Westpac subsidiary St George Bank has drawn scorn from health advocates after launching a “cheeseburger and fries” promotion to encourage spending on its debit and credit card products.
The bank has teamed up with McDonalds Australia to reward NSW customers who purchase fast food using Visa cards issued by St George.
Under the offer, St George customers are eligible for discounts on cheeseburgers and french fries until the end of October so long as they use a Visa account to pay for in-app purchases using the McDonald’s app and use it to pay for orders.
Digital rewards vouchers will be issued to St George customers each time they use their Visa account to pay at the fast food chain.
The vouchers entitle customers to a large serve of fries or a cheeseburger for a dollar once a week for the next three months.
While St George is marketing the promotion to children and adults as a benefit of using one of its card products, health experts have slammed the marketing campaign as a breach of the bank’s commitment to responsible marketing of its credit card products.
“We market our products and services responsibly,” the bank tells customers on its website.
“We're committed to acting with integrity. We follow ethical and legal selling practices and give customers information that helps them make informed decisions about our products and services.”
Deakin University health academic Dr Kathryn Backholer said the deal between McDonalds and St George was the latest example of the way large corporations put profits before health.
“An unhealthy diet is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in Australia and this kind of unhealthy marketing has been shown to increase brand loyalty, preference and consumption,” she said.
“There is a deep disconnect between St George’s corporate social responsibility message of ‘marketing their products and services responsibly’ and encouraging their customers to purchase and eat the very foods that are making us sick.”
The marketing deal with McDonalds might also undermine St George’s community support programs for remote indigenous communities in NSW where youth obesity is a live health issue.
Jane Martin, executive manager of the Obesity Policy Coalition, said the St George incentives for cardholders to eat at McDonalds would have “huge appeal” to young people.
“Nearly half of young adults in Australia are above healthy weights,” she said.
“These kind of partnerships undermine the intentions of customers to eat well.
“It’s irresponsible. It’s putting more money in McDonald’s coffers at the expense of St George customers.”
The marketing arrangement between St George and McDonalds appears to involve extensive data sharing about customers using the fast food chain’s app.
This raises a potentially important privacy issue regarding the promotion, which is suggested in the following disclosure from the bank on its website:
“If you transact with a non-St.George Visa debit or credit card in the mymacca’s app anytime during the Offer Period you will cease to be eligible for the offer and will no longer receive a weekly voucher.”
It appears that St George is relying on McDonalds to verify whether one of its customers has also used another financial institution’s payment product to purchase meals at the fast food restaurant.
Banking Day is seeking clarification from privacy and legal experts whether such sharing of information about consumers is compliant with Australian laws and global privacy standards.