Interview with CEO Alessandro Seralvo – 20 years of Cornèrcard

For 20 years, Cornèrcard has been shaping the Swiss credit card market with solutions that combine security, flexibility, and digital services. In this anniversary interview, Alessandro Seralvo speaks with Diego Gilardoni — futurist strategist, leadership advisor, and speaker — about Cornèrcard’s evolution, the changing expectations of customers, and the role innovation, trust, and technology will play in the future of payments in Switzerland.

As Peter Drucker said, ​“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” In the face of geopolitical disruption, social-cultural realignments and the disruptive potential of the ongoing technological revolution, this maxim encapsulates the challenge confronting any organisation seeking to stay relevant within a world undergoing profound transformation. 

It is clear that Cornèrcard, which is marking its twentieth anniversary this year, will not be shielded from this momentous challenge. It is a particularly significant anniversary, especially considering the company’s ongoing journey along the path started by Paolo Cornaro in 1975. This was when he launched the first credit card in Switzerland, embarking upon the first of many successful ventures that made Cornèrcard one of the country’s most solid and best recognised brands. Cornèrcard has been led since the outset by Alessandro Seralvo, who joined Cornèr Bank in 1999. He recalls that watershed moment: ​“At that time the market was undergoing steady and consistent growth without any abrupt swings, and our margins were growing along with it. However, all of this changed when Coop and Migros decided to offer extremely low-cost credit cards. This came as a real shock, which forced us to look for new ways of securing our future business. The path we chose, which was certainly not the easiest one, was to offer our clients two cards instead of one (providing a Mastercard to all card holders), and above all creating a new brand.”

At the time the Bank’s cards division was called the ​“Bank Card Centre”, a name ill suited to the challenges of modern marketing. As a result, it was decided to choose a new name that would be capable of encapsulating the company’s identity, bolstering its position within a rapidly transforming market. ​“Today we are a strong brand,” comments Seralvo, ​“but we must not forget that cards were not the preferred means of payment in Switzerland at that time. As such, it was by no means certain that we would be successful in this venture. It took a great deal of courage, and that courage must continue to inspire us today as we look to a future replete with challenges.” 

The courage invoked by Seralvo is that of the pioneers, who would not have been pioneers had they not dared to think outside the box, viewing uncertainty not as a threat but rather as a horizon of opportunity. Indeed, it has been in this spirit that Cornèrcard has always risen to the challenge, and in doing so has achieved remarkable firsts. Even before the new brand was created, Cornèr Bank’s cards division was the first to introduce dual Visa/​Mastercard acquiring in 2003. As Seralvo explains: ​“It was a genuine milestone which took everyone by surprise, especially in German-speaking Switzerland. I still remember how, at a meeting of the Verband Elektronischer Zahlungsverkehr when addressing certain sectoral players that had previously looked down on us, the president uttered these exact words: ​‘you don’t understand anything, now the wind is blowing from the south’.” 

With the arrival of Cornèrcard, the wind from the south became ever stronger and, thanks also to its highly innovative marketing campaigns, the brand quickly carved out a leading role for itself on the Swiss market. This was followed by other successes and firsts, such as the strategic partnership with Miles & More in 2001 and the implementation of the first secure Visa transaction in Europe in 2002.

However, the achievement that Alessandro Seralvo is most proud of was the launch of Apple Pay in 2016, the very first in continental Europe, with Switzerland being the second European country after the United Kingdom to adopt the new payment model. As a result, for a while London became the backdrop for some rather swashbuckling adventures involving Seralvo himself and his right hand man at the time, Giovanni Bettoni.

“To give an idea of how rudimentary the technology was,” Seralvo recalls, ​“I remember trying numerous times to use my mobile phone to make a payment at a shop in Harrods, causing their payment systems to crash, much to the chagrin of other customers. The same thing happened at McDonald’s where, eventually, a staff member who by then had got to know us far too well, preferred to let us go without paying simply to avoid the risk of a system crash. Our neighbourhood jaunts became so regular that Giovanni started to be greeted enthusiastically as a long-standing regular at a doughnut shop near Paddington Station.” 

Aside from the services and products created since 2006, for Seralvo it is also crucially important to recall the role played by the sponsorship and events sector, which was non-existent at the time but is now close to the beating heart of Cornèrcard: ​“The turning point came with the introduction of Emotions by Cornèrcard around 2008 and 2009, which transformed the brand perception from a payment service into a vehicle for emotions. Since then, we have become a leading player in the field of sponsorship and events in Switzerland, so much so that the ​“È” of Emotions is now almost as recognisable as the ​“M” of Mercedes, becoming synonymous with both Cornèr and Cornèrcard.”

The reference to emotions is not simply a marketing strategy, but reflects the authentic spirit of a brand that puts people at the centre of everything. ​“The human touch has always been essential, and this is what sets us apart from the rest of the pack,” notes Seralvo. The focus on customer service, based on quality and personal relationships, also has to be considered within this perspective: our team based in Switzerland works 24/7 and can assist clients in four languages – German, French, Italian and English – guaranteeing direct, expert contact in line with the Bank’s tradition of proximity. ​“I hope this will continue in the future, looking to the challenges raised by artificial intelligence. I believe that we will still be able to set ourselves apart by making intelligent use of it. This could involve, for instance, making extensive use of it for mass-market products with low added value, while on the other hand keeping the human touch at the heart of things for more high-end products and services.”

Looking to the future, in a world undergoing upheaval characterised by deeply ambiguous uncertainty, the answer is not to cling on to comforting certainties, as these may prove to be merely illusory. Rather, the key is to update our mental maps in order to navigate through this new world. It means embracing uncertainty as a promise of opportunity and with our actions rooted in a strategic clarity enabled by a strong vision. This vision is not one that has been dreamt up by a marketing agency; rather, it is born out of a long history shaped by solid, shared values. There is much to be learned from a history like Cornèrcard’s, which enables us to look to the future with courage and determination. Alessandro Seralvo is convinced of this: ​“In ten years’ time, will Cornèrcard be the same as it is today? I don’t think it will at all. But what about the spirit of Cornèrcard? I really do hope so, not least because it is only by remaining true to this spirit that we will be able to find the right ideas, energy and perspectives in order to keep up with the times and, if possible, stay ahead of the curve.”

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