Data from SynovateComcon suggests that only 3% of Russians who use banking plastic have co-branded cards. At the same time, among the “favorite” operations of cardholders are cash withdrawals, transfers between cards and payment for cellular communications. Let's try to find out why co-branded cards have not yet become quite popular in the Russian Federation.

What is a co-branded card

A co-branded card is a special type of payment card that is issued by a bank in cooperation with a company. At its core, a co-branded card is a joint offer from a company and its partner bank. On the one hand, it is a bonus or, and on the other, a financial instrument for making non-cash payments.

As mentioned above, only 3% of Russians who have plastic cards are holders of co-branded cards. Among Muscovites, 6% use co-branded cards, and among citizens belonging to the high-income upper segment of the middle class - about 17%. These data are based on a massive nationwide survey of people over the age of 10 who live in cities with a population of more than 100,000 people. Every year, 28,000 mass consumers are surveyed.

Among the wealthy consumers of the Premier category, citizens from 18 to 54 years of age who live in cities with a population of one million and have a high personal or family income were surveyed. For the capital, this is over 60,000 rubles per month, for St. Petersburg – over 50,000, for other cities – over 40,000. The annual sample of wealthy consumers is 2,500 people.

“Most of the cards in the hands of Russians are still salary cards issued at the place of work. Usually these are cards without bonuses that have minimal advantages, cards of the lowest group. 3% are holders who have started to count something and have appreciated the economic benefits of the card offers available on the market,” comments Dmitry Lepekhin, who heads the debit card development department of Otkritie Bank. - At one time, we interviewed clients who independently opened a card in our financial institution about what factors were important to them in plastic. And they were surprised when the vast majority of respondents mentioned the ability to pay by card at retail outlets and on the Internet, as well as withdraw cash from ATMs. And clients are willing to pay for these “privileges.” Citizens simply do not know about the bonuses they receive when using a bank card.”

The place of co-branded cards in the pool of payment instruments

Speaking about the small share of co-brand cards among the entire pool of these payment instruments, we must remember that plastic cards in the total volume of issue are primarily not a transactional instrument, but an operational one. Within its framework, a co-brand is usually not issued (plastic for repaying loans, income, salary cards, plastic for obtaining an unsecured loan, etc.). If we talk about co-brands in “their” market - transactional products, in other words, products for paying for services, goods and work, their share will be significantly higher and can reach a level of 18%.

A study by SynovateComcon showed that in 2014, compared to 2013, the share of Russians (among mass consumers) using any bank cards increased slightly - from 56 to 58%. For the capital, these figures were 65 and 66%, respectively. In the Premier segment, the percentage remained the same – 95%.

Analysts from SynovateComcon found that cards are actively used by those who always have co-branded plastic with them, rather than those who have it lying around at home - the ratio of active users is 55 versus 40% when using the card more than once a week. In the Premier category the ratio is 73 and 67%.”

Russians were asked what transactions they made with their cards at least once over the past 3 months. As expected, cash withdrawal took first place among both holders of co-branded cards and those without them (on average, 87% of plastic card holders chose this item).

In second place among holders of non-co-branded cards is payment for cellular communications (46% of respondents), in third place is payment for goods in stores (45%).

The top three among owners of co-branded plastic cards are payment for mobile communications (65%) and transfer of money from card to card (41%). Experts believe that when answering the question, respondents meant that they were not so much making transfers from a co-branded card as they were making transfers to it from a payroll card.

How are co-branded cards most often used?

Holders of co-brand cards are distinguished by the fact that they are much less likely to withdraw cash from plastic cards or pay them in a store, but they are much more likely to perform almost all other actions on the card: pay for a mobile phone and repay loans, pay for services at gas stations and restaurants, transfer funds.

