Consumer credit is more than just branded network cards. Infrastructure exists for specialty purchases, such as automotive and healthcare. Need four new rims? Try CFNA’s AutoPass, Citi’s Drive Card or Synchrony’s Car Care. Mercator covered the Private Label Credit Card space in this document.
It may sound mundane but the American Society of Plastic Surgeons estimates that more than $16 billion is spent on cosmetic plastic surgery. Add in the rising amount of family insurance deductible of $7983, and co-pays, and you are quickly over $100 billion.
I might be a collection manager’s nightmare but it is a credit marketer’s dream.
How does one pay for their medical needs, and not clog up their bankcard open to buy?
CareCredit, a Synchrony product, is one solution and what caught our eye this morning is the modernization noted in this upstate New York newspaper.
Specialty cards don’t get the flash that bankcards do. Bankcards move trillions of dollars. Niches like healthcare settle for tens of billions or hundreds of billions, depending on how you define the market.
This announcement of CareCredit’s mobile app is interesting because the product now provides on-par customer interface for more than 10 million cardholders, as this press release notes.
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The mobile app is one of several helpful cardholder tools including Pay My Provider and CareCredit Direct. Available in both Google Play and the Apple App Store, the mobile app helps cardholders manage their account.
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Through the app, cardholders can pay their bill, locate enrolled providers and businesses that accept the CareCredit credit card, set custom payment alert notifications and more all from the convenience of a mobile device.
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Developed with extensive usability testing, the mobile app leverages the same log-in credentials as CareCredit’s online and mobile sites, but incorporates enhanced security controls such as device authentication and Face ID.
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App users can enable Face ID in their settings and then log in via facial recognition instead of fingerprint or using their username/password for added peace of mind.
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The app also incorporates pre-login access to the popular CareCredit digital card, allowing cardholders to access a digital version of their CareCredit healthcare credit card on their mobile device, eliminating the need for cardholders to bring the card with them at the time of care.
So, rest assured. We all need a little work and here’s another credit option.
Overview by Brian Riley, Director, Credit Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
