a special
with eligible brokerage accounts and tary travel accident insurance along
focus on establishments with a high
access to the Membership Rewards with cover for delayed baggage. Fur-
percentage of low-value transactions,
program of American Express. Key thermore, premium cardholders will
such as fast food outlets, bars, cafés or
features also include the opportunity qualify for additional perks within the
restaurants. The cards allow for trans-
to earn bonus Membership Rewards group’s theme parks, resorts and retail
actions up to EUR 20 without the
points for the first USD 1,000 of ex- locations, including private meet-and-
need to enter a PIN or provide a signa-
penditure with the cards. According to greet sessions with Disney characters.
ture; payments for amounts over EUR
Morgan Stanley, the new cards ad-
20 may be authorised with a PIN. The
vance its commitment to serving its
banks’ stated goal is to bring contact-
clients' wealth management needs,
less cards to 2 million customers by
including investment, credit and cash
the end of 2012.
management, in a comprehensive fash-
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11. Global Affinity Finance Club
Affinity Banking
MasterCard enters into five- are also linked to Iberia’s loyalty pro- ers can use to top up mobile phone
year agreement with prepaid gram, incorporate a variety of travel minutes, pay bills and purchase prod-
insurance and assistance benefits and ucts or services. American Express has
card specialist generate a single card statement, irre- also made an equity investment in
spective of which card is being used. Lianlian Pay, an overseas company
With a focus on Europe, MasterCard within the Lianlian Group.
and Vincento Payment Solutions have ———————————————
extended their relationship by signing a Founded in 2004, Lianlian Group has
new five-year strategic agreement, served approximately 300 million mo-
which will see continued collaboration MOBILE PAYMENTS
bile phone accounts. It operates a net-
to develop prepaid solutions. Indeed, work of over 300,000 small business
from March 2012 onwards, the exclu- Afripay and Stanbic IBTC agents across China where customers
sive partnership has enabled all new Bank link with Globacom for can top up minutes on their mobile
customers with Kalixa prepaid cards to phones. A portion of that network also
benefit from MasterCard’s PayPass mobile payments
facilitates customer payments for air-
technology. Vincento is one of the first line tickets, utility bills and video gam-
issuers of prepaid cards to introduce In Nigeria, mobile operator Globacom
ing credits. American Express intends
the new technology and plans to roll it has announced that it has teamed up
to work closely with Lianlian Group to
out across the whole of Europe. with United Bank of Africa (via its
better serve both agents and consum-
subsidiary Afripay) and Stanbic IBTC
ers in China by delivering a convenient
Bank to launch the country’s first mo-
Santander extends commer- digital payment technology.
bile money service, called GloTxtcash.
cial relationship with Ferrari The new service enables mobile sub-
through to end 2017 scribers to use their mobile numbers to Moreover, with Serve powering its
store money, which can be transferred new digital wallet, Lianlian Group ex-
Santander has announced that its com- to any mobile number or used to pay pects to offer customers a fast and
for goods, as well as to buy airtime for convenient way to handle day-to-day
mercial agreement with Ferrari has
themselves and others. The service is transactions, beginning with mobile
been extended to the end of 2017.
This relationship entails a number of planned to be available across the top-up minutes and over time expand-
activities including not only the bank’s whole of the country in line with the ing into other financial products and
Nigerian government’s objective of services. It anticipates that it will also
sponsorship of the prestige vehicle
enhancing financial inclusion through help to build new business for local
brand’s Formula 1 motor racing opera-
tions but also the management of co- a secure, convenient and reliable mo- merchants.
branded Ferrari credit cards which bile money accounts.
have been launched in Brazil, Germa- MasterCard ties with online
ny, Mexico, Portugal and Spain with American Express links with mobile payments specialist
more than 300,000 cards having been BOKU
Chinese mobile top-up pro-
issued.
