FRIDAY BUG
ATMs that offer something more
A BAY presenter displays one of the new cards.
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ATM cards, it seems, are no longer simply ATM cards. The pieces of plastic that once did no more than dispense with the need to carry a pocketful of cash have become a promotional platform; something the marketers might call a niche.
As the commercial banks jostle to raise their interest rates, their psychological games to attract customers do not end, these days, with percentages per year. They seem compelled, also, to offer ever-higher technologies as a kind of value-added gift for their customers. Take the Bank of Ayudhya's latest enticement: what it calls "three-dimensional ATM cards". Customers can watch the pictures on the cards move as they change the viewing angle. A total of 105,000 of the cards are being made, in three styles: lifetime, day night, and teenplus. They will be available from April 18. Every month, the bank approves an average of 73,000 new ATM cards and 14,000 Visa Electron cards. At the end of January, it had about three million cardholders, representing about 9 per cent of the market. The bank makes about 15 per cent of its revenue from the associated fees and expects about 28-per-cent growth this year. Although pictures in three dimensions may not boost your bank balance, at least they may provide a distraction while the beginner at the head of the ATM queue tries to figure out which button to press next.
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