The report entitled Affinity and Partnership Marketing in Credit Cards and Retail Lending in Italy represents the most detailed research ever undertaken on this fast-growing sector. Drawing on the results of a survey of over 900 respondents, the report analyses the penetration, operating models and partner market shares of affinity and partnership marketing schemes across a range of distributor categories. These include automotive manufacturers, casse di previdenza, charities, estate agents, insurers, professional associations, retailers, specialised lenders, sports organisations and trade unions. The PartnerBASE database that accompanies the report provides the granular detail behind the analysis, detailing each of the 620+ affinity and partnership marketing initiatives traced by Finaccord in this sector. Together, the report and database will provide you with the definitive guide to current and potential affinity and partnership marketing opportunities in credit cards and retail lending in Italy.

• 1.0 Introduction
  • Finaccord
  • PartnerBASE
  • Rationale
  • Methodology
  • Errors, omissions and limit of liability
• 2.0 Strategies For Success
  • Introduction
  • Why consider affinity and partnership marketing?
  • Affinity and partnership marketing is not a new concept
  • Proprietary distribution channels present limited organic growth potential
  • Not all schemes work but some have been hugely successful
  • Transient relationships mean that incumbents can sometimes be unseated
  • What makes for a successful relationship?
  • Successful affinity and partnership marketing schemes must create three sets of winners
  • All parties need to benefit but the customer remains king
  • Judicious partner selection is a prerequisite for establishing effective schemes
  • Brand or ideological fit can be as important as more concrete selection criteria
  • Strategies for effective affinity and partnership marketing
  • Optimum results will be achievable only if all elements of the marketing mix are attended to
  • Affinity and partnership marketing: the way ahead
  • Financial institutions must emerge from their product silos to create more exciting packages
  • Injecting some fun into financial services will stimulate affinity marketing schemes
  • The future prospects for affinity and partnership marketing should be bright
• 3.0 Market Overview
  • Introduction
  • Overview of the credit card market in Italy
  • Credit and charge cards issued in the Italian market reach 21.8m in 2002
  • Overview of the mortgage and personal lending markets in Italy
  • All forms of consumer lending are advancing at double digit growth rates as a culture for consumer borrowing develops from a low base
  • Overview of affinity and partnership marketing in Italy
  • Affinity and partnership marketing schemes segmented by financial product
  • Over 2,200 affinity and partner. schemes break down relatively evenly by financial product
  • Affinity and partnership marketing schemes segmented by type of partner
  • Financial institutions dominate the distribution of consumer financial services in Italy
  • Affinity and partnership marketing in Italy: credit cards and retail lending
  • Schemes segmented by type of product
  • Credit card schemes account for almost 50% of those identified
  • Schemes segmented by type of partner
  • Credit cards dominate schemes targeted at the affinity segment
  • Schemes segmented by competitor
  • Competitive structure varies by product
  • UniCredito Italiano, through Abbey National Bank, and Banca Woolwich lead in mortgages
  • The market for loan finance partnerships is highly fragmented
  • Credit card partnerships segment between bank and non-bank relationships
• 4.0 Affinity Groups
  • 4.1 Charities
    • Introduction
    • Charity involvement in affinity marketing of financial services is currently limited
    • Credit cards
    • Concerns over low card usage impede growth of charity credit cards although ethical bank Banca Etica has established itself as a leader in the field
  • 4.2 Leisure organisations
    • Introduction
    • The CRAL are increasingly involved in arranging discounts for their members with several having established agreements for mortgages and consumer credit
    • Mortgages
    • 36% of leisure organisations surveyed offer mortgages to their members
    • Personal loans / consumer financ while consumer finance is offered by as many as 48% of leisure organisations
  • 4.3 Professional associations
    • Introduction
    • Professional services have limited involvement in affinity financial services
    • Credit cards
    • American Express leads the field in professional association credit cards
  • 4.4 Sports organisations
    • Introduction
    • Sports organisations offer limited prospects at present but could develop in future
    • Credit cards
    • Just 6.5% of sports organisations currently offer credit cards
  • 4.5 Trade unions
    • Introduction
    • CGIL and CISL dominate the trade union affinity marketing landscape in Italy which means that Unipol and Union Vita enjoy strong positions in this segment
