CHARLOTTE - Bank of America Corp. said Wednesday that it had introduced a Visa credit card half the normal size and is offering it to cardholders for keychain use as a companion to a regular-size card.
It is the second odd-size credit card to be brought to market this year. In the spring the Discover Financial Services division of Morgan Stanley introduced Discover 2go, an ameba-shaped card in a plastic holder that can also be attached to a keychain.
Bank of America said it had been testing the mini-card concept for months, had applied for patents on the design, and for one year will be the only issuer allowed to issue such a Visa card. After that, other issuers will be free to issue mini-Visas, but they will have to pay a royalty to Bank of America for each card issued, the company said.
Visa said that it had waived its rules on unusual card sizes for the new card, and that issuers will be free to issue mini-cards of any shape or size as companions to regulation-size cards.
