Co-Brand Debit Application Platform

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Availability

This guide is intended to provide a general outline of new Galileo functionality prior to its release to production. The information in this guide is therefore subject to change as development proceeds and is not a guarantee of future functionality. If you are interested in this product offering, contact Galileo for details.

Galileo's Co-Brand Debit Application Platform (CDAP) enables companies in travel, hospitality, and retail to offer loyalty-driven rewards to debit card users. This gives customers who prefer to use a debit card as their primary card—or those who are credit-averse—the ability to earn rewards such as points for everyday purchases, features that are traditionally reserved for credit cardholders. A co-branded debit rewards card can help increase customer engagement, brand recognition and loyalty, and capture new lines of revenue for your business.

Co-Brand Debit Application Program is a full-stack solution. Galileo hosts and manages a fully branded white-label mobile and web application that is customized to look and feel like your brand, facilitating seamless customer onboarding and ongoing digital interaction. Additionally, Galileo provides account and card services, transaction processing, rewards calculation, and risk management. A co-branded debit program is a partnership between you, Galileo, and a sponsor bank, with Galileo directly managing all aspects of the program, effectively acting as an extension of your business.

Co-branded debit cards are currently only available to U.S. citizens and permanent residents.

Co-brand debit use cases

Common uses cases include:

Boost brand loyalty for a hotel chain

In a recent analysis, Sunnyside Hotels observes an increase in bookings made with debit cards, up 20% from last year alone. Hotel management decides to extend their existing rewards credit card to debit cardholders to increase customer and brand loyalty. The debit card program offers 10% off of bookings made with the debit card, plus complimentary upgrades for multiple night stays. This proves to be an attractive option for their customer base, as they receive 500 applications in the first 30 days of offering the debit card. Sunnyside Hotels captures the interchange on card transactions and recaptures revenue from direct bookings through their website.

Expand reach of an airline's rewards program

Up & Away Airlines has had a successful co-branded credit card and rewards program for a few years. In their yearly review, they see that new credit account openings have slowed, with 20% of customers citing concerns with opening a line of credit, or that they were declined for the credit card after receiving an email to apply. They also observe that 47% of flights were purchased using a debit card. The airline leadership decides to launch a co-branded debit card to extend their reach to debit cardholders with a goal to increase loyalty, brand recognition, and ultimately generate a new line of revenue. The co-brand debit offering includes a 500 point sign-on bonus and 2x points for everyday purchases, which customers can convert into miles for domestic travel or other perks like priority boarding, free checked bags, and seat upgrades.

Customer experience

On a recent flight, Becky learns about the new co-branded debit card and rewards program. Becky has not been interested in the Up & Away Airlines rewards credit card because it would require her to open a new line of credit, but she is interested in the debit card offering. She knows she can take advantage of the rewards points with upcoming holiday travel and decides to sign up. After opening an account, Becky deposits funds into the account and receives a digital card which she uses to purchase her flight for holiday travel. She also makes this card her primary for merchants like Netflix and Verizon to start accruing points on everyday purchases.

Why co-branded rewards debit cards?

• Build brand loyalty and increase customer engagement — Provide ongoing incentives that keep customers within your brand’s ecosystem.
• Competitive differentiation — Attract new and existing customers with a differentiated rewards experience.
• Increase direct spend — Encourage customers to purchase directly with you, reducing reliance on third-party platforms such as booking sites or marketplaces.
• Generate new revenue streams — Generate interchange revenue and drive incremental spending on branded services.
• Personalize your offering through data-driven insights — Leverage transaction insights to offer targeted promotions and refine the program over time.

Key capabilities

Co-brand debit platform offers the following features:

• White-label digital experience — A fully branded mobile and web application that onboards new customers to the rewards debit card, while maintaining your brand identity.
• Card services — Comprehensive card services including digital and physical card issuance and card management such as setting a PIN or replacing lost or stolen cards.
• Rewards — Rewards that your customers can earn—points on everyday purchases, sign-on bonuses, direct deposit incentives, and $X in spend in the first month—and track in the app. (Rewards redemption is managed through your existing integration with the Ascenda program, not the co-branded debit card web or mobile application.)
• Fraud and risk mitigation — A system integrated with Payment Risk Platform and Galileo Instant Verification Engine to monitor and mitigate fraudulent activity in your program.
• Customer service — Galileo’s program management team provides operational support, including the setup of IVR (automated phone system) and integration with Cyberbank Konecta’s AI-powered virtual personal banking assistants.
• Easy movement of funds — Instant account funding, account-to-account transfers, including peer-to-peer transfers, ATM withdrawals, and direct deposit switch.
• Galileo processing's products and features — Add other features to improve the customer experience, such as mobile deposits, bill pay, payment method switch, and secure external account linking to facilitate instant account funding, and more.

What this means for your customers

• Greater financial flexibility — Offer a debit alternative to traditional credit cards, avoiding interest charges and debt accumulation.
• Access to rewards benefits — Earn rewards on everyday debit card purchases and enhanced experiences.
• New perks and discounts — Access to exclusive benefits tied to your debit rewards card program, such as room upgrades at hotels, priority boarding on airlines, or discounts at participating retail stores.

Customer onboarding experience

When your customer wants to open a rewards debit card, their experience can be as simple as this:

1. Open the Rewards mobile app.
2. Select the Open a Rewards Debit Card option.
3. Provide evidence of U.S. citizenship or permanent residence.
4. Set up login credentials (username and password).
5. Provide a Reward ID.
6. Provide personal information, including legal first and last name, country of citizenship, SSN, address, and mobile phone number (optional).
7. Consent to necessary legal disclosures and cardholder agreements.
8. On the Dashboard, view the account balance, rewards balance, and set up direct deposit to take advantage of the onboarding rewards or instantly add funds from an external account.
9. Receive a digital card in the mobile app which can be used immediately. A physical card with the PAN, CVV, and expiry date is sent to the home address provided during enrollment.

Below is an example of the mobile app experience:

What you provide

• Marketing and brand awareness — Leverage your brand recognition and consumer trust to acquire customers to your cobrand program.
• Rewards program design — You bring your deep knowledge of your customers and what they value to design your rewards program with Galileo’s assistance.

What Galileo provides

You can expect Galileo to:

• Comprehensive program management — Manage all aspects of your co-brand debit program. This includes all of the features of the program in the following bullets.
• End-customer digital experience — Launch and maintain the white-label web and mobile application customized to your brand.
• Rewards calculation and tracking — Integrate with Ascenda, a third-party rewards provider, to calculate and track rewards based on customer transaction data
• Manage the sponsor bank partnership — Manage the relationship and communication with the sponsor bank to set up the program, and coordinate with Visa and Mastercard to set up the BIN sponsorship.
• Adherence to compliance and legal requirements — Oversee all compliance requirements, including but not limited to the BSA/AML policies, KYC (and KYB) solutions, and customer policies such as complaint management.
• Card issuance and management — Implement Galileo card processing features:
  • A digital card to be used immediately, Depending on your program design, your customers can also receive a physical card automatically or by request. See the Choose a Card Strategy to learn what is best for your program.
  • Replacing lost, stolen, or damaged cards.
  • Reissuing expiring cards.
• Transaction processing capabilities — Implement Galileo transaction processing features:
  • Payment processing
  • ACH and wire transfers
  • Secure external account linking and verification
  • Bill pay to a service provider
• Card lifecycle marketing — Run activation and utilization campaigns to incentivize customers to use the debit rewards card.

Contact Galileo if you are interested in the launching a co-brand debit program.