    • Mortgages
    • Few partnerships are visible outside of the main CGIL and CISL deals either for mortgages
    • Personal loans / consumer financ or for personal loans / consumer finance
    • Credit card while affinity credit cards involving trade unions in Italy are virtually unknown
• 5.0 Financial Partners
  • 5.1 Banks
    • Introduction
    • Mortgages
    • Over 15% of banks offering residential mortgages do so through partnerships
    • Personal loans / consumer finance
    • A requirement for unsecured lending expertise results in personal lending partnerships
    • Credit cards
    • Over 75% of banks report offering American Express and Diners Club
  • 5.2 Casse di previdenza
    • Introduction
    • Casse di previdenza broaden their activity into new areas
    • Mortgages
    • Banca Popolare di Sondrio has focused on creating mortgage partnerships in this area
    • Personal loans / consumer finance
    • Few casse di previdenza offer personal loans to their professional groups
    • Credit card and fewer still credit cards
  • 5.3 Financial networks
    • Introduction
    • The SIM sector has been subject to substantial rationalisation in recent years
    • Mortgages
    • Most financial networks offering mortgages do so through their parent bank
    • Personal loans / consumer finance
    • Few financial networks offer personal lending facilities to their customers
    • Credit cards
    • CartaSi credit cards are most frequently distributed by financial networks
  • 5.4 Insurers
    • Introduction
    • Mortgages
    • Few insurers leverage their agency networks in order to distribute mortgages
    • Personal loans / consumer financ and insurer activity in personal loan distribution is similarly limited
    • Credit card although co-branded cards issued in conjunction with insurers are more in evidence
  • 5.5 Specialised lenders
    • Introduction
    • Specialised lenders are a diverse category
    • Mortgages
    • Some lenders specialising in 'cessione del quinto' loans offer morts. through partnerships
    • Personal loans / consumer financ and some require external sources of funding to operate in the personal lending market
    • Credit cards
    • Barclaycard establishes agreements with Forus Finanziaria and Kevios for card distribution
• 6.0 Non-Financial Partners
  • 6.1 Automotive dealers
    • Introduction
    • Italy's automotive dealer sector is highly fragmented
    • Provision of financial services is crucial to the profitability of automotive dealers
    • Consumer finance
    • Numerous lenders, captive and independent, compete for automotive dealer partnerships
  • 6.2 Automotive manufacturers
    • Introduction
    • Consumer finance
    • The majority of automotive manufacturer brands possess their own captive finance entities while Findomestic leads the market for partnerships among those that do not
    • Credit cards
    • Over one quarter of automotive brands surveyed issue an affinity credit card
  • 6.3 Estate agents
    • Introduction
    • All estate agents have established partnerships for mortgages, a majority with credit brokers
    • Mortgages
  • 6.4 Football clubs
    • Introduction
    • Football clubs become more adept in affinity financial services
    • Personal loans / consumer finance
    • The provision of consumer finance through football clubs is a primarily local phenomenon
    • Credit card although co-branded credit cards issued through football clubs are more prevalent
  • 6.5 Retailers
    • Introduction
    • Retailing markets in Italy are fragmented by European standards with the top four retailing groups collectively accounting for less than 10% of total sales although the Bersani legislation removed many licensing requirements and restrictions
    • Carrefour and Mulliez-Auchan lead the foreign conquest of Italy
    • Retailer involvement in fin. services is concentrated in consumer finance and credit cards
    • Personal loans / consumer finance
    • Nearly one third of retailers surveyed offer consumer finance to customers with Agos Itafinco accounting for the highest proportion of major relationships
    • Credit cards
    • Retailer provision rates for credit cards slightly lag those for consumer finance
    • Findomestic lays claim to the highest number partnerships with major retailers significant competition being provided by an array of other card issuing entities
  • 6.6 Travel companies
    • Introduction
    • Travel firms have significant involvement in both consumer finance and co-branded cards
    • Personal loans / consumer finance
    • Consumer finance is offered to consumers by nearly one quarter of travel companies
    • Credit cards
    • Clarima has established several notable partnerships with travel firms since its launch
  • 6.7 Utilities
    • Introduction
    • Involvement of Italian utilities in financial services is currently embryonic
  • 6.8 Other non-financial organisations
    • Introduction
• Graphics / Tables
