Vervent’s Innovative
Debut Card Program
THE ASK
At Vervent, we believe all consumers deserve credit card products and services that are just as robust as those offered to prime consumers. We wanted our first complete credit card product developed under the expanded Vervent Card brand in partnership with MRV Banks to reflect that ideal – and prove the effective, profitable business model that supports it.
On July 28, 2021, The Revvi Card launched. Shortly after, a full-featured mobile app and Revvi Rewards were added, making Revvi the first subprime credit card program to offer payment rewards. Less than a year later, it is outperforming the high standards we set for it, exceeding initial projections by over 40%.
THE CHALLENGE
Vervent values creating exemplary products while maximizing speed-to-market – we call it intentional acceleration. From inception to finish, The Revvi Card launched in only 6 months, which represented a huge cross team lift and collaboration. It was a resounding success.
Revvi Card was the first major project undertaken after Vervent’s acquisition of TCI, and it went incredibly smoothly. IT resources combined and complemented each other, and our Mobile App and Project Management teams grew with some key hires to support this initiative. The acquisition brought together talented teams in Credit/Risk, Operations and Marketing as well as a strong, deeply experienced leadership team. MRV Banks was and still is an ideal sponsor bank; a forward-thinking partner that is highly responsive to projects that increase acquisition. This allowed the Vervent Card team to create a strong brand that maximized user experience.
Never ones to set the bar low, Vervent Card wanted to break new ground by creating a rewards credit card program in the subprime market. Underwriting this program required innovation as incentivizing spending in this demographic can be complex. Vervent Card’s solution for that was brilliant in its simplicity: customers earn Revvi Rewards for payments, not for spending. Rewards start accruing as soon as customers’ accounts were open and were available for redemption after 6 months. Revvi Reward’s positive effects on acquisition were clear: not only were we outperforming internal projections, but we saw a clear, rapid growth trajectory, with over 660,000 applications received in the first 9 months.
Our Rewards program was designed to increase customer acquisition, and just as importantly, customer retention. Early numbers strongly indicate that Revvi Rewards has a positive impact on performance, with first payment default numbers 11% lower than similarly situated programs.
In addition to Rewards, Revvi also launched a highly successful premium plastics campaign. The program offered a choice between 2 standard designs and 4 premium designs. Despite costing a minimal fee, premium plastics were a clear success, with over 17% percent adoption rate and a new revenue stream to increase ROI. In fact, this program’s success led Vervent to introduce this product offering to help maximize card programs with other clients and sponsor bank partners.
Mid-project, the global plastics shortage hit hard. As a result, the Revvi project team decided to do a limited launch of The Revvi Card. We started marketing with two affiliate channels, limited direct mail and digital marketing. Even with limited release, we saw enthusiastic marketplace adoption. Though this was certainly an unforeseen circumstance, Vervent pivoted decisively, and the limited launch acted as a beta test of the brand, yielding impressive results in a short amount of time.
When Revvi Rewards and the Revvi Mobile App launched just three months later, demand for Revvi was high. The team had solved the plastics issue and we were ready for a full-scale Revvi launch. Vendor and affiliate partners and direct mail saw unprecedented application and response rates immediately. Even with the industry’s expectation of downturn in card acquisition in Q4 2021 & Q1 2022, Revvi defied seasonality across the board. In the first 9 months, Revvi saw over 87% mobile adoption rate and more than 200,000 approved applications. Direct mail campaigns showed particularly strong performance, with campaigns seeing a 39% increase in response rates compared to similar programs.
THE RESULTS
Revvi Card is a success by all measures, experiencing unprecedented growth patterns. In 2021,
Revvi had over 200,000 approvals and is on track to exceed 200% growth in 2022.
660,000+
APPLICATIONS RECEIVED
200,000+
APPROVALS
MOBILE ADOPTION RATE
OVER INITIAL PROJECTIONS
PREMIUM CARD ADOPTION
With Revvi, Vervent piloted an improved product offering for an underserved segment of the card market, including Rewards and Premium Card designs. The full-service Revvi Mobile App allows customers to pay their bill, manage their Rewards account, contact customer service, and more. Tried-and-true Vervent credit card servicing agents were the backbone of Revvi’s excellent customer support through a variety of multi-channel support offerings. The Revvi Mobile app and our robust customer portal increase customers’ ability to self-service, creating more points of contact in the customer journey and increasing opportunities to efficiently remedy defaulted accounts.
In well under a year, Revvi experienced impressive growth and enthusiastic marketplace adoption. Revvi continues to defy expectations – and it’s poised and ready to gain greater market share in the future.
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