THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 11, 1995 TAG: 9510110573
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
Bell Atlantic Corp., gearing up for intense competition in all of its telecommunications businesses, on Tuesday announced the first of a planned string of loyalty-building programs: a Visa card that rewards users with discounts on monthly phone bills.
The Philadelphia-based company became the fifth regional phone-service provider to launch a so-called ``affinity card'' this year.
Congress is putting the finishing touches on legislation that would abolish the Baby Bells' monopolies on local phone service. Meanwhile, competition is about to explode for the Bells' highly profitable cellular-phone subsidiaries.
Bruce Gordon, president of Bell Atlantic's consumer and small-business group, said the company is hoping the card will dissuade customers from switching to new providers and, possibly, lure competitors' customers as Bell Atlantic invades new markets.
The Bell Atlantic card will be offered in conjunction with First Omni Bank, a unit of First Maryland Bancorp.
There will be no annual fee for the card. Cardholders will get the following credits:
1 percent for all retail purchases and other charges made with the credit card.
2 percent of the Bell Atlantic portion of their residential phone bill (regardless of how they pay the bill).
3 percent of charges for using the phone company's calling card or Visa card to make phone calls when they're away from home.
All of the credits can be applied toward reducing the cardholder's monthly residential phone bill. Bell Atlantic estimated that the credits will amount to between $40 and $60 a year for most customers, but said there is no limit on the amount of rewards possible.
Bell Atlantic plans to begin mailing the credit-card offer to selected customers Oct. 16. It also plans a major ad campaign.
Gordon said Bell Atlantic intends to eventually offer its cellular customers similar incentives. He indicated that the company will introduce many other loyalty-building schemes as competition unfolds.
GTE Corp., which has a MasterCard with credits for calling-card charges only, said it's considering adopting a program similar to Bell Atlantic's. by CNB