vider
MasterCard has announced a partner-
Santander and Iberia Cards ship with BOKU, a provider of online
American Express has announced an
combine for dual co-branded operating agreement with Lianlian mobile payments, that aims to enhance
card program Group which will allow the mobile top the shopping experience for consum-
-up provider to use Serve, a next- ers by allowing them to make pay-
generation commerce technology, in ments, receive discounts and targeted
In Spain, Santander has launched co-
products and services it develops for offers, and monitor spending via their
branded American Express and Mas-
terCard cards in association with Iberia its consumer and business customers mobile phones anywhere that Master-
in China. Card is accepted. Offered through a
Cards, a card issuing entity part-owned
mobile subscriber’s mobile network
by airline Iberia. This is the first time
operator, BOKU accounts with a Mas-
that dual cards have been made availa- The Serve platform, which American
ble in Spain that carry both payment terCard prepaid functionality endow
Express will license to Lianlian Group,
consumers with a convenient way of
brands and guarantee maximum ac- is expected to help power a new Lian-
paying while travelling. Specifically,
ceptance around the world. The cards lian Group digital wallet that consum-
account holders use a MasterCard pre-
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11

12. Global Affinity Finance Club
Affinity Banking
paid card or PayPass-enabled device to MasterCard and Telefónica sumers worldwide to gain access to
make contactless purchases anywhere brand mobile finance joint formal financial services through their
that MasterCard is accepted. The pre- mobile phones. In this context, it is
paid card is issued by IDT, a regulated
venture as ‘Wanda’ working with three platform partners -
bank based in Gibraltar. Comviva, Sybase 365 and Utiba - to
MasterCard and Telefónica have an- enable consumers to purchase goods
nounced that their joint venture com- and services via their mobile phones
MasterCard links with QNB, pany that aims to lead the develop- across both physical and online mer-
Qtel and Oberthur Technolo- ment of mobile financial solutions in chants worldwide, as well as to pay
gies for mobile payments in 12 markets in Latin America will be bills and transfer funds.
Qatar branded as Wanda, using ‘Tu dinero
móvil’ as its tagline. The two partners According to MasterCard, only about a
anticipate that this company will pro- half of the world’s households have
In Qatar, MasterCard is collaborating
vide mobile payment solutions to over bank accounts, with this proportion
with Oberthur Technologies, Qatar
National Bank (QNB) and Qtel for the 87 million Movistar customers in the falling in developing markets, although
12 markets where it will operate. These around 70% of consumers worldwide
country’s first mobile payments pro-
mobile payment services will be linked have a mobile phone.
gram using its PayPass contactless
to a mobile wallet or prepaid account
NFC technology. In essence, the initia-
tive means that customers of QNB that will allow for money transfers,
mobile airtime reload, bill payment and By working with Comviva, Sybase 365
and Qtel in Qatar who use the new and Utiba, the first companies to join
retail purchases, among other services.
Qtel NFC SIM will soon be able to use the program, MasterCard aims to help
their mobile phone as a credit card, both financial institutions and mobile
having been given the option to either MasterCard signs memoran- telecoms operators to accelerate and
leverage an existing mobile phone with dum of understanding with expand the development of financial
PayPass NFC capability and sign up China Unicom subsidiary services offerings to customers. In-
for a Qtel SIM card, or upgrade their deed, the mobile money solutions of
phone to one of the latest Blackberry Comviva, Sybase 365 and Utiba are
models to utilise the payments service In China, MasterCard has signed a
memorandum of understanding with installed or deployed by more than 200
embedded on the new SIM. financial institutions and mobile opera-
Unicom Payment to explore future
tors around the world covering more
business collaboration with a focus on
QNB customers will also be given an than one billion consumers.
mobile payments. Unicom Payment is
extra option of obtaining a sticker a wholly-owned subsidiary of China
equipped with PayPass technology to Unicom and provides long-distance The Mobile Money Partnership Pro-
fix to their existing mobile phone in and NFC payment services to its indi- gram offers consumers the following
order to make payments if they do not vidual customers, as well as payment MasterCard services: prepaid compan-
have one with the requisite functionali- solutions and payment settlement ion cards that account holders can use
ty. Oberthur Technologies, which pro- management services to its corporate at merchants that accept MasterCard
vides QNB’s chip personalisation ser- customers to assist them in the man- cards; virtual card accounts that can be
vice, is working closely with the vari- agement of funds and information used for e-commerce payments with a
ous parties to develop the payments flow. user’s mobile money account; person-
application on the Qtel NFC-enabled to-person payments between subscrib-
SIM and on the MasterCard PayPass ers of two different mobile money
sticker. QNB customers will be able to MasterCard launches partner- services; and face-to-face or remote
link their mobile phone to their Mas- ship program focused on un- payments using mobile phones for
terCard credit card account in order to der-banked consumers goods and services at merchants that
fund mobile payments and neither do not have traditional point-of-sale
physical signatures nor PINs are re- acceptance facilities.
