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Starbucks Coffee Co. yesterday began offering free wireless Internet access in its stores to customers who load at least $5 onto a Starbucks prepaid gift card and register it on the Starbucks Web site, Alisa Martinez, a company spokesperson, tells CardLine. Seattle-based Starbucks also is offering a free beverage to customers who register their cards through July 14. Providing free wireless Internet access and a free beverage to customers who register their gift cards represent the latest perks Starbucks started offering this year as part of a "Tranformation Agenda" to build customer loyalty, Martinez tells CardLine. Earlier this year, Starbucks began giving registered cardholders complimentary flavor syrups and milk alternatives in their drinks, complimentary tall beverages when they buy a pound of whole-bean coffee, and free refills of brewed coffee on the same visit (CardLine, 3/25). Customers must use their Starbucks card to get the benefits, according to the company. Starbucks plans to add other rewards to the cards, Martinez says.
June 4 -
MasterCard Worldwide is banking heavily on growth in emerging markets in Asia and Latin America to achieve average annual net-income growth of 20% to 30%, Walt M. Macnee, MasterCard president, global markets, told analysts during a conference last week. China and India present the biggest opportunities for MasterCard in Asia because mass urbanization in both countries is giving rise to second- and third-tier cities with populations of 1 million to 3 million residents, he said. The shift to cities is fueling middle-class growth and boosting discretionary spending, especially among women. "Women in Asia are becoming the key financial decision-makers in households, and they also appear to have more discretionary spending power than ever before," Macnee said. A growing sector of affluent Asian women also is driving new credit card products, such as the Lady's Solitaire World MasterCard launched in March by Singapore's largest issuer, United Overseas Bank Limited, he noted. The card pays triple points on purchases of luxury merchandise and also grants cardholders access to concierge-level services, events and fashion shows. Latin America presents another growth opportunity for MasterCard, as an increasingly youthful population shifts from almost exclusive reliance on cash to electronic payments, particularly debit cards. In Venezuela the government is using MasterCard prepaid debit cards to replace cash in a widely used public meal-voucher program. "By 2010, there will be more people in Latin America under the age of 35 than in the U.S. and Europe combined, and it's that younger segment that will be our engine of growth in Latin America," Macnee said.
June 4 -
U.S. Bancorp said it has started offering contactless debit cards to customers in California, Colorado, Missouri, and Utah.
June 4 -
The Chicago online travel company Orbitz Worldwide Inc. is offering a cobranded Visa Inc. credit card issued by Capital One Financial Corp. of McLean, Va.
June 4 -
When Canadian shoppers come to the United States, they spend significantly more on their average debit card transaction than their U.S. counterparts spend while shopping at home. That information comes from a report on cross-border PIN-debit transactions between December 2007 and March 2008 from NYCE Payments Network LLC and Acxsys Corp. Canadians spent an average of more than $68 per cross-border debit transaction, 45% more than the average U.S. debit cardholders spent while shopping at home in the U.S. during the same four-month period. NYCE, a Secaucus, N.J.-based PIN-debit network, and Acxsys, which designed Canada's Interac debit service, three years ago formed an alliance called the Cross-Border service. The service enables Canadians to pay with their debit cards at U.S. retailers that accept NYCE-branded cards. NYCE attributes increases in Canadian buying to holiday shopping and Canadians vacationing in the southern U.S. states to escape Canada's winter. However, two states that border Canada–Washington and New York–accounted for most of Canadians' U.S. debit card transactions, according to the announcement.
June 3 -
PSCU Financial Services, a credit-union service organization, has signed a five-year agreement with Chevron Federal Credit Union to convert 55,000 debit cards to PSCU Financial's debit platform, the companies announced Monday. Oakland, Calif.-based Chevron Federal is converting 40,000 signature-debit cards and 15,000 PIN-debit cards to PSCU's debit platform because of its fraud-management technology and its contact center, which operates 24 hours per day every day, Chevron Federal officials said. The center manages lost and stolen accounts. St. Petersburg, Fla.-based PSCU has dedicated staff members who create promotions designed to stimulate growth within credit unions' debit portfolios," says David Serlo, PSCU Financial president and CEO. First Data Corp. processes PSCU's debit card transactions. Chevron Federal has 65,000 members in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and 67 countries.
June 3 -
Changes to prepaid cards reduce profits for program managers, according to a report released last week by the Mercator Advisory Group Inc., a Waltham, Mass-based consultancy. Each change affects many parts, such as telephone call centers and terms-and-conditions agreements, says Tim Sloane, director of Mercator's debit advisory service. The changes cost money, Sloane says. David Fish, Mercator senior analyst, tells CardLine the report does not oppose change. Instead, it lays out for card managers issues they should consider before making changes, he says. Managers of small prepaid initiatives will find changes have a relatively high cost because they have fewer cards to spread the expense than do managers of larger programs, Fish says. "One of the lessons of this industry is to always keep scale in mind," Fish tells CardLine.
June 2 -
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