Russia’s Post Bank in co-branded Visa card initiative with X5 Retail Group
X5 Retail Group and Post Bank (a joint venture between VTB Group and Russian Post) have launched a co-branded Visa card. According to the companies, the cards offer the benefits of the Pyaterochka Helping Card loyalty programme with enhanced banking services (Pyaterochka is one of the retailers in the X5 group).
In a statement posted on its website, X5 Retail Group said the cards are available this month at over 1,500 Post Bank branches in the Northwestern and Central Federal Districts, where more than 5,000 Pyaterochka stores operate.
The company statement added: “Starting from September, the cards will be issued at the bank’s branches across the entire territory where Pyaterochka operates, including the Volga, Urals and Southern Federal Districts, and certain regions of the Siberian Federal District.”
Pyaterochka CEO Olga Naumova commented: “The Pyaterochka loyalty programme is gaining momentum. In the first four months since its launch, more than 10 million Helping Cards have been activated, and the pace of growth remains high. This co-branded card with Post Bank gives participants of the loyalty programme additional benefits. Card holders will get points for all of their purchases, while earning three times as many points when shopping at Pyaterochka compared to the regular Helping Card. The pilot project in St Petersburg and the Leningrad region showed that Pyaterochka card holders visited our stores almost twice as often than they did before getting the card.”
Grigory Babajanyan, Vice-President, Director for Retail Business Development at Post Bank, added: “The co-branded card with Pyaterochka is our first project of its kind. I am confident that Pyaterochka’s many customers will value the card and the benefits it offers. In addition to points for purchases, card owners gain a free savings account with monthly accruals at an annual interest rate of up to 7%.”
Post Bank was established as a joint venture between VTB Group and Russian Post in January 2016. The bank has been developing its network by opening branches within post offices operated by Russian Post.
