Only in the UK! Interesting to see these two together... http://www.capitalone.co.uk/web/card_application/products/pfprod_amex.jsp
Amazing - that is aggressive - forward thinking - CO BRANDING at its best! Cap One obviously has a nice partner, who needs a cash infusion .... kewl - and the UK has that sharp Green Card aarrrff to you - dogman
I cannot see the consumer benefit of this card. If it had the Visa or MasterCard logo along with the Amex logo, I could see the benefit. If Amex was not accepted, you could use it as a Visa or MasterCard. Could I be onto something? CardKid
Check this out under the FAQ on the application: Is there an age limit to the additional cardholder on my account? There is no age requirement. However you are responsible for any spending on you account by the additional cardholder. Here's the link: https://www.capitalone.co.uk/web/ca...p_pagetemplate.jsp?sysdomain=RAID&ss=Y&step=1 Click on "Need help with your application." I wonder if a co-branded product like this will become available here in the U.S. CardKid
This is just the beginning. American Express won a lawsuit several months ago. Actually, it was a Department of Justice lawsuit against MasterCard and VISA -- however AmEx and Discover were VERY interested parties to the suit. Basically, MasterCard and VISA have agreements with member banks that if they offer a cobranded card with any other entity (Discover or American Express, for example) that the banks will lose their privilege of offer cobranded MasterCards and VISAs. The federal court ruled against such monopolistic practices by MasterCard and VISA International, and that opened the door to bank cards being issued with entities other than just MasterCard and VISA. There was an article in BusinessWeek a few weeks ago that discussed American Express's aggressive new strategy to sign up banks now that the court demolished MasterCard's and VISA's tight lock on bankcards. The strategy is on hold in the US pending MasterCard's and VISA's appeal. We ultimately can expect to see Citibank AmEx cards and Fleet AmEx cards. Basically AmEx wants parity with MC and VISA, they want to be accepted everywhere the others are (i.e., included in the Paymentech International processing system), and it looks like they'll get it. We've been so brainwashed to think that banks could ONLY issue cards with the MasterCard and VISA logos, lol, and that's exactly what the MC/VISA consortium wanted us to believe. Doc
P.S. Here are some interesting links related to this lawsuit: -- Here's an article on American Express's web site which announced the lawsuit on October 7, 1998: AMERICAN EXPRESS RESPONDS TO DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE LAWSUIT AGAINST VISA AND MASTERCARD. -- Here's the Department of Justice's statement regarding the initiation of the lawsuit, October 7, 1998: JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FILES ANTITRUST SUIT AGAINST VISA AND MASTERCARD FOR LIMITING COMPETITION -- Here's a PDF file with the court's final decision against VISA and MasterCard, rendered October 9, 2001: United States of America v. VISA International and MasterCard International. Finally, MasterCard and VISA have appealed, and the Judge has granted them a brief reprieve pending the outcome of that appeal (source: The Wall Street Journal): WSJ: Visa and MasterCard Are Granted Stay In Exclusionary Case NEW YORK, February 7, 2002 -- The Wall Street Journal reports that U.S. District Judge Barbara Jones, who last fall ordered Visa and MasterCard to abolish a rule that bars member banks from issuing cards on competing networks, such as American Express and Discover, granted the request of Visa and MasterCard for a stay of judgment pending appeal, saying that "while fully confident in its decision, the court acknowledges that this is a case involving substantial legal issues and a complex industry." American Express said it was disappointed in the judge's latest ruling but not surprised. "It's not justice denied, it's justice delayed," said Robert Glick, an American Express spokesman. "We're confident that the decision will be upheld on appeal." I'll bet MC and VISA lose their appeal. Once that happens, Katie bar the door. "Many banks desire to offer cobranded AmEx cards simply because it will inject new excitement into an otherwise moribund market" (source: CardReport). Interesting times indeed. Doc
And there's more, lol... NEWS FLASH! "Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Canadaâ??s largest Visa issuer with 3.9 million cardholders, announced today that it will begin issuing three cobranded American Express Co. credit cards throughout Canada as a member of AmExâ??s Global Network Services." Source: http://www.cardforum.com/html/news/010902_1.htm AmEx had already experimented with a cobranded card in Japan as early as 1997, a full year before the lawsuit. Source: http://www.jei.org/Archive/BR97/333x/333_USinJ_FinSvcs.html I'll bet there's more, but I'm tired of googling. Doc
Great job, Doc! I'm following every post. Maybe, I'll have a chance to combine my Amex and Cap One cards one day. :> CardKid
