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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-06-08 - AGENDA REPORTS - AFFINITY CREDIT CARD PGM (2)Agenda Item: +— CITY OF SANTA CLARITA AGENDA REPORT CONSENT CALENDAR City Manager Approval: Item to be presented by: Ken Pulskamp DATE: June 8, 2004 SUBJECT: AFFINITY CREDIT CARD PROGRAM DEPARTMENT: City Manager RECOMMENDED ACTION City Council approve the Affinity Credit Card Program concept and direct the City Manager to start a Request for Proposal (RFP) process for a partnership with a prospective banking institution and return to the City Council after the RFP process is complete. BACKGROUND On May 1, 2001, the City Council approved the concept of negotiating long term partnership opportunities with the private sector to creatively generate revenue to fund City services. The first relationship of this kind was initiated on July 9, 2002 when the City Council approved a partnership with Pepsi Bottling Group. Staff would like to expand this concept by exploring other partnership categories such as an Affinity Credit Card Program. Implementation of this program will require a partnership between the City and a national banking institution. This partnership would allow a prospective national bank an opportunity to provide a City "affinity" credit card to City residents or other interested applicants for the purpose of not only expanding the banking institution's portfolio of accounts, but to also generate revenue for the City's general fund through all purchases made with the affinity card. In addition to generating revenue, this program will also provide the City with a tool to promote the Shop Santa Clarita program. Once a partnership is negotiated with a bank, collaboration with local vendors to promote the affinity card and provide incentives to card holders will be essential for a successful marketing strategy. APPROVED The first such affinity card program is currently being tested with the City of Huntington Beach. With the help of an experienced negotiating agent, Huntington Beach recently negotiated a partnership with U.S. Bank National Association ND in 2003. Through this partnership, Huntington Beach will receive $20 for each account opened under the program and royalties in the amount of 26 percent of the interchange income (this is the percentage that a merchant would pay to provide the Visa or Master Card service). Huntington Beach estimates that they will generate $100,000 to $200,000 in revenue once the program is marketed and in operation for one year. Depending on the success of the program, and if their constituents are willing to switch from their current credit card to the "Surf City Credit Card," an additional $100,000 could be generated by the third year of the program's implementation. Although the "Surf City Credit Card" is currently available to Huntington Beach residents, Huntington Beach has not rolled out their marketing/promotion strategy, but will in the near future. This partnership does not require the City of Huntington Beach to invest any funds, nor does the City have any financial risk for the duration of the program. In addition, the program vendor, U.S. Bank, is providing funds for a majority of the public outreach and marketing component of the program. This contribution is approximately $60,000 per year. Although Huntington Beach is not contractually obligated to provide funding for marketing, the City Council committed 20 percent of their affinity credit card revenues to supplement U.S. Bank's promotional efforts. The only up -front cost incurred by Huntington Beach was for their negotiating agent in the amount of $10,000. However, according to Huntington Beach, this amount will be reimbursed by the negotiating agent once the City starts to generate revenues. The negotiating agent will also receive an ongoing five percent of the City's revenues to market the "Surf City Affinity Card" for the lifetime of the program. ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS 1. City Council direct staff to not explore the Affinity Credit Card Program concept. 2. Other action as determined by the City Council. FISCAL IMPACT The FY 2004-05 budget requests an investment in the amount of $10,000 to hire a negotiating agent, with experience and a diverse network, to assist the City in partnering with a national banking institution to provide a City "affinity" credit card. This negotiating agent will also assist the City in marketing the card to residents to help generate revenue for the City's general fund through all purchases made with the affinity card. Through the RFP process, staff plans to negotiate a contract similar to Huntington Beach which requires the negotiating agent to reimburse the City once the program starts to generate revenue.