U.S. Bancorp's Elan Financial Services has replaced MBNA Corp. as the credit card provider for Northern Trust Co.
Northern Trust, a private bank and wealth advisor based in Chicago, began offering Visa Signature cards through Elan on Oct. 1.
The card is being offered to all Northern Trust customers. Northern Trust plans to promote the card's American Express-style benefits, including concierge service and a variety of rewards options.
"We will work with Northern Trust employees on what makes sense to build the right products for their customers," said Diane Sommers, a senior vice president and the managing director of Elan's credit card program.
"We will use sophisticated segmentation strategies" to offer the appropriate product to customers. Like its parent, Elan is based in Minneapolis.
Lately Visa U.S.A. has been pitching its Signature card as an alternative to the American Express gold card in television ads and in kiosks at airports, Visa spokesman Paul Cohen said.
Some travelers at Chicago, Charlotte, and Boston airports, among others, can win free limousine rides if they present a Signature card at a kiosk.
Though it has been around for years, the Signature card was slow to pick up issuers at first. Now it is being issued by close to 10 banks, Mr. Cohen said.
They include J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., U.S. Bancorp, Citigroup Inc., National City Corp., and Bank of America Corp. Merrill Lynch recently began offering the card to high-net-worth customers.
"We did notify all credit card holders that have cards with us that we have had a change in provider," said Rebecca Hayne, a Northern Trust spokeswoman. Those letters went out a month ago. Soon a mailing will go out to all clients offering them a new card.
Not all clients will receive Signature cards, Ms. Hayne said. Northern Trust, which has about 160,000 client households in the United States, will also offer standard and platinum cards through Elan.
Before its deal with Elan, Northern Trust had been issuing cards with MBNA, of Wilmington, Del. Ms. Hayne said MBNA will keep the accounts it initiated with Northern Trust.
If those cardholders choose not to switch now, when their cards come up for renewal they will have to decide between a new, non-Northern Trust card from MBNA or an Elan card. MBNA does not offer a Signature card, Mr. Cohen said.
But MBNA was the first bank card issuer to partner with American Express Co. and has notified some cardholders that it will soon switch them to the new Amex version of its cards. MBNA did not immediately return a phone call.
In a recent speech Visa president and chief executive Carl Pascarella touted the Signature card as a product that "goes head to head with the Amex gold card on features and benefits."
Mr. Pascarella said the card specifically targets the "new affluent," a market that Northern Trust has sought in recent years.
