Reports: Early Success for New Cell Phone Protection Feature

In order to improve upon what is already an established and feature saturated credit card product, top-65 credit card issuer TMG Financial Services has launched a cell phone protection option for the cardmembers of its Mastercard backed ATIRAcredit Platinum Rewards card.

As a reward for paying monthly cell phone bills with their ATIRAcredit cards, members will receive total protection for cell phone claims up to $200 each.

Cellular Telephone Protection coverage includes both primary lines and up to the first two secondary lines if they are all found on the same monthly bill.

It did not take too long for cardmembers to take notice whatsoever. Before initiatives planned by the marketing team to support the rollout of the coverage plan, TMGFS had already started earning a nine percent boost in the number of cardmembers using their ATIRAcrdit cards to pay their monthly cell phone bills.

TMGFS Product Manager Connie Thienes anticipates cardmembers will use the Cellular Telephone Protection coverage to use in concert with standard cell phone coverage. She is of the opinion that customers that have been through previous plans where their cell phones had not been granted proper insurance will take this program as a breath of fresh air.

“The additional coverage may complement an existing coverage plan purchased from a cell phone provider. If that plan includes a deductible, the supplemental coverage can be used to cover that cost,” said Thienes. “The credit card issuers that are best at securing top-of-wallet positioning typically offer ‘extras’ that exceed consumer’s expectations. When you can align those extras with profitable, responsible cardmember behavior, offering perks like this creates a win-win for the issuer and the consumer.”

“To be successful in today’s competitive credit card marketplace, you’ve got to be proactive,” said Mertens, who added that executing such a proactive strategy would be difficult without the support of TMGFS. “You can’t just throw out blanket promotions. Most of our success comes from our staff and the experts at TMGFS consistently scanning for opportunities to introduce the right members to the benefits of the ATIRAcredit Mastercard.”