PLCC Providers Offer A Variety Of Services

NEW YORK — While many providers of private-label credit card (PLCC) programs might appear to be following a similar formula, each company takes a slightly different approach in terms of the types programs and services it offers to its customers.

HSBC Card and Retail Services' provides customized consumer and commercial credit card solutions for many consumer electronic retailers and manufacturers, including Best Buy, Bose, CompUSA, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, Micro Centers, Mitsubishi and Sony.

Brian Hughes, the company's managing director of client development and marketing, said his company helps generate sales and increase profits for its clients through consumer and commercial financing programs and preferred customer loyalty programs.

The company also manages customer data and offers services like personalized billing statements, enhanced systems capability and customer-behavior analysis to help drive marketing strategy.

Co-branded cards, like the Reward Zone card HSBC helped create last year for Best Buy and MasterCard, lets customers earn savings on Best Buy purchases as well as on purchases made at other locations where MasterCard is accepted.

GE Money's Lou Pagliarini told TWICE his company provides PLCCS for "many appliance and electronic buying groups including Nationwide, Brand Source, MARTA and Best Brand's Plus."

According to Pagliarini, in addition to its PLCC programs, the company offers a variety of other marketing tools to its customers including gift cards, manufacturer promotions and its marketing toolkit.

"The marketing toolkit is an online application that allows a GE Money retailer to develop her/his own customized direct-mail and/or point-of purchase materials. In less than 10 minutes a GE Money partner can select graphics, import logos, proof the direct-mail piece or POP, select a qualified consumer base and click the "send" button to execute the promotion," Pagliarini explained. "Targeted marketing to select consumers with open credit lines has yielded higher responses and helped our partners to drive incremental traffic to their stores and consumer sales."

Finally, Wells Fargo Financial Retail Services provides PLCCs for Nationwide Marketing Group and ABC Warehouse, among others in the consumer electronics and appliance industry according to Dan Abbott, the company's president.

Abbott told TWICE that his company's customers work one-on-one with sales representatives who provide installation, training and support for the development of promotional programs as well as problem resolution and the development of new initiatives.

According to Abbott, Wells Fargo customers also have access to dual-line Visa credit cards, a "second-look application evaluation process," and technology like the new Internet Processing system that "provides all the tools necessary for a consistent and quick credit-approval process for customers."