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ANZ Banking Group Ltd. says it has joined with social networking Web site MySpace to launch a Visa-branded prepaid card for consumers younger than 18. Consumers can use the MySpace Recharge Card for retail and online transactions, including goods offered through the MySpace site, the bank says. Consumers pay AU$5.95 (US$5 or 3.50 euros) for the card, and they must be at least 13 and have a MySpace account. An ANZ spokesperson declines to estimate how many cardholders the issuer hopes to attract. The card accounts, to which users can add value, can hold up to AU$1,000. The bank earlier launched a Visa prepaid card in November 2006 and offers another Visa prepaid card for students, the spokesperson says. Matthew Sinclair, executive director with Australia-based Carpadium Consulting, tells CardLine Global the MySpace Recharge Card is the first card in Australia specifically designed to appeal to young consumers through a tie-in with a social networking site. "This is a market that does not [as a rule] have access to credit, so the provision of a prepaid card makes a lot of sense," he says. "Banking tends to be as much habit as choice, so the idea of getting people familiar with a banking brand at a young age might do something toward having them be loyal to that brand as they grow older."
