People who surf the Internet now have a credit card they can call their own.
Columbus Bank and Trust Co. has launched a cobranded Visa with Block Financial Corp. The new card, called the WebCard Visa, was created specifically for Internet and World Wide Web users.
The WebCard Visa gives cardholders on-line access to their account information 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
"People who use on-line services like to do everything on-line," said G. Cotter Cunningham, vice president of Block Financial. "With this card, they'll be able to go on-line to see account activity, monitor fraud, and download their credit card information into a personal finance software package like Quicken."
The card will be marketed to subscribers of commercial services like America Online or Prodigy that offer Internet access.
Last year, Block Financial launched the Compuserv Visa, a credit card offered exclusively to Compuserv subscribers, which has thus far attracted more than 100,000.
"We think (the WebCard Visa) will get even more than 100,000 users," said Connie Mansour, product development manager for Columbus Bank and Trust's bank card division. "The base of Internet users is higher than the base of Compuserv users."
Consultants, however, questioned the appeal of the WebCard Visa, citing its lack of perquisites.
Although the new card offers 24-hour access to account information, many credit-card holders can already get that service by making a simple phone call. Citicorp allows some of its cardholders to see account information on-line.
Unlike the Compuserv Visa, which offers its users a discount on their subscription fees, the new WebCard Visa will offer no such discount.
"If this card is not going to offer special perks, I would question" its chance for success, said James L. Accomando, a Fairfield, Conn.-based cobranding consultant.
Block Financial's Mr. Cunningham said that plans are in the works to add several features to the card, including a bill payment service, a link to a combination checking and savings account, a brokerage service, and, in conjunction with parent company H&R Block Co., tax information.
"What would distinguish this card from any other card ... would be to get a deal on your Internet access or other special perks," said Gary Arlen, an Internet consultant based in Bethesda, Md. "But as the offer stands right now, I could not characterize this as a breakthrough move."
The card itself has no annual fee. To attract cardholders, Columbus Bank and Trust is offering an initial teaser rate of 12.9% for the first six months. After six months, the rate for a classic card will jump to prime plus 8.9%; the rate for the gold card will become prime plus 6.9%.
"The draw here is the affinity, not the pricing, not the deals," said Anne Morgan Moore, president of Atlanta-based Synergistics Research Corp.
She cited research that shows that 8% of U.S. households making more than $15,000 per year have already accessed the Web.
"We're talking about a young, affluent market," she said. "They're good credit risks because they have to have enough money to afford a PC, they can afford a modem, and Internet software. They are definitely an upscale group."
