Don't try to tell Ronald T. Urquhart that setting up a credit card operation in the United Kingdom is a chore.
"We are treating this as a fun project rather than a working project," said Mr. Urquhart, senior vice president of People's Bank of Bridgeport, Conn., who is obviously enjoying his first stint abroad.
Mr. Urquhart, who launched People's $2.3 billion card operation in 1985, has spent the last year overseeing the thrift's fledgling card operation in Northampton, 70 miles north of London.
If it is a labor of love, Mr. Urquhart is also convinced it is a necessity because the future of the card business is international.
Then why aren't more than a handful of U.S. bank card operations going abroad?
"We have always been a leader," he said, "and looking at the opportunity, there is no reason why a bank like People's could not be over here."
If he does not want to concede that international consumer marketing aspirations are unusual for a $6.7 billion-asset savings bank, he certainly sees the strangeness in the fact that People's new digs are directly across the street from a building under construction for Barclays Bank, a multinational giant and the biggest credit card player in the United Kingdom.
"We don't mind that they are here," said Mr. Urquhart, "but I'm sure they mind that we are here."
The 53-year-old American is not only facing down the likes of Barclays, Lloyds Bank, and National Westminster Bank PLC but also competing with companies familiar from the home market, including Advanta Corp., MBNA Corp., and Household International.
Citicorp, the biggest of all credit card issuers, is well ensconced in Europe, and First USA is believed to be interested.
While People's, as the 27th-largest U.S. card bank, can be quite formidable in its chosen U.S. markets, in Europe it is battling against Top 10, world-class players. And People's came into the United Kingdom on its own, not with the help of partners as did Advanta, MBNA, and Household.
Undaunted, Mr. Urquhart puts his faith in the plain-vanilla, low-rate product that is People's domestic bread-and-butter. The U.K. card - charging 14.4% interest with no annual fee or introductory teaser rate - looks enticing in a market where 26% is common.
"We have positioned ourselves as straightforward, and that's completely different from other banks," Mr. Urquhart said. "Obviously, they can't (be straightforward) if they have five different offers out there, all with different rates."
In a recent article in The Sun, a consumer praised People's for its low rates - a sign its message is getting out.
Mr. Urquhart said he had assumed consumers would rush to People's when they got word of the low interest rate, but they have not. The public reacted cautiously to mailings, a response that Mr. Urquhart attributed to a general mistrust of banks.
People's other challenge is cracking the loyalty to a single bank that is common among British consumers. People's tried to break through in one mailing by explaining, "You don't have to bank with us to save money."
While the thrift is trying to prove itself in the United Kingdom, it is poised with the latest technology to seize any opportunity that comes along. With only 30 people in Northampton, People's is relying on First Data Resources Ltd. for back-office functions.
Together the companies developed a customer service system that Mr. Urquhart said is more advanced than in People's U.S. operation. It includes a state-of-the-art call center that, for example, can handle balance transfers by telephone instead of on paper.
"We work on the premise that everything has to be automated," said Mr. Urquhart.
In addition to the First Data relationship, People's has invested in high-tech office equipment, including electronic mail that connects it to the United States and a teleconference system that lets the Northampton office take part in Bridgeport management meetings.
"We aren't making any money at this point," Mr. Urquhart said, "but these nice-to-haves are absolutely money-saving things that allow us to maintain quality and control."
Technology and a low-cost operation may be People's ticket to a measurable market share.
It picked Northampton as cheaper than London. Since the bank is outsourcing most functions and is not offering products other than credit cards, it wasn't necessary to have a high-profile London office, Mr. Urquhart said.
Howard Radley, vice president of Gemini Consulting in London, said new entrants like People's appear to have an edge over indigenous banks in their pure marketing orientation.
"The advantage is that they have a variable cost base that allows them to experiment and to take more risk," said Mr. Radley.
"The U.K. banks need to be smarter about data base marketing to understand their customers' behavior and spending patterns," he added.
While Mr. Urquhart would not disclose the size of People's U.K. portfolio, he said it has been growing faster than the U.S. portfolio at its launching 12 years ago.
As a sign of the growing importance of People's credit card business, it was reorganized in August, creating a separate business unit.
Mr. Urquhart, who had been responsible for the U.S. card business, has been put in charge of international ventures, and he said there will be more.
He reports to John A. Klein, executive vice president of the new credit card services division. Mark K. Vitelli succeeded Mr. Urquhart as senior vice president for the United States.
"Ron is the perfect person leading the initiative (abroad) since he got us up and running from scratch" in the United States, said Mr. Klein. "We see tremendous opportunity in the U.S., but we see significant opportunities abroad."
It may help that People's Bank's chief executive and president, David A.E. Carson, is British.
Wanting perhaps only the company of his family, which lives back in Connecticut, Mr. Urquhart has settled into a country house. His plans to return to the United States are indefinite. But his business resolve is firm.
"My whole role in life at People's is to get this up and running," he said. "And we have an eye on the rest of Europe."