Among wealthy people in the Premier segment, the most popular are co-brands with airlines (they are preferred by 41% of cardholders). Less popular are co-brands with mobile operators - 24%, retail chains - 22%, with bonus discount systems - 18% and fuel cards - 16%. Also, 10% of Premier-segment consumers have a card with charitable or social programs, and 7% of respondents are cardholders of printed publications.

The distribution of co-brand card partners that belong to mass consumers is somewhat different. Airline cards are also in the lead (they are preferred by 28% of respondents), followed by co-brands with a mobile operator (26%), cards from retail chains received “bronze” (14%). But among mass consumers, cards of social and charitable programs are more common, and fuel cards and cards for printed publications are less common than among the Premier audience.

SynovateComcon analysts tried to compare the audiences of retail outlets and banks according to the parameters “importance of the price factor - fashion orientation” and learned about interesting trends. For example, the ideal candidate for Citibank’s co-brand is the Azbuka Vkusa chain, for Raiffeisenbank – Grabli restaurants, for VTB24 – Metro wholesale shopping centers, for Alfa Bank – Sportmaster stores, and for Sber – Pyaterochka stores " and "Magnet".

When making a decision about choosing a partner, SynovateComcon suggests comparing the size and overlap of audiences - here it becomes possible to determine the feasibility of partnerships and the degree of benefit for each party.

Prospects for the development of co-brand cards

What is co-branding in a simplified form? This is when you sell something to someone else’s customer base and pay a certain “bash” to your partner for it. Naturally, it is more profitable for a bank to implement its loyalty programs; many credit organizations are actively doing this today. Banks have grown to the level where they can implement their programs on their own, and not enter into contracts with Aeroflot, Azbuka Vkusa and others, trading their client bases.”

There cannot be any special development in the field of co-branded cards today, because consumers have already been offered almost everything that is possible. All that remains is to offer increased bonuses subject to certain conditions - for example, increased cashbacks for regular transactions on a co-branded card.

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A co-branded card is a card that is the result of joint developments between a bank and a company, for example, an air carrier, a manufacturer of goods or services, etc. Holders of such cards can receive additional benefits from purchasing such products in the form of discounts, cash back or bonus points that can be spent when paying in certain stores.

Currently, such cards are issued by almost all banking organizations operating in Russia. These include Sberbank, which offers its clients the opportunity to use a number of co-branded cards with special conditions.

Types of Sberbank co-branding cards

Visa Gold and Classic cards “Give Life”

Together with the Gift of Life charity foundation, the purpose of which is to provide assistance to children suffering from cancer, Sberbank created a card of the same name. When developing the design of the card, elements of drawings created by children who received help from the charitable foundation were used; in particular, the sun depicted on the card, which became the symbol of the foundation, was drawn by the girl Daria.

The essence of the charity program developed by Sberbank is as follows:

• 50% of the cost of annual card servicing paid by its holder is transferred to the Gift of Life fund;
• 0.3% of the amount of each purchase paid with the card is also donated to a charitable foundation.

The cost of annual card maintenance is 900 rubles for Classic card holders and 3,500 rubles for Gold card holders. The cost of service can be reduced if a personal credit limit is connected to the card, and its size is calculated by a bank employee individually for each specific card (). Preferential terms of service are provided to citizens of the Russian Federation who receive a salary or pension from Sberbank, use any bank debit card, or have deposits or consumer loans issued at Sberbank.

The card is valid for three years, and it is possible to connect to the “Thank You” bonus program. In addition, the cardholder can take advantage of a credit limit, the interest rates of which range from 25.9% to 33.9% per annum.

You can apply for a card by personally contacting a Sberbank branch, or by leaving an online application on the banking organization’s website.

Aeroflot Visa Gold and Classic cards

This card allows its holder to accumulate miles in the Aeroflot Bonus program, and then exchange them for tickets from Aeroflot or any companies that are part of the SkyTeam alliance.

