In a new push for business customers, Citicorp has rolled out a corporate credit card.
The product, which carries the Visa or MasterCard brand, will offer revolving credit lines, unlike Citicorp's well-established Diners Club charge card, whose balances must be paid promptly.
Citicorp now has more than 200,000 of the new corporate cards in circulation, according to Richard Ussery, chairman and chief executive of Total Systems Services Inc., a credit card processing firm based in Columbus, Ga.
Citicorp has contracted with Total Systems to perform the data processing for the new cards, Mr. Ussery said Tuesday, speaking at a New York investment seminar sponsored by Alex. Brown & Sons Inc.
Diners Club Exclusive
For years, Diners Club had been the only charge card marketed by Citicorp to companies for employee travel and entertainment expenses.
Susan Weeks, a Citicorp spokeswoman, said the bank is testing the Visa and MasterCard business cards to complement the Diners Club business.
The Visa and MasterCard business cards are accepted at more merchant locations than Diners Club. But the Visa and MasterCard business cards also have less sophisticated computer systems to track and control employee expenditures than Diners Club, the Citicorp spokeswoman said.
Ms. Weeks declined to confirm the number of Visa and MasterCard business cards issued by the bank.
Citicorp has issued in total about 30 million Visa and MasterCard credit cards and 7.1 million Diners Club cards.
Total Systems is one of the country's largest administrators of bank credit cards.
Memorial Day Startup
Over the Memorial Day weekend, the company began using its computers to administer the Citicorp business cards, said M. Troy Woods, a Total Systems senior vice president.
Total Systems, which reported profits of $17.6 million on revenues of $129.7 million last year, aims to boost its business with the five largest bank issuers of credit cards.
The vendor now administers niche charge card programs for BankAmerica Corp., Chase Manhattan Corp., and First Chicago, Mr. Woods said.
