Angry Birds Shoot for Plastic

Mobile game Angry Birds is building its newest nest — and this one's made out of plastic.

The puffy cartoon birds, which have inspired everything from ice cream bars to theme parks across the globe, will soon don a new line of debit cards in Russia.

Moscow-based Promsvyazbank will begin issuing the cards June 4, with plans to release 100,000 cards this year.

Cardholders will receive a 10-15% discount on local Angry Birds-themed products, Alexey Giyazov, innovation manager at the bank, told American Banker in an email Friday morning.

He adds that the bank is considering adding an Angry Birds credit card line in the next few months.

Angry Birds has been downloaded more than a billion times worldwide since it was launched in December 2009, according to Finnish game developer Rovio.

So perhaps it's no surprise that customers are already looking to snatch up the bank cards.

"Some clients are demanding their Angry Birds cards right now — before the official launch," Ivan Pyatkov, head of retail sales and technology at the bank, told the Associated Press.

Giyazov, the innovation manager, adds that the response has been "massive."

Game-maker Rovio is no stranger to the payments business. In late 2010 the company said it was releasing Bad Piggy Bank (named after the Angry Birds villains), a system that players of the game can use to buy more mobile applications from the company charged directly to the user's monthly phone bill.