La Banque Postale launches its responsible cash-back offer

La Banque Postale is launching its own cash-back program, and differentiating it by focusing on "better consumption". It competes with other banks by partnering with more than 300 brands online, in stores and in the form of vouchers.

FACTS 

• La Banque Postale has announced the launch of a new cash-back program.

• It has announced 300 partner merchants, through its partner Plebicom.

• It aims to offer a more responsible cash-back program, with the slogan "better consumption":

  • This will result in partnerships with brands offering responsible products, such as Naturalia, committed to organic farming, Nature & Découverte or Yves Rocher, committed to the environment.

  • But there are also more traditional brands integrated into the program such as Carrefour, Auchan, Leroy Merlin, Marionnaud, Fnac-Darty, Vertbaudet and La Redoute.

• The emphasis on responsibility is also highlighted in the options offered for the payment. From €5 of cash-back, the bank offers three options: 

  • pay the money into the customer's current account or into a third-party account domiciled at La Banque Postale ;

  • make a donation to a partner association (such as the League for the Protection of Birds or the Association des Restos du Coeur);

  • or use the kitty to contribute to a reforestation project in France.

CHALLENGES 

• Catch up with cashback programs to be in line with the competition: banks, especially online banks, have been interested in cashback for years and do not hesitate to innovate to attract new customers through loyalty. 

• Forge an image of a committed player: Banque Postale promotes the slogan "Mieux consommer" (consume better), highlighting partners such as Naturalia and Nature & Decourt, which are committed to the sustainable environment of organic farming.

MARKET PERSPECTIVE 

• Responsible consumption is an area in which many financial services companies are seeking to position themselves:

  • Ekip, a startup, offers companies the opportunity to accelerate this transition with eco-responsible meal vouchers.

  • or the technology platform Clarity AI, which has partnered with fintech Klarna, provides Klarna's buyers with the expertise and skills to find environmentally friendly brands.

• On the topic of loyalty programs, banks have been slow to get started on building Card-Linked Offers (CLO) programs. However, they are now almost all present in this sector, such as Société Générale, Boursorama Banque or BNP Paribas. Some fintechs have also entered the market, such as Lydia and Pixpay.

• But while La Banque Postale chose to launch with Plebicom, the pioneer of this type of program has just decided to stop it (LCL with its Avantage + program).