Bonus miles are accrued under the following conditions:

• when using an Aeroflot Visa Classic card: 500 miles for joining the program and 1 mile for every 50 rubles, 1 dollar or 1 euro spent on purchases using the card;
• when using an Aeroflot Visa Gold card: 1,000 miles for joining the program and 1.5 miles for every 50 rubles, 1 dollar or 1 euro spent.

The card is valid for 3 years, the cost of annual maintenance depends on the type of card and is:

• 900 rubles on the Classic card;
• 3,500 rubles with a Gold card.

The card is a credit card, the amount of interest on the loan received varies from 25.9% to 33.9% per annum. There is no option to join the “Thank You” bonus program, which allows you to receive cash back on every purchase.

Currently, Sberbank offers its clients the opportunity to receive two types of co-branded cards, one of which is created in collaboration with the Podari Zhizn charitable foundation, and the second with Aeroflot. In order to become the owner of any of these cards, you must contact the territorial branch of Sberbank and present your passport to the specialist on duty.

For some time now, a new phrase has entered our lexicon - co-branded card. It is clear that we are talking about a bank card, but what is it? It's simple - this is a card that the bank issues in joint cooperation with a certain organization or brand. Accordingly, this type of “plastic” is used not only as a card for storing money, but also as a discount card that the holder can use. As a rule, when paying for goods or services, the holder receives either a discount or accumulates points, which he can later exchange for something. It is clear that we are talking about only one company with which the bank has an agreement. Other companies will not provide any discounts or points with some exceptions.

This one can be distinguished even externally - it shows two logos at once: the bank’s logo and the logo of the company in cooperation with which the card itself was issued. Otherwise, there are no changes - co-branded cards can be either debit or credit.

Well, now let's find out what co-branded cards are. Let's look at the most popular options.

Co-branded card created in collaboration with the store

This option may be beneficial for those users who frequently visit a store. For example, you often buy electronic equipment. Then you need to find a program that works with an electronics store. By the way, several banks have such programs at once.

How do they work? Actually, there are two options: either when you purchase a product, you will get a discount, or you accumulate points, which can then be exchanged for a product or for an additional discount. If we are talking about points, their number is regulated. As a rule, there is an upper limit above which points stop being awarded, so they must be spent. And remember that all purchases in this case must be made by bank transfer - that is, using “plastic”.

There are other programs with which you can receive bonuses not from one store, but from an entire shopping center. The conditions are the same - you must pay by card.

Co-branded card created in collaboration with the airline

Here, I think, there’s not much to talk about. The more money a person spends on purchasing air tickets, the more points he receives. In the future, they can be exchanged, for example, for a free flight. Or, as an option, upgrade your service class - pay for economy class and end up in business class.

Co-branded card created in collaboration with a fuel company

If you drive your car a lot and are used to saving money, then it makes sense to turn your attention to a map created jointly with a company that sells fuel. This promises you additional bonuses, which can then be exchanged, for example, for gasoline. The only problem is that you will only have to use one company to fill your car.

Co-branded card created in collaboration with a mobile operator

If you use such a card, you will be awarded points, and often 1 ruble spent on the card is 1 point. Points can be spent on various services provided by your mobile operator. As a rule, these are various packages of free minutes, megabytes of Internet traffic, etc.

Multi-brand cards

There are also so-called multi-brand cards, which are issued by the bank in cooperation with several companies. For example, there is a program specifically for girls who can receive points, bonuses and discounts by paying with a card in beauty salons, perfume departments and even restaurants. Most often, such programs allow you to get a good discount when paying for any product or service.

A co-branded card is a credit card that a bank issues in partnership with a company, organization and brand. That is, this is a kind of “two in one” card. Firstly, this is a standard card with the usual set of functions and capabilities, and secondly, it is a discount card. When the owner of this card pays for any purchases, he receives either certain discounts on goods from a company that is a partner of the credit institution, or accumulates points, which he can later exchange for some product, service or gift.

