Coles spreads tentacles into financial services
![image](https://moneymanagement-live.s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/sites/moneymanagement.com.au/files/handshake_1_2.jpg)
![image](https://moneymanagement-live.s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/sites/moneymanagement.com.au/files/handshake_1_2.jpg)
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.
Recommended for you
A NSW-based adviser has been banned from providing financial services for five years for inappropriate advice and the AFSL of his business has been cancelled by ASIC.
The introduction of Rhombus Advisory has caused a shift in the top advice licensees as Insignia separates its advice business into two channels.
Given the clear divergence between the cost of financial advice and clients’ willingness to pay, two experts explore how advisers can transform the way they convey value to potential clients.
Nearly 18 months since Invest Blue adopted its nine-day fortnight structure to support employee wellbeing, the national advice firm has enjoyed positive results across all metrics.