Much has been written about consumers being negatively impacted by the Durbin Amendment, but some issuers are taking a different approach and launching innovative products into the market that benefit consumers. A case in point, Fifth Third’s new DUO card which combines debit and credit functions on one card form.
Consumers like the idea of a payment wallet, but are nowhere near ready to give up cards as the primary form factor. Products like this can function as payment wallet, and address the issuers need to make sensible modifications to their debit card portfolio. In this case, consumers use a PIN to access the debit function and signature to access the line of credit. Lots of reasons to like this if you’re an issuer, and it might be an easier sell to consumers since they already “get” PIN vs. signature.
Unlike many national credit card issuers that court customers outside of their branch footprints, most of Fifth Third’s credit card holders also have checking accounts at the bank. Many cardholders have expressed preferences for one card that could access both their credit and checking accounts, Jon Groch, senior vice president and director of Bankcard Services, tells Digital Transactions News. He explains that they wanted debit card access to help control their spending and access to credit for the perceived better protections in case of fraud, he explains.
Read the entire article here: http://www.digitaltransactions.net/news/story/3180