New credit card rewards: Lower taxes, eh?
Just when I thought I had seen it all. Credit cards offering flight miles, cash back, vacations, interest rebates, new appliances, teeth whitening sessions and shampoos for your dog. Now what? The Canadian city of Vaughan would like to sponsor a credit card offering the reward of paying down property taxes. Is this serious? I mean, really?
Yep. It appears Vaughan will team with Toronto-based Civic Strategies, Inc. to offer the Muni-Card (Municipal Card). While this card will be the first of its kind, the Canadian city of Oshawa hopes to be a close second in adopting the groundbreaking idea.
Analysts are cynical primarily because the credit card industry is already crowded with tons of offers and because consumers tend to be loyal to one, already well-established rewards card. I don’t think this card is entering the game too late or too quietly to make a big splash. I think it has the potential to be a huge success. I also think that is unfortunate.
Apparently, Civic Strategies approached 40 companies in 2002 with the idea and met with no success. This is probably because cities are leery of tying themselves in with the business of issuing credit cards - and justifiably so. Yes, it won’t cost Vaughan anything. Yes, Civic Strategies will be managing the entire project. Yes, it will “put Vaughan on the map.” But does anyone else see potential for this to go terribly awry?
I am also skeptical about how great these rewards will really be. Will one reward point be worth a penny toward property taxes or will it really be a meaty offer? This is a pretty controversial idea that is certainly worth monitoring. If it doesn’t implode, the concept certainly has great potential to become a trend worldwide.
