Card Briefs: First National of Omaha Has Pact with Cybergold

Cybergold Inc., developer of a rewards program for Internet browsing and shopping, struck a deal with First National Bank of Omaha to put its incentive credits on Visa cards.

When they view postings at cybergold.com and other participating Web sites, people now have several options for accumulating the dollars they earn. The money can be sent to a bank account, to a charitable organization, or to a Visa account.

The credit card capability was demonstrated Oct. 13 when visitors to Excite Inc.'s Web search page could get 50 cents for signing up as a Cybergold member.

With money earned on the Web made tangible, "the link between the Internet and the real world continues to strengthen," said Nat Goldhaber, president of Cybergold, who founded the company in 1995 with backing from Silicon Valley marketing leaders Jay Chiat, Regis McKenna, and Peter Sealey.

Visa U.S.A. executive vice president Michael A. Beindorff called the arrangement "an important Web-related venture," one of a series of "strategic on-line marketing opportunities that help us better understand how consumers interact with and respond to advertising and branding activities on the World Wide Web."

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