Personal affinity marketing: A way for CUs to improve card penetration?

ATLANTA – InfiBank, a noted purchaser of credit union credit card portfolios, has entered into an affiliate program with an organization which has a new model of the now familiar affiliate marketing: personal affiliate marketing. Essentially, the bank has entered into an agent bank relationship with an organization called Eufora. Eufora operates an affiliate network that allows cardholders to become their own affiliate marketers; to sign up their friends, family members, and business associates with Eufora cards and then participate in the interest and interchange income that those cards generate. It works like this. For $29.95, $59.95 or $99.95 per year, a customer can join the Eufora network and hold an Associate, Preferred or Elite Eufora Mastercard. Then, for every 10 others the customer gets to take the Eufora card, they can earn up to $200, $500 or $900 per year. “We allow the card holder to participate in the interest and interchange income from these cards,” said Tommy Constantine, president of Eufora. “We take a marketing idea that has been very, profitable for many years and allow individuals to participate,” he said. The card’s introductory interest rate is 1.9 % for the first five billing cycles and 9.99% afterward. The idea sprang from an experience Constantine had with affiliate marketing in the sport of auto-racing, which he called his “core competency.” If the marketing companies could do as well from this approach as they do, why couldn’t individuals? Constantine and several others went to work to make it happen. While the Eufora effort might resemble a multi-level marketing approach to credit card marketing, Constantine pointed out that a cursory look at the cards should assure customers that it’s not. A cardholder in a multi-level marketing plan would draw income from not only the cards that he or she directly markets, but also from cards that their customers market. In Eufora, the cardholder gets income only from the cards they actually market to their own friends, family and associates. Constantine said that the idea, which has only recently been introduced, has proved wildly popular and has led the association to see a 20% per day growth in the cards. “It’s growing exponentially,” he noted, “and we have seen a 13% conversion rate on our Web site.” That means that 13% of the people that visit the Web site sign up for the card. Andrew Matthieson, managing director of InfiCorp, the holding company for InfiBank, said that the product was especially attractive for InfiBank because of the strong marketing potential of the individual relationships. He also pointed out the program contains an incentive to keep credit card accounts current and active since only accounts in good standing will be included in a customer’s card income stream. [email protected]