Prestige plastic offers perks, pampering
By Libby Wells • Bankrate.com

You don't have to have connections to land choice seats for Broadway shows, tickets to the hottest sporting events or reservations at prestigious hotels and restaurants. Nor do you need to hire a personal assistant to see to it that the briefcase you left in a London taxi is delivered to your office.

You just need the right credit card. And that doesn't mean passe platinum or tacky titanium.

American Express, Visa and MasterCard have surpassed the precious metals monikers with products intended to be even more exclusive.

American Express' Centurion, also known as the Black card, rolled off the press in October. It features an eye-popping $1,000 annual fee and elite perks such as an upgrade to the Concorde when you buy a first-class ticket to or from London on British Airways.

"That feature alone, even with one use, is worth the fee," says American Express spokeswoman Judy Tenzer.

The Black card is a leap over MasterCard's World Card and the Visa Signature, which were introduced in 1997 and 1998, respectively. These cards were an answer to American Express' Platinum card, which had been the symbol of success since 1984.

Amex out to reclaim its reputation
American Express, in a game of one-upmanship, is now out to reclaim its reputation as the name in prestige plastic.

"With the Centurion Card, we've again set the standard -- raising the bar in the premium category," James Bush, senior vice president of consumer marketing, said when the card was introduced.

All three cards are aimed at people with six-digit incomes who travel and entertain a lot and expect exceptional service and rewards.

The cards have no spending limits, feature enhanced perks and offer around-the-clock concierge service.

To the well-heeled, it means not having to worry about whether a Piaget watch or a Cartier bauble will put you over your credit limit.

It means being able to pick up the phone, day or night, and have someone do your bidding as if you were the star on the set.

"One of our members had the concierge arrange a tour of Vatican City for him and a group of his pals," said American Express spokeswoman Monica Beaupre.

"Another time, some of our members were traveling in London. They were all vegetarians and they wanted a certain beverage, so we arranged for them to have that."

One elderly lady, traveling alone, needed someone to watch over her. "She wanted to be greeted and assisted at the airport," Beaupre said. "And then she wanted someone to call the hotel later to make sure she had checked in OK."

Perks, privileges and pampering
The privileges of these cards range from accelerated frequent flier rewards and travel insurance to smaller perks and the pampering that the rich expect. Use your Visa Signature card to check in at a Ritz-Carlton hotel and you get a room upgrade and one garment pressed a day.

If you're in a foreign country and need a doctor, lawyer or local interpreter, Signature's referral service is there to assist.

World Card cardholders can get front-row seats at Paris fashion shows, a bump up the list for a luxury car purchase, and a discount if they want to record their own CD at a professional studio.

Customers who value privacy can request that merchant details be left off their monthly bills. "Some individuals are extremely wealthy and are very conscious of what type of records are in the semipublic domain," said Bruce Segall, vice president of global consumer credit for MasterCard.

At the end of the year, World Card customers receive a summary of what they have spent arranged in categories to make reporting expenses easier and to facilitate organization at tax time.

Centurion members are assigned a personal travel counselor who will plan itineraries and keep them posted on the weather in Prague. They receive complimentary international cell phones, private shopping hours at Saks and breaks on management fees for their investments.

Available only to the cream of the crop
Of course, these privileges are reserved for a very few. Only 1 percent of American Express platinum customers have been offered Centurion membership, and only 1 percent of all American Express customers have a platinum card. The World Card is targeted at the top 1 percent to 3 percent of the wealthiest of MasterCard's customer base, and Visa Signature is available for those who make $100,000 a year or more.

Card issuers can determine approximate income from credit reports.

Each card allows the user to carry a balance, but the interest, especially on the Centurion card, encourages paying off those whoppers each month. American Express charges prime (currently 2.00) plus 5.9 percent, or 14.4 percent.

The company intends to maintain a low profile for Centurion. Unlike the big splash it made when its smart card, Blue, was introduced this fall, American Express is keeping Black in the dark.

"We're not advertising this," Tenzer said.

The Signature and World cards also are obscure compared with other products in the Visa and MasterCard lineup. Each has only a handful of U.S. issuers. Chase Manhattan and Bank of America are among those offering the World Card.

Merrill Lynch markets the Visa product to its Cash Management Account holders, who are required to put down a $20,000 opening deposit. The account bundles money market, stock, bond and mutual fund investments in a monthly statement. The Signature card is used like a debit card, with the customer's account assets providing security.

So far, the brokerage house has snagged about 370,000 of Signature's 500,000 customers.

"It took American Express about 15 years to achieve that same milestone (with its platinum card)," brags Visa spokesman Sean Healy.

Prestige market is expanding rapidly
He expects the prestige card market to expand. In 1989, Forbes magazine counted 1.3 million American millionaires. In a decade, that number soared to 5 million, and demographers are predicting that during the next 10 years it will quadruple to 20 million.

"We're seeing more segmentation in the marketplace. It's going to continue to accelerate as affluence grows," Healy said.

Even subprime lending specialists such as Providian Financial Corp. and Capital One Financial Corp. are trying to bite into the upper tier. Providian is reportedly going after people who make $150,000 to $200,000 with a low-rate platinum card featuring credit lines up to $100,000.

Earlier this year, Capital One was testing the waters with a platinum card featuring a single-digit fixed rate for high-end users.

But in most cases, customers who want a piece of prestige plastic must wait as they would for a coveted party invitation.

"We are sending letters to people we think would be good Centurion customers," Tenzer said.

In other words, if you have to ask, you probably can't afford it.

-- Posted: Dec. 13, 1999