A Signature option for big spenders

Citibank yesterday became the first bank to issue a credit card in Australia using Visa's high-end Signature platform, when it launched Citi Select - a card targeted at big spenders who like to travel.

Benefits in the Visa Signature package include discounts at the boutique hotel chain Mr & Mrs Smith, premium ticketing for events, a bespoke events program and access to 600 airport lounges worldwide.

Citibank has added the choice of Qantas Frequent Flyer direct earn program or a multiple airline program that includes Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines and Virgin.

Citibank also offers an online travel portal for bookings and preferential rates for cardholders who also have a Citigold account.

The annual fee is $700 and Citi is looking for customers who spend upwards of $50,000 on their cards each year. Select cardholders will earn two points per dollar spent, with no cap on points.

Citibank head of cards Madeline O'Connor said Select was the only Visa card in Australia with that sort of points deal.

Citibank has become a significant force in the local credit card market through aggressive marketing of its own products and partnerships with Bank of Queensland, Suncorp and others. It sits behind the majors with a 10 per cent market share.

Visa Australia & New Zealand general manager Chris Clark said Signature cards were first launched in the United States in 2004 and were introduced into Asian markets in 2007.

Clark said Signature is pitched at the top one per cent of income earners in those markets. In Australia, with its smaller population, the target demographic would be broader but it would still be high end.

Clark said the local market was ready for a card platform that offered a migration path beyond platinum. He said platinum, which Visa has offered in Australia since 1999, has been the group's fastest growing segment for a number of years.

Clark said: "Our research tells us that wealthy Australians are not into conspicuous consumption and displays of prestige to the same extent as the wealthy in other countries.

"But what they are interested in is lifestyle, particularly luxury travel and memorable events. Signature is designed to allow cardholders to develop those interests."

Visa will be hoping that Signature's generous rewards structure will slow the growth of American Express, which has had a successful rollout of companion cards through the major banks offering as much as three points per dollar spent.

MasterCard's Signature equivalent, World, has been available in the local market since 2007, when HSBC launched the HSBC Premier MasterCard.