The first ever payment card dedicated to women in France was launched yesterday in Paris by BRED Banque Populaire and MasterCard. The BRED Affinity card combines the features of an international payment card with exclusive services and discounts that could prove highly attractive to women.
The Bred Affinity MasterCard provides women with services to help facilitate their day-to-day lives, including the option to pay for purchases in instalments through an SMS-based credit request, emergency calls for home repair services or domestic accidents, guarantees for purchases and home shopping, and one or two year extension of guarantees granted by manufacturers (hi-fi, household appliances, etc.)
One of the debit card's major advantages is the benefits and discounts it offers at partner stores. Users of Bred Affinity will receive discounts at five retailers: Sephora.com, Fnac.com, 24h00.fr, SmartBox.fr and Viapresse.com - and regular additional offers from other partners. As Bred Affinity is a MasterCard international payment card, women will be able to make purchases at 25 million locations worldwide and benefit from the guarantees linked to MasterCard cards, such as insurance. The new card is available in two versions: MasterCard Classic and MasterCard Gold, both contemporarily designed to appeal as a fashion accessory in their own right.
The Gold premium card looks and feels leather-covered, while the Classic card has an eyecatching pearl effect. BRED Banque Populaire aims to issue more than 20,000 Classic cards and 5,000 Gold cards in 2008, tapping into the sizeable target market of 16 million females aged between 20 and 40 years-old in France.
Frédéric Maserati, Head of Daily banking (Banque au Quotidien), BRED Banque Populaire, said: "With Bred Affinity, we wanted to create a card that could accompany women anywhere in the world, contributing to their daily well-being, allowing them to make purchases more easily, providing them with discounts and services dedicated to women. The card is unique because it is the only one available in France that gathers all these features for the benefit of cardholders."
BRED Banque Populaire has been a pioneer of affinity cards in France, through a close partnership with MasterCard, which has developed many programmes in Europe and worldwide.
Isabelle Loddé, Vice President - Affluent Products, MasterCard, said: "This is the first time in France that a bank has created a card for women, allowing them to manage their expenses, protect purchases and provide valuable advantages and practical services that they can enjoy in their day-to-day lives. We are proud to launch Bred Affinity with BRED Banque Populaire. With 33 million affinity and co-branded cards circulating in Europe and women cards already successfully launched in Asia, MasterCard is indeed a forerunner."