Paris, Friday 20 June 2008

Finaref is pleased to be backing Fnac, one of the official sponsors of the French edition of European Music Day, for this year's event. The event also provides an opportunity to recall the ten-year private label card partnership between Finaref and Fnac, the leading French retailer of cultural and leisure products. Based on confidence and innovation, the partnership has generated numerous innovations.

Success based on an exemplary partnership
For the 2008 edition of this major music festival, Finaref is sponsoring Fnac's largest French concert, to be held in the Château de Vincennes park outside Paris on 21 June, from 5pm onwards.
The event provides an excellent opportunity to recall that the Finaref-Fnac partnership extends beyond a purely commercial framework. In the past ten years, purchases using the Fnac card have doubled - as has the number of card-holders in the same period. There are currently 2 million Fnac members, and 1.5 million of them use their card to buy on credit.
These results stem from an exemplary partnership between Fnac and Finaref, based on a shared desire to develop the brand's business in France and internationally, both in stores and online. Each company is well-aware of the other's business and they both work together with mutual respect for each other's goals.

Finaref's credit offering has kept pace with Fnac's commercial development
During this ten-year partnership, Finaref has constantly adapted its credit offering in line with Fnac's commercial expansion, putting in place innovative and competitive products that are half the price of competing offerings.
Each special offer - such as the current "Eurofoot" campaign - is accompanied by an appropriate credit solution.
In 2003, Finaref increased the number of regional managers in the Fnac-dedicated sales team from three to six, based on Fnac's own regional distribution map. In 2007, two additional regional managers joined the team.
Finaref's IT system interfaces directly with the Fnac system that manages the loyalty scheme and card membership registers.
Julien Gelot, in charge of the Fnac partnership at Finaref, explains: “We are the first financial services partner to have taken on board a brand's entire communications strategy. We have followed all the advances in their loyalty scheme, so our offering always kept pace with our partner's development”. For instance, Finaref boosted credit visibility on the Internet as soon as Fnac launched its website.

A partnership marked by major innovations
The close Finaref-Fnac partnership has generated numerous innovations in private label cards and consumer credit. Fnac members were the first to hold cards that :

• Could printed directly in-store
• Allowed customers to chose their own PIN code
• Offered insurance in the event of loss or damage to mobile phones
• Enabled students to buy a computer for 1 euro per day.

About Finaref
Finaref, a growth-enhancing company, is part of Crédit Agricole S.A. Group's Specialised Financial Services with two businesses: consumer credit and insurance. Finaref's clients are its partners' private label card holders, which include major retailers such as La Redoute, Fnac, Printemps, La Maison de Valérie and Go Sport. Finaref also markets revolving credit directly to consumers via its Mistral and Challenger accounts and offers an extensive range of personal loans with a fixed repayment schedule. For more information visit: www.finaref.fr or www.finaref.com