June 2004 Professional Jeweler/In the Industry Accentuate the Positive The Jewelry Accents credit card program can boost traffic and reduce your risk Jewelry Accents, a benefit of Jewelers of America membership, is a credit program designed to help your business grow by: Increasing customers’ buying power. Participating retailers say the average Jewelry Accents sale is more than 400% higher than their average VISA/MasterCard sale. Attracting more customers to your store. The program is offered by JA and G.E. Retail Sales Finance and is a credit service of G.E. Capital Consumer Card Co., a banking corporation in Mason, OH. G.E. handles all billing, collection and account maintenance. Here’s how it works: The customer fills out an application. That information is entered in an automated processing terminal in your store and transmitted to the processing system. Most credit decisions are made within 15 seconds. When approved, the customer’s account number and credit limit appear on your terminal’s screen. You can use the information to close the sale immediately. Applicants can be systematically approved for up to $7,500. The customer receives a Jewelry Accents Credit Card (with your store name embossed) in the mail in about 10 days, enabling additional purchases. You receive full proceeds of the sale through direct deposit within two business days. In the beginning of the following month, the discount rate is debited from your account. The Benefits For customers, no interest is charged if the bill is paid within 25 days (90 days, six, nine and 12 months available at your discretion). There’s no annual fee and only a small monthly minimum payment ($10 or 3% of the outstanding balance, whichever is greater). The full purchase may be financed provided the credit line is available. A customer account security program is available too. Retailers are under no obligation if the customer defaults on the account (subject to standard operating procedures). The program also provides cardholder credit availability and is updated quarterly. You’ll get a monthly statement of all client activity. Telephone support is available for questions. Cost Summary There’s no cost for programming and shipping the electronic equipment, point-of-purchase materials, padded applications, initial supply of credit/debit vouchers and all other printed material in the startup kit. However, G.E. requires a minimum dollar amount of discount charges be processed each month. If you don’t meet that minimum, G.E. will debit your account for the difference. The promotional discount helps to cover the cost of the program, including application processing, customer billing and collection, activity statements and support. G.E. Card Services, Mason, OH; (800) 244-7354. – by Lorraine O’Donnell A sample of promotional material offered by GE.