Tempur-Pedic Chooses Sca To Launch And Administer Private Label Credit Card

Furniture World Magazine

Tempur-Pedic Inc. (TPI), Lexington, Ky., has retained Shoppers Charge Accounts Co. (SCA) of Mahwah, N.J. to develop and operate its new private label credit card program. TPI markets specialty mattresses, bedding and other sleep-related products via consumer-direct sales and through independent retailers, high-end furniture stores, specialty stores and chiropractors. Consumer-direct sales, which account for approximately 40% of the company’s total volume, are generated by infomercials, as well as through radio and newspaper advertising. Print ads appear regularly in top-tier consumer magazines and in such newspapers as USA Today and The Wall Street Journal. To encourage consumers to apply for TPI credit cards, the company is offering "90-days same as cash" terms as its primary credit marketing tool. "We and TPI senior management anticipate that the new consumer finance program should be a significant factor in taking sales to even higher levels," said Ed Fechner, SCA senior vice president. SCA services brick-and-mortar and catalog retailers throughout the U.S. The company acquires retailers’ receivables or will develop private label credit card programs for merchants who currently don’t offer a house charge. In both situations, SCA assumes responsibility for generating customers’ billing statements; managing credit, collection, and lockbox functions; and creating customized marketing programs. Ranked among the nation’s largest private label credit card companies, SCA is a division of Hudson United Bank, a subsidiary of Hudson United Bancorp (NYSE: HU). Hudson United Bancorp is a $6.7 billion asset company with over 200 branch offices in New Jersey, Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania. Hudson United Bancorp’s subsidiaries offer a full array of innovative products and services to commercial and retail accounts, including imaged checking accounts, 24-hour telephone and Internet banking, loans by phone, alternative investment products, insurance products, private label credit cards programs and a wide variety of commercial loans and services including asset based loans, SBA loans, international services and cash management services. Wealth management services are also provided to individuals and businesses. Public sector products and services are provided to local and state governments, municipalities, educational institutions, civic and not-for-profit organizations.