French bank Natixis has acquired La Banque Postale’s 50% stake in their gift card joint venture Titres Cadeaux.
Set up by the banks in 2006, Titres Cadeaux designs and manages the distribution of prepaid gift cards and vouchers under the Cado Chèque, Cado Carte andE-Cado Carte brands.
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The deal makes Natixis the sole shareholder in Titres Cadeaux. Le Groupe La Poste will retain the contract to distribute Titres Cadeaux gift cards and vouchers in its post office branches.
Natixis said that the acquisition establishes its position in the French prepaid gift market, which is valued more than €4bn.
The bank added that it is planning to boost the development of Titres Cadeaux gift products with all its client groups, including its works councils and their staff.
Natixis Payments head of Issuing and prepaid solutions Nicolas Chatillon said: “Our teams can now work together to develop joint services, strengthen relationships with major brands and develop new digital uses by leveraging Natixis Payments’ and its S-money platform’s expertise in online gift cards and digital issue technologies.
“More broadly speaking, this move is part of Natixis Payments’ strategy to become a major name in prepaid services for companies and merchants.”
Said to the fourth largest gift voucher operator in France, Titres Cadeaux issued a total of €123m by the end of last year. Its vouchers are accepted at 600 banners and 170 websites.
La Banque Postale decided to divest its stake in the venture as part of a strategy to review its production and distribution model on its non-core businesses.
