Though Elvis is dead, you can still get him to pay for your groceries or even a trip to Graceland if you get the new credit card, in his image, from Leaders Federal Bank for Savings.
The Memphis-based bank, just blocks from the famous mansion, marketed an Elvis Presley card in 1988, though the receivables were owned by Signet Bank Corp. This new rendition is issued by the $2.8 billion-asset thrift, with Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc., the licensing arm of Mr. Presley's estate.
The new Elvis Presley MasterCard features three pictures of the young rockabilly singer, two from a 1968 television special, and one from his 1969 Las Vegas engagement.
Applications have been available at Graceland since the famed Death Week in August, when the faithful come from the world over to pay homage to the King of rock-n-roll, but the program was officially launched last week.
Elvis fans are "going crazy over this," said Jeb Strickland, vice president of credit card marketing for the bank. "We had to reroute all phone calls to handle the flow." Mr. Strickland hopes to attract 50,000 Elvis admirers by the end of 1996.
Cardholders pay a $35 annual fee and prime-plus-8.6% interest rate. After one year the fee drops to $25. A secured version carries a 19.35% fixed rate, with deposits to secure the account in increments of $500, up to $5,000.
Mr. Strickland said a many of the applicants are women of 18 to 58, and a high percentage of younger applicants need a secured card to gain credit.
He said the limited-edition cards would become collectibles. Variations of the card will be issued within 30 months if the program is successful, the bank said.
Another rock icon, the Rolling Stones, markets a credit card issued by Chevy Chase Bank in Maryland. But "you can't compare Elvis to the Rolling Stones," said David Beckworth, spokesman for Presley Enterprises. He said Elvis had more gold and platinum records than even the Beatles; the disks fill an entire wall in the racquetball building at Graceland.
Some of the proceeds from card purchases and the annual fee will go to the Elvis Presley Memorial Foundation, created to support charities to which Elvis contributed, as well as other organizations.
The card also offers a 10% discount on merchandise sold at Graceland and through its mail-order catalog.
There are 460 Elvis Presley fan clubs around the globe. Neither the bank nor the estate could provide the number of members, but Jean Brior, president of Friends of Elvis, in Detroit, said her group has 72 - and she guessed that most of them would not apply for the card, "because of the fee."
A couple of her group's members "would like to have the card - even if they never use it - for a souvenir," guessed Ms. Brior, a fan since she first saw Elvis, in the 1950s. It will probably be a collectors item, she said, but she doubted it would be worth much money.
Lin Overholt, publisher of the "First International Credit Card Catalogue," has a collection of 8,000 cards, including a 1988 Elvis card. He said that card in mint condition lists for $550.
There is potential for the new card, "but it won't be as valuable as the original," he said, because the original "was a flop."
Though the card is available only in the United States at present, the bank is negotiating deals to launch in Canada and Europe.
