Website
www.affiniongroup.com
Website
www.affiniongroup.com
Customized Online Marketing Solutions for Insurance Programs Offered by Financial Institutions
NORWALK, Conn., Nov. 24, 2008 - Affinion Group, a leading provider of insurance programs, today announced expansion and enhancements to its online functionality for the marketing of Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) group insurance.
Affinion, which has provided over half a billion dollars in benefits to insurance policyholders since 2005, is targeting these online capabilities to the regional banks and credit unions seeking to improve the enrollment of their depositors and account holders into AD&D group insurance programs. Affinion has designed these online programs to be entirely compliant with the limitations established by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley (GLB) privacy laws.
"For 35 years, Affinion has been at the forefront in bringing our clients the greatest variety of ways to market programs to their customers," said Ronald Clarke, Senior Vice President of Affinion Group. “With today’s announcement, we are providing our partners with yet another method of interacting with their depositors and account holders, and doing so in the medium where those customers increasingly state they are most comfortable transacting."
In a typical program for the marketing of AD&D insurance online, Affinion creates a customized banner that is placed on the partner’s website, linking to a simple enrollment form for the customer’s use. Alternatively, Affinion develops a client-branded offline piece, such as a flyer, for standalone mailing or insertion into monthly statements that directs customers to an enrollment site.
Through either method, enrollment is a shortened process whereby the customer selects an AD&D coverage limit, chooses their coverage type (family plan or single), reviews the fee calculated in real-time based on their selections, and then builds an information profile. In addition, the enrollment forms seen and used by the customer are designed to be extensions of the financial institution’s brand experience, with typical designs reflecting the partner’s logos, website color palette and fonts. Importantly, pre-approved language is in place that has been accepted by the underwriting agent of the AD&D policy, thereby reducing the development time necessary to bring the branded site online.
Additional benefits to leveraging online marketing for AD&D from both the customers’ as well as the financial institutions’ perspectives include:
About Affinion Group
As a global leader with almost 40 years of experience, Affinion Group (www.affinion.com) enhances the value of its partners' customer relationships by developing and marketing loyalty solutions. Leveraging its expertise in customer engagement, product development and targeted marketing, Affinion provides programs in subscription-based lifestyle services, personal protection, insurance and other areas to help generate increased customer loyalty and significant incremental revenue for more than 5,550 marketing partners worldwide, including many of the largest and most respected companies in financial services, retail, travel, and Internet commerce. Based in Stamford, Conn., the company has approximately 4,250 employees and markets in 17 countries globally. Affinion holds the prestigious ISO 27001 certification for the highest information security practices, is PCI compliant and Cybertrust certified.Safe Harbor Statement Under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
This press release may contain statements that are forward looking, as that term is defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 or by the Securities and Exchange Commission in its rules, regulations and releases. These statements include, but are not limited to, discussions regarding industry outlook, Affinion's expectations regarding the performance of its business, its liquidity and capital resources, its guidance for 2011, the consummation of the acquisition of Prospectiv and the impact to Affinion's business and the other non-historical statements in the discussion and analysis. These statements can be identified by the use of words such as "believes," "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "continues," "estimates," "predicts," "projects," "forecasts," and similar expressions. All forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs only as of the date of this press release and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in, or implied by, the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, risks related to general economic and business conditions and international and geopolitical events, a downturn in the credit card industry or changes in the techniques of credit card issuers, industry trends, foreign currency exchange rates, the effects of a decline in travel on the Company's travel fulfillment business, termination or expiration of one or more agreements with its marketing partners or a reduction of the marketing of its services by one or more of its marketing partners, the Company's substantial leverage, restrictions contained in its debt agreements, its inability to compete effectively, and other risks identified and discussed from time to time in Affinion's reports filed with the SEC, including Affinion's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Readers are strongly encouraged to review carefully the full cautionary statements described in these reports. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events or circumstances.