Also in the field of mobile payments,
quired for purchases of QAR 100 or
MasterCard has announced a global
less.
initiative called the MasterCard Mobile
Money Partnership Program with the
intention of helping more than 2.5
billion financially under-served con-
www.finaccord.com
12

13. Global Affinity Finance Club
Affinity Banking
HDFC Bank co-operates question are the BlackBerry BoldTM A typical consumer experience to pro-
with Movida for mobile pay- 9900, the BlackBerry Bold 9790, the vision a smartphone for payments may
BlackBerry CurveTM 9360, the Black- include the following steps: the con-
ment service in India Berry Curve 9380, the LG Optimus sumer purchases an NFC-equipped
NET NFC and the Samsung Galaxy mobile phone that has passed Visa's
In India, Movida, a mobile payments SII. All of the new devices certified by compliance testing, from their choice
joint venture backed by Monitise and Visa host the Visa payWave applica- of operator; the consumer contacts the
Visa, has signed an agreement with tion on a secure SIM card and feature financial institution that issued the
HDFC Bank, India's second-largest NFC technology. Visa's certification of Visa account or responds to an offer
private bank, to introduce a first-of-its- these smartphones paves the way for from a service provider or operator,
kind mobile payment service. The new mobile device manufacturers, mobile asking to activate mobile payments
service allows HDFC Bank customers operators and retailers to partner with with the smartphone; Visa's mobile
to pay bills, top up prepaid airtime and financial institutions to offer Visa’s provisioning solution then links the
buy tickets from their mobile phone mobile payment functionality to con- appropriate parties and begins the pro-
and is designed to operate across all sumers on a global basis. cess of provisioning the mobile phone
mobile networks using both Visa and for payment which involves authenti-
other payment accounts. It can be used On a related note, Visa has also dis- cation of the account holder by re-
anywhere by any mobile subscriber closed the development of a new ser- questing a passcode, facilitation of the
and accessed even by basic handset vice that provides financial institutions exchange of secure ‘keys’ among the
models. and mobile network operators with a various parties that unlock the NFC-
one-stop solution to securely down- enabled chip on the smartphone; and
The new service uses menu-based load payment account information to initiation of the secure download of
USSD (Unstructured Supplementary smartphones enabled with NFC tech- payment account information to the
Service Data) mobile technology mak- nology. The new service was devel- smartphone.
ing it one of the easiest and most wide- oped in collaboration with Oberthur
ly-available services to use. After link- Technologies whose software and plat- Orange ties with Visa for pre-
ing their HDFC Bank payment cards forms are used to manage the provi-
to their mobile phone number, card-
paid account features within
sioning and activation of payment ac-
holders can access the service via counts on cards and mobile devices.
Orange Money
USSD over Movida's secure connec-
tion. Then, they can select the payment Specifically, the new offering brings In partnership with Visa, Orange has
service required and complete the pay- together the necessary parties in the revealed that its Orange Money cus-
ment. The system encompasses vari- mobile payments eco-system and lays tomers will soon have access to Visa
ous security measures to maintain ac- the foundation for financial services prepaid account features inside their
count integrity, including a unique PIN providers and mobile network opera- Orange Money accounts. This consti-
number set up on the phone to access tors to securely and efficiently link tutes a significant step in bringing Visa
the account information. Visa payment accounts to -quality payments to consumers in
smartphones, while also offering a developing markets.
Visa certifies six new solution to manage those accounts
smartphone models for use following activation. Orange Money is the mobile payment
service designed by Orange to meet
with payWave the needs of customers in Africa and
Moreover, it addresses a crucial need
for Visa account issuers, mobile opera- the Middle East. It offers Orange sub-
Working together, Visa and Visa Eu- scribers applications such as person-to
rope have announced that certain tors and others who want to enable
mobile payments. The next stage of -person transfers, bill payments, and
Blackberry, LG and Samsung NFC- agent-based cash-in and cash-out ser-
the product, an interconnectivity ‘hub’,
enabled smartphones have been certi- vices for loading or withdrawing funds.
will enable frictionless ‘many-to-many’
fied for use with payWave, Visa's mo- Launched in co-operation with local
bile application for payments at the interactions avoiding the need for par-
ties to form bilateral commercial and bank partners, the service was first
point-of-sale, thus joining other Visa- introduced in 2008 and is presently
technical relationships, even for enti-
compliant payment products available available in eight countries across Afri-
ties using other TSM (Trusted Service
for commercial deployment by finan- ca and the Middle East. Orange plans
cial institutions. The smartphones in Management) solutions.
