Bill Hanifin
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If you are a fan of the tightrope-walking family, the World Famous Wallendas, then you must stand in admiration of what Aimia accomplished during 2013.
As this article in thespec.com explains, Aimia successfully negotiated the revamping of their credit card partnership during the year in conjunction with Aeroplan, the premier consumer loyalty program in Canada. “Premier” in this case refers to the demographic that Aeroplan serves, as Aeroplan membership is composed of the most economically attractive consumers in Canada.
As result of the negotiation, TD Bank becomes the primary issuer of Aeroplan Visa cards over the next 10 years. In the process, TD will acquire approximately 550,000 accounts representing $19 billion in annual spending and $3.3 billion of credit card receivables. CIBC earned a successful outcome from the talks by being allowed to keep about 50% of the current cobrand card portfolio.
Anyone involved in the negotiation of a large scale cobrand credit card portfolio will understand the complexity and risks that were faced by all parties. Aimia was able to somehow improve its own business model while keeping peace among two of the largest banking institutions in Canada.
Rick Wallenda has set several Skywalk records in his time. Aimia has one in its bag. What will they do in 2014?
