Millennium BCP rides the contactless wave

Abstract

“Millennium bcp rides the contactless wave” is a case-study in Marketing that illustrates the business dilemma faced by this Portuguese bank, upon the introduction of contactless technology in the payments industry. By the end of 2011, payment service providers operating in the Portuguese market, including Millennium bcp, were being pushed by international brands MasterCard and Visa to facilitate the performance of contactless-enabled transactions. Due to the interdependent and multi-sided nature of the payment methods business, the strategic alignment among key stakeholders and the acceptance of contactless technology from consumers and retailers were essential to the success of any plan. Millennium bcp saw contactless as a real business opportunity and consequently decided that some strategic steps towards its implementation in the Portuguese market should be taken. After carefully analyzing the market and the contactless technology, Millennium bcp was able to narrow its strategic options to two different alternatives: addressing card holders in the first place or otherwise targeting retailers primarily. This case-study can be used as a pedagogical tool in undergraduate and graduate programs in the fields of General Management and Marketing Strategy. Indeed, it provides students with the opportunity to apply theoretical concepts and frameworks related to product innovation and introduction, such as stakeholders’ analysis, first-movers (dis)advantages and pricing strategies, to a real business context.

Date of Award	12 Feb 2015
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Paulo Alexandre Gonçalves Marcos (Supervisor)