Priceline Pharmacy will receive commissions from the sale of insurance products to the 3.9 million members of its customer loyalty program.
The loyalty program, Sister Club, is one of Australia’s largest, providing rewards for money spent in Priceline’s health, beauty and pharmacy stores. Its intended clientele are women and it is promoted by Priceline owner Australian Pharmaceutical Industries as a ”key marketing differentiator”.
Under a five-year deal with global insurer ACE, travel, accident-protection and health insurance products will be promoted to Sister Club members via electronic and direct mail.
Priceline would receive commissions on sales, said Robin Moore, ACE corporate communications manager for Australia and New Zealand. ACE will manage telesales, customer service and claims.
A similar deal struck in 2011 with life insurer AIA ended this year. API declined to say how much revenue that agreement had delivered.
A spokesman said API was confident that the insurance offering, Priceline Protects, ”enhances … our members’ experience”.
Under the deal, ACE has no authority to sell or use Sister Club data for any other purpose than insurance products.
”It is important to note that members can opt out of receiving offers regarding Priceline Protects at any time,” the spokesman said.
Australian Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim said that when people signed up to a customer loyalty program they should read the privacy policy to find out how the business would use their information, who else would see it and how it would be stored.
”Businesses that are covered by the Privacy Act are required to comply with several principles when handling personal information, including information collected for a loyalty card scheme,” he said. ”For example, companies are required to have a publicly available statement or privacy policy that tells people how they handle personal information.
”There are also rules about when businesses can share your personal information with others.”