Affinity Solutions Announces Investment to Fund Continued Innovation in Targeted Partner-Based Marketing

NEW YORK, July 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Affinity Solutions, the leading provider of partner-based rewards and marketing programs in the U.S., announced today a significant investment from Chestnut Hill Ventures, a family-controlled private equity firm focused on consumer marketing and financial services companies. 

Affinity Solutions, which has reported profits for each of the last five years, is using the investment for continued development of new customer-engagement and targeted-marketing technologies.  

The many innovations Affinity has pioneered include the introduction of merchant-funded rewards for card issuers; the first GPS mobile application in the partner-based loyalty space; dynamic targeting and segmentation using bank card transaction data to deliver the right offer to the right customer at the right time; integration of merchant-funded discounts with Facebook, Twitter, and other social media networks outside of typical rewards portals; retailer dashboards providing near real-time insight on retailers' performance relative to their competitors; and experiential rewards that use editorial content and web-based tools to engage customers.

These innovations have led to Affinity having the largest merchant network in the space by far, with over 25,000 national, regional and local brick-and-mortar retailers, and partnerships with over 450 financial institutions - more than all other players in the space combined.

"We're excited to make this investment in Affinity Solutions.  After studying the bank-retailer rewards and discounts space, it was clear that Affinity Solutions is the innovation leader," said John Berylson, Chairman and CEO of Chestnut Hill Ventures.  "That's led to the company's significant growth over the past several years and the largest merchant network in the space.  We were impressed with how Affinity's management team was able to deliver these results with limited capital, and we're confident that our funding will help them expand their strategic growth opportunities." 

"Given the new regulatory environment banks are facing and continued competitive pressures, the opportunity has never been greater for financial institutions and retailers to leverage transaction-based targeting to drive their businesses," said Jonathan Silver, President and CEO of Affinity Solutions. "This financing will allow us to build on our previous innovations with new technologies for our card issuer and retailer clients.  We're excited to have Chestnut Hill Ventures as a partner, given their success and experience guiding high-growth companies."  

Chestnut Hill Ventures and its affiliates have owned or held substantial stakes in Neiman Marcus, Harcourt General and General Cinema Theatres.  

About Affinity Solutions

Founded in 1998, Affinity Solutions provides relationship marketing and partner-based targeted programs to hundreds of clients.  Affinity leverages proprietary analytics applied to a range of customer data in a privacy-controlled manner, to deliver the right retailer incentives and rewards most likely to drive desirable customer behavior for its bank and retailer partners. Affinity has partnerships with over 450 national and regional banks, including Sovereign Bank, U.S. Bank, and Capital One, as well as over 25,000 retail partners.

About Chestnut Hill Ventures

Founded in 2002 as a successor to GCC Investments, Chestnut Hill Ventures pursues private equity investments in a variety of industries and geographic markets.  Chestnut Hill Ventures investments have focused on consumer products, business services, financial services, media and entertainment, and telecommunications.  Current and past investments have included FleetCor Technologies, Millwall Football & Athletic Company, Vision Express, GrandOptical Photo Service, PrimaCom, Vanguard Modular Building Systems and Global Telesystems Group, among many others.  Chestnut Hill Ventures' team leverages its wealth of operating expertise and insight to create long-term value at each of its portfolio companies and generate attractive returns for its investors.

SOURCE Affinity Solutions