By Jérôme Osselaer

Since the launch of the first football-specific credit card by the Banque Populaire during FIFA World Cup 2006, the affinity dimension has already been tested by other banks in the industry of sport, such as LCL with cycling, or Société Générale with rugby.

Beyond the functionalities of a classic credit card, the Banque Populaire card offered extra services in order to establish customer loyalty, thanks to partnerships with EA Sports, football365.fr and Made in Sport. By late 2007, the BRED, a subsidiary of Banque Populaire which specialised in consumption credits, even issued an exclusive Champions’ League visual.

In the wake of this initiative, and following the evolution of the legal framework, several other banking companies took position on the slot of the number one French sport. Crédit Agricole launched a co-branded card displaying the distinctive signs of les Bleus (the rooster and the star), which offered advantages at Sport 2000 or reductions on the range of the French team.

Now a leader on the segment of added-value cards, Crédit Agricole has also created two banking cards dedicated to RC Lens and Valenciennes which include a charitable dimension - giving 10 cents (Euro) per transaction, respectively, to “Neuf de Cœur”, the association of Jean-Pierre Papin, former coach of Lens, and “Les Clowns de l’espoir”.

Strong brands join the ‘club’
Like RC Lens and Valenciennes, which are less dominant sides in French football, the so-called powerhouses have taken similar actions. to Saint-Etienne, now associated with Barclays, the official partner of the club since 2001, Marseille, which has a relationship with Caisse d’Epargne, and Lyon, which is affiliated with GE Money Bank, are among them.

Lyon is an interesting example. An extensive study of 8,000 questionnaires filled out via the official club website, the packages of card services - along with loyalty programs dedicated to its supporters - were created. Lyon and GE Money Bank have also benefited from their previous experience when they created in a private payment card named OL Shopping in May 2006.

Thus, the Lyon card seems to be a well-thought product. According to Bernard Somma, Director of Direct Acquisition of GE Money Bank, “We benefited from our know-how to create a card matching with the high ambitions of l’OL and which truly binds the supporters with their club. We particularly focused on the affinity aspect thanks to the study, which allowed us to set up a tailored programme based on the profiles, behaviours and expectations of the fans.”

The holders of this card can become members of the OL Club, which allows supporters to not only use the card on a daily basis but to establish a privileged bond with Lyon.

And no wonder that Xavier Pierrot, Manager of OL Club, who is already in charge of the membership scheme at Lyon, is also responsible for the ticketing of the club. Indeed, it seems logical to manage through the same entity all the club-supporter points of contact, given that the clubs will be able to better target their supporters. This, according to Olivier Mallet, a consultant at Arkanea, provides the club with statistical access to the buying profile of their consumers.

An opportunity of infrastructuration for French FCs
The development of co-branded cards represents a formidable opportunity for French FCs. Such initiatives allow them to adopt proactive attitudes and more ably anticipate the modernisation of their stadia via an effective information system. Utilizing database management tools, which represent the cornerstone of any adequate CRM strategy, French football clubs can attract the attention of additional commercial partners.

The clubs should then be able to optimise the high potential of these cards, increase the loyalty of their supporters (thanks to dedicated programmes), improve their purchasing power through the credit functionality, acquire new supporters, and refine their knowledge of these supporters by qualifying their expectations more precisely.

French clubs could be inspired by the example of Manchester City, which is associated with MBNA and MasterCard and imported US best practices to Europe. Man City recently launched a pilot programme to issue season ticket holders with a reloadable MasterCard Prepaid with PayPass contact-less card, which can be used both to gain access to the stadium utilizing the existing SmartCard technology on match days and to purchase items inside and outside the ground. Bars and stands in the area will accept Tap&Go payments for purchases under GBP10. The club will thus be able to better know the buying behaviours of its supporters, but also to reduce queuing time - especially during half-time.

The major reason of the economic gap between French football and its European competitors lies in the TV-dependence of its business model. Why?

Ticketing is insufficient as the sole revenue stream, mainly due to the obsolescence of the facilities and an immature domestic market, but also because commercial revenues are not being maximized. Hence, if one could draw a correlation between stadium modernity and commercial revenues, it would be potentially regrettable if a club such as Le Mans, Grenoble, Lyon, Lille or Toulouse, neglected a creative approach such as a co-branded credit initiative.

Jérôme Osselaer is a football consultant based in Paris. His column appears regularly in Offsides. Email him at josselaer@gmail.com.