London-based credit card upstart Yonder 'unofficially' sponsors Wimbledon queue

New balls please. Or how about a new credit card please.

That is what new credit card Yonder had in mind when it aced some ambush marketing to mark the start of Wimbledon.

The plucky upstart says it became the first unofficial sponsor of the Wimbledon queue, an event which has become famous in its own right over the years with tennis fans queuing for hours to get into SW19.

Yonder staff arrived at dawn on the first day of the Grand Slam tournament to meet Wimbledon super fans.

Yonder staff served up strawberries and pastries to hungry fans in the queue, entertained them with games to win a stay at Andy Murray’s hotel in Scotland, and provided props for photos to entertain the punters.

Those in the queue appeared happy with the food and entertainment, saying, “well this is a great start to my day!” and “I’ve never done Wimbledon before. Is it always like this?”

But it is unlikely that Wimbledon’s official payment partner American Express would be similarly upbeat at Yonder’s ambush marketing.

Tom Davies, head of marketing at Yonder, said: “We want to help our cardmembers get more out of their London experience. While we sadly can’t afford to sponsor the tennis (yet), we knew that The Queue was as iconic as the event itself. So we jumped in line bright and early to help the crowd do what they do best - queue patiently like their lives depend on it.”

Yonder, which launched in 2022, is backed by ex-footballer Rio Ferdinand and is looking to shake up the credit card industry.

Yonder bills itself as a lifestyle credit card and its play is to “eliminate” the stress and complexity associated with incumbent credit card offerings.

While the credit card market will be a difficult market to crack, Yonder says it offers a friendlier customer service than established players and can also entice customers with its partnerships with restaurants and bars

The startup was founded by ClearScore alumni Tim Chong, Theso Jivajirajah and Harry Jell.