Coles spreads tentacles into financial services
Wesfarmers’-owned Coles is venturing further into financial services, announcing a joint venture business with GE Capital Australia.
The 50-50 joint venture business will offer credit cards and personal finance products to begin with, an agreed memorandum of understanding said.
Coles said the joint venture will leverage new payment technologies to provide financial services, including the recently launched Coles Mobile Wallet.
It will also give customers, flybuys’ loyalty program, including discounts on groceries.
The venture comes after Coles recently announced it would offer life insurance cover for as little as $1 a week, with Metlife underwriting the venture.
“A joint venture is a logical next step for Coles to expand into financial services, building on the success of Coles No Annual Fee and Rewards credit cards,” Coles finance director Rob Scott said.
The current 400,000 Coles MasterCard customer accounts will make up part of the joint venture, totalling almost $800 million in credit card receivables.
The venture will start in 2015, subject to attaining regulatory licenses and approvals.
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