Co-branded cards are issued with two logos - one is the logo of the bank, and the other is the logo of the company or partner organization. In other respects, they do not differ from standard bank cards. Co-branded cards, like regular ones, come in credit and debit cards. As a rule, financial institutions issue co-branded cards in partnership with various airlines, stores, shopping centers, mobile operators, and gas stations. The most common co-branded cards are bank plus airline and bank plus store.

Co-branded cards, which financial institutions issue in cooperation with airlines, work according to the following scheme: the card holder uses it to pay for various purchases and thereby receive certain points. A certain amount of money spent also earns points. The cost of points depends on the specific financial institution, airline company and the level of the co-branded card. For example, scores on cards that qualify as a privileged status are slightly higher than on traditional cards. The cardholder can exchange the accumulated bonuses, for example, for a free ticket for a flight with a bank partner company, or simply increase the level of service - purchase a business class ticket at the cost of an economy class. In addition, points are also awarded for paying for airline tickets.

A co-branded card that the bank issues jointly with a store or shopping center, gives its owner the opportunity to purchase goods at discounts or accumulate bonuses, which can then be exchanged for some product. For example, Alfa Bank offers its clients co-branded cards issued in partnership with M.Video, a large chain of electronics and household appliances stores. You can get a debit or credit card. There is also a limit on the number of points that a cardholder can accumulate - no more than one and a half million points. Every thirty thousand points is a thousand bonus rubles. The accumulated points can be used to pay for any purchase in M.Video stores. Purchasing such a card makes sense only if you need a bank card as a means for non-cash payments in shopping centers and stores and in the near future you plan to make a fairly large purchase in any M.Video store. This card will also be useful to regular customers of this retail chain.

A bank plus a mobile operator is another type of co-branded card.

By actively using such a card to pay for the services of a specific mobile operator, its owner receives points on his phone account. This operating principle is supported by the MTS Standard MasterCard issued by Sberbank. From the name of the card it is clear that the partner of the financial organization is the mobile operator MTS. Every thirty rubles spent on the card is equal to one point. The card holder can exchange the accumulated points for special bonuses from MTS. The owner of this card independently chooses which bonuses to exchange points for.

Multi-brand cards are cards that financial institutions issue in cooperation with several companies. A classic example of this type of card are cards issued by banks together with the Golden Mean discount system, as well as the women's magazine Cosmopolitan. The holder of a multi-brand card receives quite good discounts in a large list of partner companies of a financial organization: in numerous stores, beauty salons, restaurants and cafes, car services, medical institutions and others. Alfa-Bank and Cosmopolitan magazine jointly developed a co-branded card, which is intended specifically for women. The owner of this card receives discounts in various stores, fitness centers, cafes and beauty salons - that is, in numerous establishments where visitors are most often the fair sex. In addition, the owner of such a card can not only save on caring for her loved one, but also get a good discount, for example, in a car accessories store. There is a multi-brand card for the stronger sex. Alfa-Bank offers its clients a card issued jointly with the men's magazine Maxim and the media company GameLand, the so-called “men's card”. The holder of this card receives discounts at various bars, clothing stores, fitness centers and other organizations that participate in the program.

A co-branded card is a card that is issued by the bank jointly with a partner company. They have been on the Russian market for more than 10 years and have recently become increasingly popular. In essence, these are ordinary plastic cards, however, when using them, the client may have access to additional discounts and bonuses when paying for goods and services.

Today, almost everyone can choose one based on their needs - it could be a card with discounts and bonuses for travel enthusiasts, for motorists, for users of certain telecom operators, etc.

Banks are actively promoting such cards on the market (especially credit cards), because they act as a way to increase loyalty. In addition, according to statistics, the turnover of co-branded cards exceeds that of regular ones. For example, Sberbank’s turnover on joint cards with Aeroflot is on average 1.6 times higher, and Alfa Bank’s is 1.8 times higher.

According to MasterCard, in Europe 20% of the total volume of cards are co-branded, in the USA - up to 50%. Russia is still lagging behind in this indicator, however, this creates great scope for the development of this market.

