... as Visa and the banks roll out Infinite options

April 10, 2008
Visa Canada now has American Express squarely in its sights. Last month, it launched a new high-end credit card in Canada: the Infinite Card. The target market is well-heeled folk who want the equivalent of an Amex Platinum card in their wallets.
Amex introduced its Platinum card in 1984, first by invitation only but now for anyone who qualifies on a credit check and is willing to pay the $399 annual fee. For more than 20 years, it has dominated the high-end field.
Is American Express worried? Not for a moment, says Barclay Hancock, director of the charge portfolio at Amex Canada.
"Platinum cards appeal to a large and growing market," he says. "Considerable wealth has been created in Canada during the past half-decade. It is only natural that card issuers would look for ways to tap into it."
But, as Hancock points out, Amex Platinum is more than just accelerated rewards. It is also about services. "What it comes down to is, who delivers the best value to customers. That will be the deciding factor."
Patrick Sojka, who runs the rewardscanada.ca website from Calgary, says the high-end battle will depend on which card issuers come up with the best strategy to lure cardholders.
"I don't think Amex is particularly worried," he says. "To date, each of the banks issuing Infinite Visa cards has set its own standards for annual fees, services included and target markets."
The Infinite Card has so many faces that there is no uniformity in annual fees or services attached to it. At TD Canada Trust, for example, the TD First Class Travel Infinite Card will cost $120 a year and focus on those spending between $25,000 and $30,000 a year on their credit card. It will, in fact, replace the current gold card.
A newly introduced wrinkle sweeping the industry is the ability to book travel with any agent. "The idea of flexibility in choice when it comes to booking travel is ... a really big change in the industry this year," Sojka says.
Royal Bank of Canada's new RBC Infinite Card for private clients will cost $399 a year and be available only to high-personal-wealth private banking clients. They book travel and redeem rewards through a new, dedicated personalized travel service.
"We feel that personal service is what our private banking clients want," says Sean Amato-Gauci, RBC's vice-president of credit cards. "They also get a range of special services, such as access to about 500 airport lounges around the world."
CIBC, meanwhile, has used the Infinite category to strengthen its enormously successful Aeroplan Visa line with an Aerogold Visa Infinite Card and a new Aventura Gold Visa Infinite Card.
"The new cards focus on baby boomers who now have considerable personal wealth, travel a great deal and want a card with a lot of extras," says Ernie Johannson, CIBC's senior vice-president of marketing for retail markets. "We think the new category lets us go better head to head with Amex Platinum."
MasterCard Canada has yet to join the fray, although Bank of Montreal has launched its own Gold Air Miles Mosaik MasterCard and HSBC bank has an HSBC Premier MasterCard available only to its personal banking customers.
Visa card issuer The Bank of Nova Scotia is still deciding whether to join the action.
"We are looking at the opportunity a new Infinite Card represents," a spokesperson says.