LaSer UK
| Industry | Financial services |
|---|---|
| Founded | 21 January 1973 |
| Headquarters | Solihull, West Midlands, UK |
Area served | Great Britain, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland |
| Products | Premium Financing, retail finance, credit card programs, store card programs, Loyalty program, database marketing |
| Revenue | £1.44 billion (2011) |
Number of employees | 800 (2012) |
| Website | www.laseruk.com |
LaSer UK is a provider of credit and loyalty programmes, operating in the UK and Republic of Ireland markets. The company operates credit and loyalty programmes for business partners across multiple sectors – including retail, household, insurance, entertainment and leisure.
LaSer UK manages four million customers and 200 UK partnerships, and in 2011 financed £1.4 billion in credit. The company's operations are in Solihull and Belfast where it employs 800 people.
LaSer UK consists of two separate companies: Creation Financial Services Limited and Creation Consumer Finance Limited, collectively trading under the name of Creation.[1]
Ownership
LaSer UK is fully owned by BNP Paribas- the fourth largest bank in the world. With the support of such a globally recognised bank, they have the financial position to be a key player in the financial services market.
History
LaSer UK began its existence in 1973 as the financial services arm of Selfridges and the company eventually became SearsCard, with its primary function to provide store card facilities for retail companies within the Sears PLC Group.
In the late nineties, the company was rebranded as Creation Financial Services Limited.
In 1999, Creation Financial Services Ltd was acquired by LaSer, a European provider of credit and loyalty customer programmes based in Paris, jointly owned by BNP Paribas and Galeries Lafayette.
In 2004, Creation expanded into cobrand credit cards with the launch of a number of programmes in the football arena, providing credit cards to clubs in the Premiership and Football League Championship.
In 2006, Creation acquired Belfast based Open and Direct Retail Services (ODRS).[2]
In 2007, the LaSer Group was formed by Creation’s parents, including rebranding the group companies across Europe and LaSer UK was formed.
In 2008, LaSer UK in-sourced its customer services and collections teams.
In 2010 LaSer UK announced it would be supplying fixed term credit for DSG International the owners of Dixons, Currys and PC World.[3]
In 2012 LaSer UK announced a partnership with retailer Asda, to provide the Asda Money Credit Card. The new partnership created 100 new jobs at LaSer UK's Solihull call centre.[4]
Products
LaSer UK has three main business lines, namely fixed term loans/ retail finance, card services and loyalty and data services.
In late 2012 Creation Financial Services redeveloped and relaunched their total Online Servicing suite for Card, ensuring that this was a key servicing channel for their customer base.
Awards
LaSer UK won 'Best CRM (Customer relationship management) Programme' in 2011 [5] and 2012 and best partnership card in 2013 for its ASDA Money credit card [6] at The Card and Payment Awards.
Corporate Social Responsibility
LaSer UK operates a "Make A Difference" programme, encouraging staff to support local charities and the local community through fundraising and volunteering. £100,000 has been raised since 2008 through the programme.[7]
References
- ↑ http://www.creation.co.uk/about-us/creation-faqs
- ↑ http://www.theretailbulletin.com/news/creation_announces_acquisition_of_open_and_direct_retail_services_09-02-06/
- ↑ http://www.midlandsbusinessnews.co.uk/2011-06/laser-uk-reports-strong-growth-and-sets-new-target-to-double-in-size-by-2013.aspx
- ↑ http://www.birminghampost.net/birmingham-business/birmingham-business-news/other-uk-business/2012/08/03/solihull-firm-laser-uk-lands-asda-cashback-contract-65233-31534992/
- ↑ http://www.cardandpaymentsawards.com/year/2011/
- ↑ http://www.cardandpaymentsawards.com/year/2012/
- ↑ http://www.midlandsbusinessnews.co.uk/2012/09/laser-uk-reaches-out-to-make-a-difference/