Gemalto invests in Serverside Group, the world leader in customizing bank cards with digital images generated by end users.

Gemalto has subscribed to a capital increase in Serverside Group and has entered into a worldwide distribution agreement with the world leader in payment card customized issuance solutions. Serverside Group was founded in 2003 and employs approximately 45 people in offices in the UK, USA and New Zealand.

Serverside is best known for its payment card design technology, AllAboutMe™, which enables personal images and photos to be uploaded onto payment cards via a web interface and then be processed by the participating banks’ supply chain. Customized cards deliver robust ROI to card issuers by creating a personal bond between the consumer and the card. This bond translates into increased usage, with both the number of transactions and average overall spend increasing.

A video case study of an issuer that generated an additional US$45 per card per year through increased transactions resulting from a card customization program can be found at www.ssgl.com.

Serverside has also created technology that enables small associations, groups or companies to compose and manage their own co-brand and affinity cards. Banks use the web interface to externalize many of the tasks associated with running a program, such as designing cards and receiving approvals. This enables the partner to create cards that are tied to events, or images that matter to the partner. Since the cards are printed on-demand, it is possible to offer continually changing designs without any associated cost to the issuer. For example, a football team that just qualified for a final could issue its own branded card with a specific design related to the big game.

Beyond payment card design, Serverside offers a full card marketing platform, which is focused on reducing risk, shortening the issuance cycle time and opening opportunities to design cards to match hot events or key milestones. Who said banking cards always have to look the same?

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Press Release

Nov 3, 2009 | Gemalto invests in Serverside Group, the world leader in personalizing bank cards with digital images generated by end users

 

Serverside Group’s Virtual Portfolio is a highly efficient card marketing and partner management platform for card issuers looking to cut the cost of managing multiple card partner programs. It consists of a hosted Software as a Service (SaaS) platform that can be customized for each stakeholder with simple, self-service interfaces. The service is designed around financial institutions’ need to evaluate and approve potential partners, then to administer and promote the program to cardholders. Virtual Portfolio enables issuers to service and monetise previously underserved groups by enormously reducing the risk of launching and marketing card programs.
This product has been showcased at Cartes Paris, November 2009.