Supermarket chain Asda has today announced expansion into financial services this week with the launch of Asda Money.
Set up to appeal to its 18 million customers visiting its 542 stores each week, the scheme aims to target shoppers fed up with the reward points system in the current grocery market.
To celebrate the launch, Asda is to become the first supermarket in the UK to offer an unlimited cashback facility and its new financial brand will work in conjunction with an online presence and through in -store promotion over the summer.
Last month, the grocery retailer entered Britain‘s energy market with its ‘Energy Compare and Save‘ service in a bid to offer a more competitive choice to the 11.7 million households who have never changed energy suppliers.
Kirsty Ward, Head of Asda Money, believes this financial channel will be a utility aimed to ease the strain on its consumer‘s tight finances.
“Times are tough and we want to do more for the millions of people that shop at Asda every day,” Ward commented.
“Financial products are important, but they shouldn‘t cost the earth and you shouldn‘t need to be an expert to buy one.
“At Asda Money, we‘re combining our retail and financial services expertise to provide quality products at prices that save people money every day.”
“Times have changed and shoppers don‘t want complicated points schemes or rewards that don‘t translate into real every day savings.”
In a recent Asda Money poll, 20 per cent of 1218 respondents admitted they never utilised reward schemes, while 34 per cent felt they had to spend a great deal to gain any return in reward schemes.
A quarter of those surveyed believed the points took too long to receive while 24 per cent saw them as not translating well into everyday savings and 23 per cent preferred to use a credit card facility.
Last week, Asda‘s latest Mumdex survey found that half of families are already saving up for Christmas with 46 per cent concerned about the cost of the event.
Ward feels that the new service emphasises the grocer‘s commitment to offering value for money.
“For the past 10 years we‘ve been providing great value financial products for our customers,” she explained.
“With the launch of our new brand, Asda Money, we‘re building on a decade‘s worth of strong growth and experience and delivering even better products for our millions of customers.”