  • The affinity and partnership marketing universe
  • Entities contacted for the research, segmented by type
  • The three winners in successful affinity and partnership marketing schemes
  • How to identify an effective partner in affinity and partnership marketing
  • The virtuous circle for effective affinity and partnership marketing
  • Most affinity and partnership marketing schemes conform to a 'product silo' approach
  • A new generation of affinity and partnership marketing schemes must deliver a more compelling proposition
  • Number of credit and charge cards in issue and per capita in Italy, 1998-2002
  • Size and growth of the retail lending market in Italy, 1998-2002
  • Affinity and partnership marketing schemes in cons. financial services in Italy: segmentation by type of product
  • Affinity and partnership marketing schemes in financial services in Italy: segmentation by type of partner
  • Affinity and partner. marketing schemes for credit cards and retail lending in Italy: segment. by type of product
  • Affinity and partner. marketing schemes for credit cards and retail lending in Italy: segment. by type of partner
  • Affinity and partner. marketing schemes for credit cards and retail lending in Italy: segmentation by competitor
  • Charities in Italy offering financial services other than credit cards
  • Charities offering credit cards in Italy: penetration, operating models and partner market shares
  • Leisure organisations offering mortgages in Italy: penetration, operating models and partner market shares
  • Leisure orgs. offering personal loans / cons. finance in Italy: penetration, op. models and partner market shares
  • Professional assoc. offering credit cards in Italy: penetration, operating models and partner market shares
  • Sports organisations offering credit cards in Italy: penetration, operating models and partner market shares
  • Trade unions offering mortgages in Italy: penetration, operating models and partner market shares
  • Trade unions offering personal loans / cons. finance in Italy: pen., op. models and partner market shares
  • Banks offering mortgages in Italy: penetration, operating models and partner market shares
  • Banks offering personal loans / cons. finance in Italy: penetration, op. models and partner market shares
  • Banks offering cards in Italy: rel. imp. of Am. Ex., Bankam., CartaSi, Diners Club and Findom. as partners
  • Casse di previdenza offering mortgages in Italy: penetration, operating models and partner market shares
  • Casse di preV. offering personal loans / cons. finance in Italy: pen., op. models and partner mark. shares
  • Casse di previdenza offering credit cards in Italy: penetration, operating models and partner market shares
  • Financial networks offering mortgages in Italy: penetration, operating models and partner market shares
  • Financial networks offering personal loans / consumer finance in Italy: penetration and operating models
  • Financial networks offering credit cards in Italy: penetration, operating models and partner market shares
  • Insurers offering mortgages in Italy: penetration, operating models and partner market shares
  • Insurers offering personal loans / cons. finance in Italy: penetration, op. models and partner market shares
  • Insurers offering credit cards in Italy: penetration, operating models and partner market shares
  • Specialised lenders offering mortgages in Italy: penetration, operating models and partner market shares
  • Specialised lenders offering pers. loans / cons. finance in Italy: pen. and op. models and partner market shares
  • Specialised lenders offering credit cards in Italy: penetration, operating models and partner market shares
  • Relationships between major automotive dealership groups and automotive manufacturers, autumn 2003
  • Automotive dealerships offering consumer finance in Italy: penetration and operating models
  • Automotive manufacturers offering consumer finance in Italy: penetration and operating models
  • Automotive manufacturers offering credit cards in Italy: penetration, op. models and partner market shares
  • Estate agents offering mortgages in Italy: penetration and operating models
  • Football clubs offering pers. loans / cons. finance in Italy: penetration, op. models and partner market shares
  • Football clubs offering credit cards in Italy: penetration, operating models and partner market shares
  • Retailers in Italy offering financial services other than consumer finance and credit cards
  • Retailers offering personal loans / cons. finance in Italy: penetration, op. models and partner market shares
  • Retailers offering credit cards in Italy: penetration, operating models and partner market shares
  • Travel cos.offering personal loans / cons. finance in Italy: penetration, op. models and partner market shares
  • Travel companies offering credit cards in Italy: penetration, operating models and partner market shares
  • Utilities in Italy offering financial services
  • Other non-financial organisations in Italy offering financial services