Mumbai:
Bank of America Corp, the second-largest US bank, has introduced a credit
card designed for some of its wealthiest clients, in a bid to retain and win new
business as banks increase the pursuit of wealthy customers. The
Bank of America American Express Accolades card is intended for customers who
keep between $100,000 and $3 million of deposits and investments. Holders
may redeem points for such things as luxury vacations, cooking lessons with top
chefs, and access to airport lounges, and may use "concierges" to track
down hard-to-get concert tickets or dinner reservations. Customers may also redeem
250,000 points each year for a $2,500 charitable donation that the bank would
match. The Accolades
card carries an initial annual percentage rate of 12.24 per cent, equal to 3.99
percentage points more than the prime rate. A 1.9 per cent APR applies to balance
transfers in the first year. There
is a $295 annual fee, but the bank said it would waive it for holders in its family
wealth advisors, private bank, or premier banking & investment programmes.
Bahnken said
the only people likely to incur the fee are customers who leave those programmes
but want to keep the card. Many
banks, including Citigroup Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wachovia Corp, are
pushing to attract and retain affluent customers who may need many financial services.
Last week, Wachovia
announced plans to add about 300 private bankers over three years to the 240 it
has now. The
Accolades card may help Bank of America retain customers of Charles Schwab Corp.''s
US Trust unit, following its planned $3.3 billion purchase of the unit early in
the third quarter. Bank of America became the largest US card issuer when it acquired
MBNA Corp. last year. Charlotte,
North Carolina-based Bank of America said it developed
and tested the new card for a year. It estimates it does business with half of
the 26 million US households with investable assets in the targeted range.
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