AOL takes credit card giant online

The largest credit card lender in the US, FirstUSA, has signed a five-year deal with America Online (AOL) which it hopes will bring in $500m revenues from online services.

FirstUSA is already a specialist in targeted branding. It offers credit cards for niche sectors such as university alumni and cycling fans. But AOL will give it instant access to a far wider range of interest groups, simply by publishing special offers on the relevant pages of the site.

Jeff Uncle, FirstUSA's VP corporate affairs, told Silicon.com: "We'll be able to access surfers' preferences and visiting habits and offer them products and services on that basis. The Internet is really an extension of what we're doing with direct mail."

FirstUSA will initially offer AOL customers the co-branded AOL Visa card. But Uncle stressed there would be "numerous other credit card products on offer, for the different enthusiasts and lifestyle sectors".

AOL was one of the first online services to guarantee not to disclose the personal information of its customers. Its privacy policy states: "We may provide statistical 'ratings' information, never information about you personally, to our AOL.com partners about how our members, collectively, use AOL.com [and our other services]."

FirstUSA hopes to bring in profits of around $500m in the next five years, of which AOL will get a fixed proportion. In return, AOL has committed to providing five years of marketing space on all its online services.