Garanti Bank adds PayPass to its Bonus Card
In Turkey, Garanti Bank has contracted smart card supplier Gemalto to provide it with combined EMV and loyalty credit cards featuring a MasterCard PayPass contactless payment facility, following an initial 25,000-card roll out in summer 2006.
Garanti Bank currently claims that more than 5 million of its BonusCard bank cards are in circulation in Turkey. Gemalto has been a long-term supplier to the bank (since 2000) and provided the bank with several million of its existing multi-application smart cards (which already incorporate EMV-compliant credit functions and the BonusCard programme, but not contactless payments).
Going contactless Gemalto was called in to upgrade the bank's BonusCard on a wide scale to include PayPass functionality, to allow cardholders to benefit from the convenience of contactless payments at movie theatres, fast food restaurants, and supermarkets throughout the country. (Gemalto was formed in June 2006 by the combination of Axalto and Gemplus.)
According to Reha Emekli, vice president for Garanti Payment Systems, "The availability [from Gemalto] of any form factor necessary - such as inlays, key fobs, and wristwatches - including reader solutions will help us differentiate ourselves in Turkey's highly competitive payments market."
Loyalty programme BonusCard certainly helped define the Turkish EMV-based rewards credit card market when, on 17th April 2000, the multi-branded BonusCard credit card was launched to offer consumers financial benefits and a reward system that benefits both cardholders and merchant partners.
Since its launch the BonusCard loyalty programme has attracted more than 1,000 brands with over 100,000 points of sale, and more than 5 million members nationwide.
Earlier developments For previous reports on BonusCard from The Wise Marketer, see:· Garanti's loyalty programme reaches milestone (Mar. 2003)· Garanti Bank's cards lead the pack (Aug. 2004)· MasterCard presents co-branding awards (Oct. 2004)· Garanti launches innovative loyalty credit card (Feb. 2006)· Garanti Bank launches PayPass cards (Jul. 2006)
For additional information: · Visit Garanti Bank at http://www.garantibank.com · Visit Gemalto at http://www.gemalto.com · Visit MasterCard at http://www.mastercard.com