The Signature Group has signed a three-year contract to provide GE Card Services cardholders fee-based club and supplemental insurance products.
The Schaumburg, Ill., direct mail marketer announced the partnership last week, and said it plans to alert GE cardholders of its products this quarter through direct mail, telemarketing, and statement inserts.
"If you believe that the 1990s are the value decade, then you need to provide differentiation in the marketplace," said Dick Gallagher, president and chief executive of the Signature Group.
"Why should a consumer use one credit card as opposed to another?" he asked, saying, "Everyone's got to provide a different slant."
Signature's services include Preferred Nationwide Auto Club, Legal Services Plan of America, Home Protection, Hospital Income Plan, Hospital Accident Plan and Debt Guard, as well as comprehensive dental, vision, and pharmacy plans.
The marketer's Credit Card Sentinel provides protection for lost or stolen credit cards. Upon discovering the loss, consumers call an 800 number and Sentinel immediately notifies all credit card issuers.
Signature's newest program, called Dining a la Card, enables GE customers to receive a 20% rebate on the total bill they receive while dining at participating restaurants.
"It really spurs usage as well as encouraging loyalty to that particular card, since most people dine out a lot," Mr. Gallagher said.
"Most likely, a customer who gets a rebate after eating at a restaurant will continue to use that card," he said. "Receiving the check through the mail, as opposed to getting an immediate discount at the restaurant, makes the message even more memorable."
Signature intends to test new media approaches with GE to learn which marketing methods will be most successful in increasing the number of GE cardholders as well as Signature club and insurance members.
Terms of the contract give the Signature Group the right of first refusal regarding the development of all new fee-based products offered to those in GE Card Services' files.
The Signature Group is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Montgomery Ward & Co. Its acquisition last October of Credit Card Sentinel's North American operations made Signature the second-largest company offering credit card protection in the United States and Canada, with over five million customers.
The largest, SafeCard Services Inc., of Cheyenne, Wyo., has about 14 million customers.
Signature services more than 100 U.S. financial institutions, oil companies, and retailers. Its clients include Citibank, Chemical Bank, Bank of America, Mobil, and Texaco.
GE Card Services, based in Cincinnati, is the consumer financial services unit of General Electric Capital Corp.
