The Hindu Business Line : Deutsche Bank’s credit card marketing efforts pay off

Chennai, May 25 Deutsche Bank has managed to sell nearly half a million credit cards in the country in 18 months, Mr Shameek Bhargava, Managing Director & Head of Cards’ Asia-Pacific, Deutsche Bank, said.

He said that the bank’s marketing strategy of getting the customer more involved from the beginning had paid off. He said the insight that the credit card was the only financial product with a shape and colour had led the bank to fashion a different kind of entry strategy. This included allowing the customer to make a choice of the colours and design of the card that he or she wanted to possess. For instance, there was the option of having one’s zodiac sign on the card — something which proved to be a great hit, Mr Bhargava said. This ensured that even if the card was the fourth or fifth card in a wallet, it would still be used more often.

The bank had also worked on its ‘reward points’ strategy. It classified customers on the basis of usage patterns and allowed them to choose a reward points programme that was more aligned to their expenditure. For instance, customers’ spend on cards was broadly split into four categories — 1) Travel – airlines/hotel; 2) Grocery & home appliances; 3) Shopping, clothes and apparel; and 4) Entertainment – bars, restaurants, parties. If a customer spent more on travel, he could choose an option that allowed him get more reward points for every mile that he logged.

These two strategies helped Deutsche Bank break into the crowded space that has more than a dozen players, Mr Bhargava said. Besides, the bank was using about 400 of its own staff for its card marketing efforts rather than rely entirely on direct sales agents. This helped the bank choose its customers more carefully and reduce the possibility of defaults, he said. Mr Bhargava was confident that Deutsche Bank’s card operations would break even much ahead of the industry average of 4 to 5 years.

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