Financial giant JP Morgan, in an effort to outdo competitors such as Wells Fargo, is releasing a new line of credit cards with previously unseen features. These cards are aimed at customers with high net worth to replace those customers that represent lost profits now that laws prevent JP Morgan and other companies from charging overdraft and other debit card-related fees.
One of the showier offerings is a Palladium credit card that incorporates actual palladium and gold in the design, makes a distinctive sound when being run, and will soon include an embedded microchip. This EMV chip will help customers avoid credit card acceptance problems that have plagued American users overseas, particularly in Europe, where such chips are a commonplace feature in credit cards. The acceptance problems have been estimated to cost card issuers such as JP Morgan millions of dollars each year.
While these new cards will at first only be geared toward the wealthiest of the card issuer’s clients, JP Morgan plans to expand the use of embedded microchip technology to many of its Chase brand cards after several months. The company believes that these cards will help boost revenues by increasing transaction earnings and even expanding their customer base by luring high net worth customers away from other card issuers, such as American Express.
The news about the new line of cards comes only a year after JP Morgan’s Chase line of credit cards issued two new cards in 2010, helping to increase profits despite an overall decrease in customers paying their credit card bills late. The expansion of the card line helped to draw new customers to the card issuing company, and create a 47 percent jump in profit in the last financial quarter of 2010. JP Morgan is hoping to continue this upsurge in profits this year by targeting wealthy customers.
If you are interested in joining our mailing list, please submit your email below. 