The industry-wide structure of the co-bred card market is also different. In the world, the most popular programs are in the retail field (60%), much less popular are joint projects with airlines (10%), as well as with gas stations and mobile operators. In Russia, the most common and popular are airline co-brands.

Co-branded cards for travel lovers

The essence of such cards is as follows: when paying non-cash for goods and services for a set amount (on average 30-50 rubles), the client is credited with miles, which can be exchanged for free airline tickets or upgraded service class, i.e. buy a business class ticket at the price of economy class. Also, almost all banks award welcome bonuses (from 500 miles for Sberbank and Alfa Bank, Gazprombank, URALSIB to 2000-3000 miles for CitiBank, SMP BANK). Such maps may be of interest to those who travel a lot.

Aeroflot has the most developed network of partners, including Sberbank, Gazprombank, Alfa Bank, Russian Standard, CitiBank, SMP BANK and URALSIB Bank. The conditions for accruing miles under this program are generally similar for all banks; miles are awarded for every 30 rubles spent on the card:

• Sberbank and Alfa Bank, SMP BANK - 1-1.5 miles;
• "Russian Standard" - from 1.5 to 6 miles;
• CitiBank – 1 mile;
• "Gazprombank" - 1-2 miles;
• "URALSIB" - 1.25 -1.75 miles.

The number of miles accrued depends on the card category (“gold” or “standard”). SMP BANK also credits 200 miles for account balances over 100 thousand rubles.

By the way, recently, under the Aeroflot Bonus program, miles can be spent not only on flights, but also on hotel stays, car rentals, magazine subscriptions, and goods in partner stores.

In addition to Aeroflot, the opportunity to accumulate miles together with Russian banks is also offered by TRANSAERO (such cards are available from Rosbank, Gazprombank, VTB24, Promsvyazbank, etc.), S7 Airlines (UniCredit, Alfa-Bank) ), British Airways (VTB24).

You can save money using cards not only for air travel, but also for train travel. After all, their cost in Russia is often in no way inferior to air transport.

While many banks cooperate with airlines, only VTB24 provides such an opportunity for railways. When issuing a VTB 24 Russian Railways card, the client becomes a participant in the Russian Railways Bonus program. When paying for purchases, the client receives 500 premium welcome points; 1 point for every 20 rubles. It is worth noting that the conditions on the card are not yet very favorable - a train ticket can cost an order of magnitude more than an airplane ticket. For example, to travel on a train in a compartment car on the Moscow-St. Petersburg route, you need at least 5,400 miles, which corresponds to spending 108 thousand rubles.

When choosing a co-branded card, it is worth assessing the feasibility of its design. You need to compare your monthly spending on the card with the cost of air tickets in miles, and take into account the cost of its annual maintenance. Thus, the minimum cost of a bonus ticket at Aeroflot is 15,000 miles, which corresponds to spending on the card of 450 thousand rubles. With a “golden” card, the costs will be lower, but the cost of annual maintenance will be several times higher (up to 6-9 thousand rubles). Therefore, such cards are designed for people with above-average income.

At the same time, accumulated miles may be expired, provided that the card holder does not fly on airline flights or does not pay with the card. In order to purchase a bonus ticket, you need not only to spend money, but also to fly with the airline for two years in order to have so-called qualifying miles on your account.

The disadvantages also include the higher cost of servicing a co-branded card (by 100-200 rubles). It is worth considering that taxes and fees will need to be paid in cash.

It is also important to find out whether miles are awarded for all purchases or only for ticket purchases. In the latter case, the points will accumulate for quite a long time.

Avid tourists can also apply for Raiffeisen Travel Cards from Raiffeisen Bank and RSB Travel from Russian Standard.

Raiffeisen Travel Card is a joint card of the bank and the service booking portal iGlobe.ru. You can earn 1 mile for every 30 rubles spent. and up to 15 miles for every 48 rubles spent on the site. Miles can be exchanged not only for air tickets, but also for car rentals, transfer orders, and hotel bookings.

