SIA technology supports Berlin bank's co-brand card partnerships

Landesbank Berlin, a major issuer of co-branded cards in Germany, has launched a contactless card with German Automobile Club ADAC as its first project with European payments services provider SIA.

The bank is using SIA to manage its co-brand relationships with commercial partners in Germany. In the past few years, SIA has also worked with SolarisBank in Germany to launch contactless debit cards and more digital payment services for customers.

With this week's agreement, SIA's technology platform will manage the processing of more than 2.8 million cards issued through Landesbank Berlin with advancements in fraud prevention, dispute and chargeback technology and procedures.

"This initiative makes us particularly proud because LandesBank Berlin has chosen to use our digital platform to offer the customers of its business partners a series of innovative services, from payments to insurance," Cristina Astore, northwest Europe regional sales director for SIA, said in a Wednesday press release.

The latest efforts of SIA and Landesbank Berlin continue a trend in Germany in which payment cards and digital technology continue to displace cash, a long-standing major payment method in the country.

The bank plans to use additional SIA applications, such as converting customer documentation to digital files, as well as access to the business intelligence and data warehouse software that delivers predictive analysis of data and other information.

"In cooperation with SIA, we offer our credit card customers innovative payment solutions at the POS and in e-commerce," Johannes Drews, managing director of Landesbank Berlin, said in the release. "We also expect, from the change, to expand our business with cooperation partners and to benefit from reduced costs."