The billionaire card: Inside the secret world of luxury services for the ultra-rich

For 27 years, Insignia has been the “wish granter” for over 450 high-net-worth families worldwide. With two pillars – dedicated personal assistants and exclusive luxury payment cards – the firm caters to a clientele with a minimum net worth of $30 million. Despite request oddities, Insignia boasts a 98 percent fulfillment rate.

Clients are guaranteed anything from impossible reservations, full store shutdowns for private shopping sprees and anything else they want, when they want it.

“On average our typical client will spend about one to two million on their card on a quarterly basis,” said Nada Rouviere, President of the Insignia Group in an exclusive interview with Arabian Business.

Sat in a black and white themed office in a seat that has potentially graced the likes of several multi-millionaires and billionaires, Rouviere dived into the world of the rich, demanding and the powerful.

“What we have seen is that clients are spending anywhere between $250,000 to $500,000 on trips and with some clients they are more focused on ultra-luxury – secluded experiences, private villas, yachts. They really want to get the best of luxury and services that they can,” she fascinatingly explained.

With a clear taste in luxury herself, adorning Cartier accessories alongside diamonds and more, Rouviere highlighted that their clients are immensely wealthy to a point where even with prices going up, they are simply not ready to slow down. “The sensitivity towards increased pricing is just not there,” she shrugged.

The South Pole expedition… with Wi-Fi?

The client who wanted “something extraordinary, something special.”

Rouviere began to detail the story about a businessman who wanted a South Pole expedition for himself and his wife, however, the most important thing was Wi-Fi which had to be arranged at the South Pole, an evidently challenging task for most.

Aside from this, the adventurous couple had to go for extensive check-ups prior to the extravagant trip, all coordinated by their Insignia personal assistants.

“With his Wi-Fi situation, we managed to find a technical supplier who had to fly with them to be able to implement this machinery and device to be able to teach him how to use it,” she explained.

Ultimately, the client was “extremely happy because he got the best of both worlds – the Wi-Fi and the South Pole.”

“Clients do not want normal,” she said, “our value comes from the ability to take clients wildest wishes and dreams and turn them into reality.”

Jewellery cards: Crafted with gold, diamonds, rubies

If 24/7 dedicated personal assistants and wish-granting abilities was not enough, clients are offered jewellery cards made from the finest quality materials such as gold, diamonds, rubies and any precious cut gemstones crafted into cards by skilled lapidaries and craftsmen.

Available in various designs like “African Flowers” or “Bonsai.” For ultimate exclusivity, clients can even create their own designs.

In a recently launched collaboration with Jacob & Co. a new product was launched – The Billionaire Card, officially standing as the most expensive card in the world.

“I spoke to Jacob and I think the first one will be in the client’s hands very soon,” she said.

The value of these cards, depending on the number of precious stones and the type of precious metal used, can range anywhere from $28,000 to $100,000.

Even among the wealthy, this exclusive world is only open to a select few, carefully handpicked by the team, mostly through referrals.

Among their existing clientele, the majority is located in Switzerland, Cyprus, UK, Monaco, UAE, Germany, and Singapore. In recent years, the UAE has been gaining significant attention as it evolves into a favored destination for high and ultra-high-net-worth individuals.

Client selectivity is done as part of a strategic move to be able to keep control over the level of services offered. “It is impossible to give that level of service if you have too many clients,” Rouviere said.

The battle for the position of personal assistant

Dealing with confidential and high-net-worth individuals comes with the need for heightened safety and security. Becoming a personal assistant with Insignia is no easy feat, potential candidates have to pass through multiple layers before they are offered the position.

A candidate usually has to start from the back office and then ease into the control department followed by a promotion to a buddy personal assistant and then finally working up to the eligibility to be offered their own clients.

“It is a very long process because we have to make sure that the personal assistants are ready to take on the client and understand the industry extremely well before they can service them,” she said.

The world is losing the essence of human touch, she sighed, Insignia offers the element of human touch to clients in a world full of AI and automated services, clients can even fulfill the need to be heard and spoken to.

“I don’t think we will ever go away from that human touch, which is the world is losing at the moment,” she regrettably said.

Unveiling demographics, According to Rouviere, Germany has a high number of ultra-wealthy clients however, she believes that the way a German family would go on holiday is drastically different to “certain nationalities.”

“I don’t think that our product is necessarily suited for a German family. I think it is better suited for family coming from another jurisdiction who like the luxurious life and documents enjoying the finer things in life,” she explained.

Swipe the card, buy a house

An unfathomable service that the Insignia card offers to the wealthy is the ability to purchase a house, on a credit card. The single largest transaction that occurred was in partnership with global real estate consultants, Knight Frank in the UK, where a client purchased an apartment for GBP16 million.

“There is a possibility to outright buy a property, but we are also now able to offer clients direct access to developers, whereby the client can make either monthly or quarterly payments via their credit card. So, it is almost giving clients a mortgage solution via their payment card,” Rouviere explained.

Minimum net worth

In order to be eligible for the Insignia service, not only does the client have to be well connected, recommended and selected, but they also have to have a minimum net worth of $30 million.

“So, this is the minimum but usually the clients have a much higher net worth,” she said.

The rich are flocking to the UAE

The GCC is presenting to be a particularly prominent market for the wealthy as the elite from all around the world continue to relocate to Dubai with the intention of making it a permanent home. Although Insignia has been functional for over twenty years, the Dubai office was a much recent establishment after the company noticed that an increasing number of clients were moving to the region.

“We feel there’s definitely a gap in the market. There’s a lot of companies that have popped up over the years, they have a good marketing spiel, they are out there, they are everywhere, and then they disappear,” she said.

‘I think this region [GCC] is definitely seeing the biggest growth,” she asserted, “Even with our existing client base. It’s very interesting to see how this region has become the focal center for this segment, not only in terms of them coming here on holidays and extended periods of time, but more clients are setting up their businesses here.”

She highlighted the increasing demand for the UAE Golden Visa and affirmed the importance of Insignia’s Dubai office and the importance of the region as a whole.

Touching upon some upcoming launches, Rouviere revealed details about the highly anticipated Insignia wellness card, scheduled to launch in April. This card was specifically designed in response to the growing emphasis on wellness among clients, particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Some clients are on their second marriages, the kids are younger and we have got to keep up whether it’s the ski trip or the football field,” she explained, hinting at some of the client’s interests.

Looking to the predictably extravagant future, she asserted that the plan for the next three to five years is “to hyper-invest within this business, to grow it and to establish it as the number one provider of services to the ultra-high-net-worth and the high-net-worth.”

“I think this region is definitely seeing the biggest growth and our intention will definitely be to expand within the GCC,” Rouviere concluded.