Are You Being Served?
Concierge services are increasingly being used by wealth managers and card companies to engender loyalty, particularly among their most valuable clients, but what does it entail? (Concierge Services).
Private Banker International, May, 2003

THE CARDHOLDER relationship is steadily becoming a complex affair, reaching further into the lifestyle of the customer than ever before. Issuers are teaming up with third-party service providers to offer benefits never before associated with a plastic card, and the higher the net worth, the better the service.

From concierge services to errand running, initiatives such as these are designed specifically to reward selected cardholders who have built up a significant balance of loyalty with an organization. Card-based concierge services plan trips, run errands, even help tardy sons pick out Mothers Day presents- -on Mothers Day!

The choices consumers can now make do not stop with different levels of cost and basic services such as direct banking. Instead, high-end cards are coming with some serious perks. MasterCard has been offering concierge services to holders of its MasterCard World Card for more than five years as a way to retain platinum card customers.

24-7 SUPPORT
MasterCard uses a third-party concierge service provider, VIP desk, to let users gain access to round-the-clock concierge services. The Alexandria, Virginia-based US company’s services are available through a toll-free number, via the Internet, or wireless devices. Eighty professionals, several of whom are former hotel concierges, staff the service.

MasterCard customers have used VIP desk to find someone to build a set of bookcases, plan a, children’s pizza party, and do household chores such as mowing lawns or pet-sitting. VIP desk works with many credit card businesses today including MasterCard, Citibank, and JP Morgan providing service to more than 10 million individual credit card holders.

MasterCard has been a client since 1997, providing concierge service as an offering to member banks, many of whom include concierge service on their platinum cards, as well as other card platforms. For an annual fee based on the number of people with access, VIPdesk offers customers access to three levels of concierge service.

The first level, Instant Answer, supplies restaurant recommendations and reservations online for a penny per customer with access to the service. Quick Assist offers one-question, one answer live access to a concierge. The third level, Full Concierge, lets wealthy customers contact a concierge directly to get answers to questions regarding access to an array of services ranging from travel reservations to personal shopping requests.

Today some 30 banks that issue credit cards use the service, said Lisa Metelkova, marketing manager of VIPdesk. She added that the company is developing relationships with private banks that are interested in the service for their clients but nothing has been nailed down. A growing service Visa USA provides concierge service for all of its 4 million Visa Signature cardholders--it is a Visa requirement to offer the service to those cardholders--plus another 2 million gold and platinum accounts, according to Jim Stretch, vice president, enhancement management.

“It’s primarily a high-end enhancement, but we think it has room to grow quite a bit,” Stretch said, noting that Visa expects to reach between 10 and 15 million concierge-enabled accounts by 2005.

Unlike MasterCard, Visa’s concierge service is managed in-house. Lisa Reyes, marketing manager for the concierge service, said that the service involves about a dozen customer service representatives trained in concierge services, available at a call centre 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “We monitor it on a weekly basis, listening to live calls, making sure the representative present a positive attitude and is ready to help,” she said. “We want to control the call, calm the concierge client, who often is in a huge hurry or needs immediate attention, and get them what they need.”

American Express’s Centurion card comes with 24-hour access to a personal concierge, available only to some customers who spend more than $150,000 on another of the company’s cards. Even brokerages have got in on the act. Merrill Lynch’s Visa Signature card for people with more than $10 million was introduced in 1998 and comes with a complete, round-the clock personal concierge.

What’s next for concierge services? The concierges hesitate to answer. “It depends on the absurdity of the request, but we’ll do just about anything that is procurable on the open market,” Stretch said. Another clutch of companies have entered the concierge business, but rather call themselves “lifestyle management” providers. These new players include Preferred Circle, Quintessentially, TenUK and My Moneypenny. Their driving concept is that high-net-worth individuals and senior executives--even those who may already employ personal assistants--still often require more help to run their hectic business and personal lives. And the claim is that the Amex Centurion card often does not meet client needs, and more often and not callers can be diverted into lengthy call centre conversations for their needs. Preferred Circle’s founder, Emad Ghobrial insists his firm’s advantage is that “we are very personal, we know everything about our clients, from their favorite flower to what kind of wine they like best ... and, as long as it’s legal, we will do it for you.”

London-based Quintessentially has just expanded its services to the US, because of its belief that there is a real demand from the ranks of underserved millionaires in the New World.

SERVICE AT A PRICE
These lifestyle services offer either flat rates or tailored packages, ranging up to $2,500 a month, but the latest strategy seems to move beyond individual to corporate accounts. Quintessentially has now signed deals to provide concierge services to VIP clients of companies like Sony, luxury goods group Richemont, Volkswagen and Nokia’s new upmarket mobile phone service, Vertu.

Although investment bank Goldman Sachs has just let go of its concierge company, most of these concierges contend that business has never been better.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Lafferty Publications Ltd.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group