In a novel approach linking two important businesses, Fourth Financial Corp. plans to reward loyal credit and debit card customers with bonus points good for discounts on new consumer loans.
Jerry Laster, senior vice president for electronic banking at Wichita, Kan. Fourth Financial, said the program is among the first to reward customers who use both cards while encouraging them to use more traditional credit products.
"We want to get our card to the top of the wallet," said Mr. Lester.
Under the Resource Reserve program, customers receive 10 bonus points for every $100 charged on either card or for every $1 of credit card interest paid. Each point is worth one cent and can be redeemed up to twice a year.
The points can be used to reduce the cost of a new, nonrevolving loan from Bank IV, such as a car loan or home mortgage. For example, if a customer has bonus points worth $500, they can be used to reduce a $10,000 car loan by $500.
Additionally, the bank's bonus program will double the benefit of using a cobranded card such as the one Fourth Financial jointly offers through a local subsidiary of the Kroger grocery chain, That card also rewards users with rebates toward purchases, Mr, Lester said it will likely be 1996 before card users accumulate enough bonus points to use toward loans, He declined to predict how the program could affect consumer borrowing,
