Smile! You’re on Dad’s credit card
Consumers hankering to show off their family photos — or their car or their dog — are getting more chances every time they whip out a credit card.
That’s because more credit providers are offering photo credit cards, in which a favorite image is emblazoned on the face of the plastic.
Companies have been putting customers’ faces on credit cards as far back as the 1970s, says Diogo Teixeira, president of the American Credit Card Collectors Society.
But the idea of images of all sorts on credit cards never really caught on until the digital photo revolution, which makes it easy to send a picture via the Internet.
Personalized image cards include:
• Cars. Mini Cooper fans design their dream car online and can pick their favorite color options, such as a checkerboard pattern on the roof. The program was intended to mimic Mini’s car sales approach, in which most buyers design their car online and wait for it to arrive from the factory, rather than buying a new model off the dealer’s lot.
The card includes discounts on new Minis, accessories and service.
• Pets. Hill’s Pet Nutrition is partnering with Bank of America to offer a credit card that owners can emblazon with pictures of pets. The card earns points good for discounts on visits to participating vet clinics, Hill’s pet food and donations to animal shelters. Hill’s products include the Science Diet brand of pet food.
While the majority of pictures so far have been dogs and cats, Hill’s says parrots, rabbits and horses have also been included.
• Others. Capital One and First National Bank of Omaha offer picture credit cards — and the image can be just about anything. Exceptions: pictures deemed offensive, pornographic or in violation of a copyright.
The BMW Mini and PetRewards cards don’t cost anything to get and have no annual fee.
The Mini card’s interest rate ranges from 10.24% to 18.24%, depending on credit history after the introductory rate of 0% for the first six months.
Consumers need to pay attention to interest rates and the fine print, not just images on credit cards, says Bill Hardekopf, CEO of LowCards.com, a credit card shopping comparison website.
"You can get so caught up in the marketing hype that you think, ‘Isn’t this neat?’
- Source: USA TODAY, July 26, 2006
