Moms On Target: Card Companies Look To Market To The Decision-Makers

In many homes, the mom is in charge of the household finances because she often makes most of the spending decisions while caring for her children.

Now, some card marketers want to tap into the “mom” market, which often relies on smart phones to manage schedules and on online blogs and comment sites to make purchasing and product decisions for their families.

“It’s the right target to be focused on,” says Ron Shevlin, senior analyst at Aite Group.

Women in the U.S. controlled 73% of household spending, according to a 2009 Boston Consulting Group report. And that percentage likely has gone up since then, some observers believe.

Two companies, American Express Co. and BillMyParents Inc., both have begun targeting moms with prepaid card products.

In one its latest marketing initiatives, BillMyParents earlier this year began targeting moms online to help get its parent-controlled, MasterCard-branded prepaid card into the hands of more teenagers. The prepaid card developer’s SpendSmart prepaid card enables teens to initiate purchases online with their parents’ approval.

Card costs include a $3.95 monthly fee, 75-cent reloads and a $1.50 charge per ATM withdrawal.

To increase card use, the company launched a marketing campaign this summer with Tremor, the Procter & Gamble Co.-owned marketing firm that enables moms to evaluate new products online through its Vocalpoint.com website.

The interactive site reaches more than 600,000 moms, half of whom have teenagers at home, Evan Jones, BillMyParents vice president of marketing, tells PaymentsSource. This is the first financial product to be included on Vocalpoint.com, he notes.

Socialwise started its marketing efforts earlier this summer with a special “Anti-Green Movement” campaign, which promoted teens using its prepaid cards instead of cash at the 7th annual BlogHer conference in San Diego. The conference attracted 3,600 women bloggers.

“As we look to drive awareness and consideration with parents directly, we know that social media is a key component,” says Jones. “BlogHer participation, plus the word-of-mouth campaign with Tremor combined with other targeted marketing and awareness initiatives on the near horizon, will all help trigger a connection with parents and moms on a broad scale through essential social media channels.”

Connecting with moms through social media is wise because moms commonly use the Internet to research products and services, use smart phones, read blogs and are on Facebook, Susan Menke, vice president and behavioral economist at Mintel Comperemedia, tells PaymentsSource. Menke ran a Web seminar earlier this year on women and financial services and determined that moms are a viable group for targeted marketing of products and services.

BillMyParents also sought to reach both parents in general with an educational marketing campaign it launched with MasterCard Worldwide in September (see story). The campaign targeted family and parent-oriented websites, including finance websites, in hopes of connecting with parents as they make financial and spending decisions.

At American Express, the issuer is marketing the Pass prepaid card to parents for their teens to use. The card gives parents spending control, and it enables them to reload value when funds are low and control access to ATMs.

Amex touts the card as safer than cash for teens and teaches them responsible spending. Teens also can put a customized photo on the card. The card costs $3.95 per month and $1.50 per ATM withdrawal.

Amex considers moms as the chief financial officers of their families, according to Laura Kelly, senior vice president of marketing and product development for global payment options, which is Amex’s prepaid card business.

Amex has not done much marketing to support the card, relying instead on blogs and other interactive online channels to promote the product.

“One thing about having a [product like this] is word of mouth, and that has been huge for us,” Kelly says, noting Amex also has promoted the Pass card on Blog-Her and MomCentral.com. “Reaching moms in innovative ways has been very productive for us.”

Amex also lauds its brand recognition for making headway in the prepaid market, especially with moms.

“The other interesting thing about this product is that women are very interested in quality. So it’s not just the fee positioning, it’s the quality of the Amex brand behind it,” says Kelly.

Amex receives consistent accolades from consumer brand surveyor J.D.Power & Associates, which this year ranked Amex first in customer satisfaction, Kelly notes. (see story). “Amex has “a great brand and responsibility for taking care of customers, and that’s a very big driver,” she says.

Most of the efforts to target moms have focused on payment card issuance, but providers of other payments services–including card acceptance–also are looking to tap into moms and families.

In August, Square Inc., which sells a mobile-payment acceptance device, signed a deal with SitterPals.com, a national social network of babysitters and parents (see story). Sitters who register on the website may sign up to accept credit and debit card payments through Square, which the founder of SitterPals–a mother–says is a time-saver for busy parents who need a night out.

“When you look at the service, we’re providing ease of use [with the Square service,]” Amanda Armstrong, SitterPals.com president, tells PaymentsSource. Using Square makes payments easier for both parties because they can put in exactly the amount of time paid for, and parents also can add a tip. Square’s transaction fee to accept credit cards is 2.75% of the transaction amount.

Finalizing cash payments often can be awkward if the parent is early or late and may not have the exact amount earlier agreed upon. Square’s service overcomes that problem, Armstrong says. “Parents pay what they want to pay, and sitters are paid what they’re owed,” she says.

SitterPals.com also markets the Web-based service exclusively through social media, another nod to the fact that moms and families rely on such communication vehicles as they try to do what is best for their families, Armstrong says. The site eventually will move to blogs and Twitter, she says.

Though not directly promoting a payment product, Seattle-based Verity Credit Union is using its Verity Mom blog to communicate product and service information, as well as just “mom” topics, to its customers.

“Verity took an integrated approach; they didn’t just make everything pink,” notes Aite’s Shevlin. Verity research has identified the target market, and the company found a way to connect with it, he says.

Verity offers a special “Cartwheel” rewards checking product designed for the “mom” market, Melina Young, marketing manager, tells PaymentsSource.

The credit union refunds ATM fees “because moms are always having to stop at other banks’ ATMs,” and it also offers dining rewards at participating restaurants, says Young, noting the institution also is considering offering the BillMyParents prepaid card to its customers.

As consumer segments become more defined, more companies–financial and otherwise–will hone in on marketing to moms as viable future customers.

“It amazes me more that other firms are not doing this yet,” says Aite’s Shevlin.

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