Originally published May 11 2005
New marketing techniques by banks turn credit cards into wallet-size billboards
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Banks are fighting for more power by increasing the size of their name on credit cards. New logos on credit cards show bank names much larger than Visa and MasterCard logos. This change is a new marketing tactic by the financial service giants who are hoping to promote their own brands.
ALWAYS on the lookout for a good marketing opportunity, banks are aggressively elbowing their way onto the front of MasterCard and Visa credit cards.
When J. P. Morgan Chase introduces its new credit cards next month, a supersize Chase logo will dwarf the tricolor Visa banner - as well as the names of some of the bank's partners, like Amazon.com.
After years of pressure from its member banks, Visa said that starting next fall, it would use a smaller logo on the front of its card.
The payment associations, like Visa and MasterCard, have heavily promoted their own brands for years to create vast merchant networks and consumer acceptance.
But the banks that issue the credit cards, especially the financial services giants that have long provided much of the associations' financing, are now viewing the credit card as a wallet-size billboard for themselves.
"If either of those parties had their way, they would probably have gotten the other guy's name off the card.
But that's not going to happen," said Jim Johnson, the chief executive of the Helms Agency, a branding unit of the WPP Group that designed the MBNA campaign.
Today, the 10 largest issuing banks account for about 85 percent of the $687 billion credit card market.
Meanwhile, credit card advertising spending has almost tripled to more than $1.4 billion since 1999, according to TNS Advertising research.
People still refer to their cards as "my Visa card or my MasterCard," but MBNA's research suggests customer service and perception of the issuer is now more important than the card brand, Mr. Johnson said.
Discover Financial, for instance, is focused on keeping its merchant fees low and using its presence at checkout counters to keep itself in the back of customers' minds even as its market share has declined.
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