Global Coalition Loyalty Programs: Affinity Marketing Opportunities for Financial Services Institutions and Other Organisations

Based on research covering 115 programs active across a very wide range of countries, Global Coalition Loyalty Programs: Affinity Marketing Opportunities for Financial Services Institutions and Other Organisations is a report about the increase in number and membership of coalition schemes that has occurred globally in recent years and the affinity and partnership marketing opportunities that they offer to financial services institutions, especially banks and insurance companies, and other organisations.

In particular, the data collected for this study suggests that almost 650 million consumers are likely to be members of at least one coalition loyalty program, which is equivalent to around 14.4% of the world’s adult population. Coalition loyalty programs are potentially attractive partners for banks, insurers and other consumer-facing organizations for several reasons. These include: that they tend to have a high number of members relative to other affinity groups in any given country; that they are generally growing more quickly than other affinity groups; that their membership is often made up of consumers with specific characteristics (e.g. individuals with above average wealth in the case of hotel group schemes); that they incentivize consumers to buy products or services on a regular basis by awarding them points or miles in return; and that they are normally underpinned by sophisticated technology which facilitates marketing actions.

Types of organisation that may be able to use this research include the following: - loyalty management companies: owners of coalition loyalty schemes include dedicated loyalty management firms as well as airlines, banks, hotel groups and retailers - in effect, this report is the first ever worldwide review of this market; - payment card issuers and networks: Finaccord’s research establishes that at least one co-branded payment card has been developed in association with 92 (80%) of the 115 coalition loyalty programs investigated - the share of partnerships of issuers and networks is detailed in full; - banks and insurance companies: coalition loyalty programs also provide a gateway to a huge number of consumers for other financial services institutions including providers of niche products, such as boat / yacht insurance and home assistance, as well as mainstream financial products; - other consumer-facing organizations: coalition loyalty programs also constitute an exciting affinity marketing opportunity for other international consumer-facing organizations which could include companies from sectors as diverse as computing, electronics, energy, floristry, food service, media and telecoms; - management consultancies: for consulting firms helping clients to understand their strategy with respect to coalition loyalty programs, this study will provide rapid global insight into the subject, saving time and effort on researching the subject separately.