The RSB Travel package includes two cards - MasterCard and American Express, attached to one account. Points that are awarded on cards can be used to reimburse expenses for transactions made at airlines, hotels, car rental points, as well as with tour operators and travel agents.

Co-branded cards for shopping lovers

By analogy with the experience of the development of the global market, in the near future in Russia we can expect an expansion of the share of co-branded cards in the retail market. These are joint cards with shops, supermarkets and department stores. Co-branded shopping cards operate as follows: when paying for goods and services, the card accumulates bonuses that can be exchanged for discounts or purchases. Another option is to provide discounts on the card at partner stores.

In Russia, such credit cards have not yet become widespread. Among the bank's partner companies are, for example, M.Video (Alfa Bank card), IKEA, Stockmann (Citibank card), MEGA (Credit Europe Bank), TSUM (bank from Russian Standard), Auchan (“Credit Europe Bank”), “Snow Queen” (“Rusfinance Bank”), etc. With such cards, 1-2% of the purchase amount is credited to a bonus account; in the future, points can be exchanged for purchases.

There are also so-called club cards on the market, with which you can get a discount from a network of partner companies. Among them, for example, women-oriented Cosmopolitan cards from Alfa Bank and ELLE-Raiffeisenbank or the Men's Card (developed together with MAXIM magazine) from Alfa Bank, which provide discounts of up to 30% in companies , aimed at female and male audiences.

Also in Russia there are several joint offers with the Malina bonus system, which has gained wide popularity in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The program’s partners are beauty salons, restaurant and cafe chains, gas stations, and pharmacies. Co-branded Malina credit cards are issued, in particular, by Raiffeisenbank and Russian Standard. According to banking programs, points are credited to the client’s account, which can later be exchanged for points from the Raspberry catalog. For example, in “Russian Standard” 10 points are awarded for every 100 rubles spent.

Maps for motorists

All card offers for motorists can be divided into several types - these are cards with cash-back and those providing discounts at gas stations. Sometimes banks offer an additional package of emergency roadside assistance (for example, gasoline delivery, car towing, legal assistance, taxi). This package is provided on the cards “LUKOIL-Petrocommerce”, “AvtoKarta” from “UniCredit Bank”, and the “RosinterBank – AvtoKarta77” card.

The cash back amount depends on the card and is 2% (on a card from UniCredit Bank) or 3% (on an auto card from Otkritie Bank) when making purchases at gas stations.

With the Gazprombank-Gazpromneft card, bonuses are awarded for purchases at gas stations (gasoline or groceries). They can be spent at gas stations at the rate of 10 bonuses = 1 ruble.

If you pay at a gas station with a Neste Oil credit card from CitiBank, you will receive a 20 kopeck discount. per liter of gasoline.

Other cards

Another type of card co-brands are joint cards of banks and mobile operators. Today on the market there are cards with operators: MTS (Sberbank), Beeline (Alfa Bank) and Megafon (Citibank). For purchases with such cards, the user receives bonus points, which can be exchanged for payment for the services of a cellular operator or goods that are provided for in the bonus program.

We can also identify atypical co-brands aimed at a narrow audience. These are, in particular, fan cards that allow you to save on attending sporting events. For example, “Russian Standard” UNICS and FIFA cards.

Also, a number of banks issue a transport “travel card” for payments in public transport and savings on travel (only in the Moscow metro). Today Alfa Bank, Bank of Moscow and Avangard have such cards.
Another original card is “Odnoklassniki” from TKS Bank. For every ruble spent, the user is awarded 1 OK, which can be spent on the social network.

Among the unique cards is a card from Credit Europe Bank for fans of the Ferrari brand, which provides free access to the Scuderia Ferrari Community club, and also provides a 15% discount in the online store of Ferrari goods.