REX: Banque Casino Sets Forth Differentiation
FACTS
- Banque Casino released promising results, and stressed their business growth along with the part played by their instalment service in this success.
- Also, they will soon be integrating Apple Pay for their Mastercard cardholders.
- Among considered projects, they focus on conversational agents and could be adding a chatbot to their set of services in the near future.
Key Figures (end-2018)
- 27M customers (+30% y-o-y; contracts: +46%)
- 550,000 cardholders, incl. 150,000 acquired in 2018
- 2019 goal: attract 200,000 additional cardholders
- Cdiscount’s “Coup de pouce”: 150,000 subscriptions in 2018, €37M in transactions
- Instalments: 40% of Misterfly customers rely on this option
CHALLENGES
- A hybrid BtoB and BtoC approach. Banque Casino relies on two different models at once:
- BtoB: instalments (4X CB) featured by e-merchant customers. This payment facility lets them split their customers’ payments in 4 monthly instalments, at no extra cost, for +€100 transactions. This option has already been adopted by 80 merchants (including Cdiscount, Oscaro, Vide-dressing, Misterfly, Maeva and Aigle Azur), as it bets on e-commerce players’ interest in such facilities to increase average cart amounts.
- BtoC: small instant loans, similar to Cdiscount’s “Coup de pouce” offer. These loans, for amounts ranging from €100 to €1,000, can be repaid in 3 monthly instalments. This product meets individual customers’ expectations: they often look for instantly applicable instalment options for small transaction.
- Entering the FinTech ecosystem. A few months ago, Banque Casino already made it clear that they wanted to branch out from the retail sphere, setting up partnerships with other players from other industries. This strategy is, for instance, materialised by an agreement with Lydia on launching a revisited and instant version of "Coup de pouce". The point is to look into a Credit-as-a-Service model, where the bank provides FinTechs with their lending infrastructure.
MARKET PERSPECTIVE
- Banque Casino also paid attention to streamlining payment processes and the instalment option has been made available via their Casino Max app. Furthermore, the group teamed up with Natixis to craft a one-click payment option for Cdiscount.
- Apple Pay’s addition pertains to this same strategy and intent to address younger customers.