Woolworths trade mark maps out financial services ambition

Eli Greenblat
July 30, 2014
The Age
Eager to not fall behind arch rival Coles as it pushes deeper into offering a suite of financial services to shoppers, Woolworths has mapped out its own ambitious plan for its ‘Woolworths Money’ brand by securing new trade marks across a slew of products including deposit taking, personal loans, residential mortgages and even superannuation and retirement funds.
Woolworths has registered a new trademark for its ‘Woolworths Money’ livery which stretches the brand over a range of financial goods and services that includes insurance, bank savings and investment accounts, personal loans and home loans.
The trademark, lodged with the Australian Trade Marks Office in late June, also opens the way to a possible move into financial planning with one category covering insurance administration, consultancy and information services, as well as pension and retirement and superannuation plans and funds.
Importantly, the trade mark centralises the supermarket’s sprawling financial services arm under the one banner as it moves away from its ‘everyday money’ branding to focus its marketing attention on Woolworths Money.
Woolworths Money currently offers a number of limited services such as credit cards, gift cards as well as life and pet insurance. Last month the supermarket giant said it would work with Visa and Macquarie Bank to deliver consumer credit products to its retail banner group which includes Woolworths, BIG W, BWS, Dan Murphy’s, Thomas Dux, Woolworths Petrol and Masters.
Its push into financial services suffered an embarrassing hiccup last week however when Fairfax Media revealed Woolworths used the term ‘‘banking’’ for more than two years without a licence.
The supermarket operator was forced to stop using the term “banking” in the marketing of its financial services, after attracting the attention of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.
A spokeswoman for Woolworths confirmed the new expanded Woolworths Money trade mark had been lodged, giving the supermarket a number of options in the future.
The trade mark essentially protects Woolworths naming rights to a universe of financial services, but doesn’t necessarily mean it will make use of all of them. Last year Woolworths lodged a new application to register the trade mark “Pharmacy-in-Supermarket” after a previous application lapsed, although long standing legislation locks out supermarkets from offering pharmacy services.
Both Coles and Woolworths are locked in an arms race over the provision of financial services to shoppers, believing the sector provides a huge opportunity both in terms of profits and customer loyalty.
Earlier this month Coles, which is rumoured to be chasing a baking licence, announced it would offer personal loans from next year, as well as credit cards through a partnership with GE Capital, and launched a “mobile wallet” which has triggered 5000 downloads in its first 48 hours.
Fairfax Media revealed this month that Coles is also considering becoming a member of the Financial Services Council, giving it greater access to the nation’s leading wealth managers as well as key lobbying activities around the financial sector.
Banking and financial services has proved a lucrative business for overseas supermarket retailers, and is something both Woolworths and Coles are keen to copy.
Tesco, Britain’s largest retailer, generates less than 1.5 per cent of group turnover from its banking arm, Tesco Bank, but the bank’s profit (£194 million in 2013-14) as a percentage of total group profit was 5.5 per cent.
Tesco’s mortgage balances have grown to £700 million with the supermarket helping more than 4000 customers to own their homes. Sainsbury’s, which is Britain’s third-biggest retailer, generates less than 1 per cent of group turnover from its bank arm but the small division delivers 5.5 per cent of total profit. Financial services arms opened by Canadian and French retailers have delivered similar strong results.
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