Next-gen credit card: no names, no numbers

It’s not every day that a new credit card is launched, and it appears that the new RevolutionCard is not an everyday credit card, either. Breaking away from the long-standing MasterCard and Visa mold, the RevolutionCard aims to establish a more flexible, secure and internet-enabled model of credit card. First on the list of paradigm-busting features is that the RevolutionCard does not print users’ names or account numbers on their cards; rather, use of the card is based entirely on encryption and a 4-digit PIN. There is no annual fee, and the interest rate charged on unpaid balances depends on the user’s credit profile. Consumers can store money on the card, loaded from their bank accounts. Merchants accepting the card, meanwhile, pay a fee of just 0.5 percent of the total sale, rather than the industry average of 1.9 percent. The RevolutionCard was launched in late September by Revolution Money, a new iteration of the GratisCard division of Revolution LLC, which was founded in 2005 by AOL cofounder Steve Case. (Revolution Money is backed by Citi, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank.) Along with its new card, Revolution Money also just launched an invitation-only beta version of Revolution MoneyExchange, a free, online money transfer service that consumers will be able to link to their RevolutionCards and that clearly aims to take a piece of PayPal’s huge money transfer pie. Due to be widely available later this year, Revolution MoneyExchange can be used across a variety of internet platforms, including social networks and instant messaging portals. Ted Leonsis, chairman of Revolution Money, explains: “The launch of Revolution Money is another example of how Web 2.0 technologies and business processes can transform an industry for the benefit of consumers and merchants alike, while providing great growth and value creation opportunities for stakeholders.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves…. Traditional banks and credit card providers, move over! Or at least watch, listen and learn 😉 Spotted by: Susanna Haynie