to introduce Visa payment capability to
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14. Global Affinity Finance Club
Affinity Banking
Orange Money subscribers in select In addition to the Vodafone-branded ability to receive money across borders
markets by the end of 2012. stored value account inside the mobile using their mobile phones. The service
wallet, the two partners will work to- will be rolled out over time in other
By integrating Visa mobile prepaid gether to enable Visa issuers for mo- markets in Latin America.
accounts into Orange Money accounts, bile payments globally. It is intended
Orange is connecting existing mobile that the platform will be open to all Western Union and Roshan
money subscribers to VisaNet, Visa's partners within the relevant industries,
enabling financial institutions, retailers, introduce mobile money
global payment network that is utilised
by around 2.2 billion account holders transport and utility companies to host transfers in Afghanistan
plus 30 million merchants and that their services within the new Vodafone
provides access to 1.9 million ATMs mobile wallet. In Afghanistan, Western Union and
globally. Working together on a multi- Roshan, a telecoms group, have an-
national basis, Orange and Visa will Western Union enters into a nounced that they will introduce the
provide Orange subsidiaries and their Western Union mobile money transfer
strategic partnership with Er- service. Specifically, the agreement will
local financial institution partners with
the ability to offer all the features of
icsson add international remittances to the M-
Visa mobile prepaid accounts to their Paisa service already offered by
customers, including Visa payment Western Union and Ericsson have Roshan. In fact, having started provid-
functionality, transaction authorisation, announced a strategic agreement de- ing the service in November 2008,
clearing and settlement services, and signed to accelerate integration be- Roshan was one of the first mobile
Visa-quality payment security. tween the m-commerce eco-system operators to introduce M-Paisa, which
and the existing financial world. The is part of the Vodafone mobile money
first step of this agreement will result family. Through M-Paisa, 1.2 million
Visa and Vodafone initiate in platform integration between the registered customers can receive their
worldwide mobile payments Western Union mobile money transfer salaries, pay bills, receive and repay
partnership network and the Ericsson suite of m- microfinance loans, send and receive
commerce solutions. This will enable money, and purchase airtime directly
Visa has entered into a global partner- mobile network operators to include from their mobile phones. With the
ship with Vodafone focused on mobile Western Union’s mobile money trans- introduction of the new service, M-
payments. The companies have dis- fers in the service suite of their mobile Paisa customers will be able to receive
closed that they will work together to financial service propositions. Ericsson Western Union money transfers from
develop a Vodafone-branded proposi- and Western Union plan next to jointly around the world directly in their mo-
tion that will be offered to consumers explore further opportunities in the bile wallet accounts.
across Vodafone's base of almost 400 provision of mobile financial services
million customers in more than 30 by mobile network operators. Western Union and Wind join
countries. The partnership, which the forces to provide mobile
two companies claim to be the largest Western Union and Millicom transfers
of its kind between a global payment International Cellular link for
brand and mobile operator, combines
the companies' global reach and exper-
mobile money transfers In Italy, Western Union and Wind, one
tise to bring Visa payment functionali- of the country’s largest mobile opera-
ty to consumers around the world. Western Union and Millicom Interna- tors, have entered into a partnership to
tional Cellular, a mobile operator in 13 offer mobile transfers. Specifically,
Specifically, the new Vodafone mobile markets in Latin America and Africa Wind’s 21 million subscribers will be
payment proposition will be based on operating under the Tigo brand, have able to send Western Union money
the Visa prepaid account and offered announced the signing of an agree- transfer transactions directly from their
to consumers in partnership with Visa ment to introduce cross-border mobile phones using the operator’s suite of
issuers. The service will initially be money transfers in Latin America. The services that include SMS and a variety
launched in Germany, the Nether- first cross-border money transfer ser- of apps. Customers will be able to
lands, Spain, Turkey and the UK, start- vice under this agreement will be send money from prepaid, credit and
ing in 2012, and other countries in launched in Paraguay using the Giros debit cards allowing recipients to pick
Vodafone's global portfolio will fol- Tigo brand. Tigo will then be able to up their funds in cash at more than
low. offer its customers in Paraguay the 450,000 Western Union agent loca-
www.finaccord.com
14