Bank of America’s stable of drivers for its affinity credit card program is beginning to resemble the lineup at a Nextel Cup race, and Juan Pablo Montoya is expected to join that group soon.
The bank, which has title sponsorship of this week’s Cup event in Charlotte, introduced its affinity credit and debit cards in May and in about four months the program has added Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart and others.
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| Montoya (above) would join a roster
that includes Kasey Kahne and
other big names. |
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Affinity banking, which includes credit, debit and checking products, will account for 10 percent of Bank of America’s deposit growth this year, officials with the bank said.
The next step will be improving awareness of the program, said Mike Hargrave, the bank’s new senior vice president and motorsports platform executive. The anticipated addition of Montoya also could give the bank another attraction for the Hispanic community.
“We really feel like an area we want to focus on in 2008 is more compelling communication to the consumer,” said Hargrave, who started with Bank of America in August after replacing Jill Gregory, who moved to NASCAR as director of industry relations. “We’re definitely building our driver relationships and we’re in the middle of a lot of those discussions.
“Does that mean more [integration] with the drivers or that we use other imagery? We’re not sure what that’s going to look like, but I would expect more NASCAR-specific communication to drive that affinity banking.”
Other companies such as Tylenol and Gillette have aggregated rights to several drivers as part of a marketing program, but Bank of America’s list of driver relationships is now close to 20. That includes some former drivers such as Donnie Allison and Darrell Waltrip.
The driver deals are typically personal service agreements that include a guaranteed fee and a percentage based on consumers who sign up for their card. Bank of America also has a comprehensive deal with Dale Earnhardt Inc. that gives the bank rights to their Cup drivers and Dale Earnhardt Sr.
Hargrave said he’s still evaluating Bank of America’s NASCAR assets, which include status as the official bank of NASCAR, the race title at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and deals at 10 tracks across the country, where the bank normally rolls out its swanky mobile hospitality unit. Industry insiders estimate Bank of America’s NASCAR spend at high seven figures annually.
