SEB Kort co-operating with Magasin du Nord

SEB Kort AB co-operating with Magasin du Nord SEB Kort AB has reached a ten-year co-operation agreement with the Danish department store chain Magasin du Nord. Concurrently, SEB Kort AB is purchasing the department store chain's card stock of more than 160,000 cardholders. "Magasin du Nord's customer base matches our strategic target group in a highly favourable manner. We are looking forward to co-operation with Magasin to further strengthen the position that their card already holds today," says Kurt Thyregod, President, SEB Kort Danmark. "The co-operation agreement also provides very strong possibilities to develop existing business through, among other actions, cross-selling of SEB Kort's and SEB's products," continues Kurt Thyregod. As a result of the co-operation, Magasin du Nord gains a partner that develops and offers card-based payment solutions to its customers. In the first phase, issue of a Magasin-profiled card is planned, which will then be supplemented with a Magasin MasterCard card. The agreement also involves the takeover by SEB Kort of a small number of employees from Magasin Kort A/S. For further information, contact: Kurt Thyregod, President, SEB Kort Danmark. +45 36 73 72 00 Kerstin Ottosson, Information Manager, SEB Kort Norden, +46 70 660 5200 The Magasin du Nord department store chain was established more than a century ago. It comprises five stores in the Copenhagen area and four stores located in Aarhus, Odense, Aalborg and Kolding. In addition, the Illum store in Denmark is included. SEB Kort is a wholly owned subsidiary within the SEB Group, with separate companies established in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway. At year-end 2001, SEB Kort had issued a total of approximately 2.4 million cards, of which slightly more than 1.8 million in Sweden. In the Nordic region, SEB Kort has exclusive franchise rights to the Diners Club brand. In Sweden, SEB Kort also holds the exclusive rights to Eurocard. SEB Kort issues several co-branded cards, including Statoil's cards in Sweden and Diners Club cards combined with SAS's Eurobonus program. An important part of SEB Kort is Euroline, a technologically advanced merchant acquirer.