Issuing and Acquiring, the two faces of a card. From sales and marketing to the receiving and processing of card payments through the channels.

Co-branded creditcard and loyaltyprogramme for de Bijenkorf

For years Jaap has been involved with the development of the Bijenkorf Card as advisor to de Bijenkorf, a chain of department stores in the Netherlands. He began these activities in 2007 on behalf of Orchard Finance with an assessment of the financial value of the existing portfolio for the former owner of de Bijenkorf, Maxeda/KKR. Apart from the valuation, there turned out to be untapped potential for de Bijenkorf in both the card programme and the financial benefit for the issuer.

Card = Marketing
In the follow-up assignment, Jaap developed an integrated marketing strategy for the card and the Loyalty programme. In addition, a Request for Proposal (RFP) procedure was launched to find the ideal issuer as a financial partner to execute this revamped card programme.

After implementation of the new programme, Jaap assisted de Bijenkorf with virtually all its changes and potential changes to do with the programme. He was also involved with reviewing the card/Loyalty programmes of de Bijenkorf’s sister organizations: Selfridges (UK), Brown Thomas (IR), Holt Renfrew (CA).

In recent years Jaap has conducted the contract renegotiations in close consultation with de Bijenkorf and has been involved in the development of the future Customer Relationship Management (CRM) / Loyalty policy and the termination of the card programme.

Omnichannel strategy for international chain of opticians

An international chain of opticians commissioned Jaap to develop an omnichannel strategy. At the same time, this had to ensure that the financial settlement of the omnichannel payments was directly booked to the treasury bank accounts. What is more, the local branches had to continue to receive all the necessary payment information and reconciliation had to be effective and efficient.

The organization conducted only a small percentage of the sales through an online channel. Also, the system landscape and the respective acquirers and Payment Service Providers (PSP) were fragmented. Moreover, in various countries there are regulations in place for the sale, billing and payment of optical visual aids, such as glasses and contact lenses. Jaap undertook this project on behalf of Orchard Finance.

Close collaboration with the client
First, an insight into the local situation was gained through interviews, and information gathered about the omnichannel possibilities. These possibilities were then examined In a number of workshops with stakeholders from the participating countries and other organizations. Next, the company-wide omnichannel strategy was devised and decisions taken as to the requirements the acquiring and PSP/Gateway services had to meet.

As a sequel to this first phase, the Request for Proposal (RFP) phase was launched to select and contract the most suitable financial party or parties. After an initial internal shortlisting, a number of acquirers, PSPs and Gateways were invited to tender and sent the completed RFP document. On the basis of their proposals, presentations and negotiations, a limited number of parties was selected.