Conn. Bank Expects Mobil Promotion to Pump Up Debit Business

A Connecticut bank is hoping to fuel debit card use with a promotion linked to the gas pump.

Webster Bank of Waterbury is giving Mobil Oil Corp.'s Speedpass to new customers who sign up for a Visa check card and checking account by June 30.

Webster executives said Speedpass, which lets drivers charge fuel by waving a key chain in front of an antenna on the pump, is a convenience for customers. Customers who take advantage of the promotion can have Mobil purchases paid for directly from their checking accounts.

The $9.8 billion-asset bank has 150,000 off-line debit card customers and is hoping to add thousands of new accounts. It is "the first bank to feature the Visa check card and Mobil Speedpass in combination," said Peter Mulligan, executive vice president for consumer and small business banking.

Jeffrey N. Brown, executive vice president at Webster, said people who rely on debit cards also like Speedpass.

"We had identified that we had specifically wanted to go after heavy debit card users," Mr. Brown said. "We were looking for some sort of tie-in that would be very current, a little cool."

Webster is among the growing number of banks ardently promoting debit products. "We have worked very hard over the past couple of years to get as many of these cards into our customers' hands as possible," Mr. Brown said.

Sara Jordan, assistant card marketing manager at Mobil, said the promotion "allows us to leverage somebody else's customer base and get more word out about Speedpass."

Mobil, of Fairfax, Va., introduced the Speedpass loyalty program in 1996 in Austin, Tex., and now has more than 1.4 million users and 3,500 Speedpass locations.

Webster, which began the Speedpass promotion May 15, is offering $25 prepaid Mobil gas cards to new customers to use until they get their Speedpasses.

Existing account holders are eligible for $10 gas cards.

Under the deal, Webster pays to advertise the program, and Mobil foots the cost of the Speedpass equipment. The key chains are free to participants.

Speedpass, developed by Texas Instruments Inc., works the same as toll- booth systems that let drivers pass without tossing coins. When a customer waves a Speedpass key tag in front of the pump antenna, a radio signal conveys information about the transaction, and the customer's account is debited.

Mobil said Speedpass customers typically charge their purchases to credit cards. The oil company is talking to other financial institutions about debit-card promotions, Ms. Jordan said.

Mr. Brown said Webster's promotion dovetails with a television and billboard advertising campaign touting the theme, "The simpler, the better."

With Speedpass, "there is an element of making people's banking simpler, more straightforward, and more convenient," Mr. Brown said.

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