DJs announces alliance partner for general purpose credit card

David Jones announced this morning it had selected American Express as its strategic alliance partner for a general purpose credit card. The alliance will involve the transfer of DJ’s existing store card receivables to American Express and the launch of the new card in time for the 2008 Christmas trading period.

This morning’s announcement follows an extensive three-year review and a 14-month tender and negotiation process. The tender process involved the major Australian and key international financial services companies.

CEO Mark McInnes said the deal was a significant opportunity for the retailer to build a future revenue stream in a segment of the financial services market where consumer brands were currently under-represented.

“The David Jones American Express card will enable us to capture the spend of our customers both within our stores and outside of our stores. It will enable them to earn David Jones rewards from all of their credit card spend.

“David Jones brings over 40 years of store card capability to the table. In addition, we can leverage our growing store network with approximately 10,000 employees to offer the David Jones American Express card to our customers.

“We expect the gift reward points offered on the David Jones American Express card to generate many new accounts for the alliance,” McInnes said.

Inside Retailing