Beth I Hear You Calling, But I'm Shopping Online Right Now...

Filed in archive Buying Stuff , Credit on August 22, 2006

At my day job (aka, the job in which I actually make a living), I think about credit cards. A lot. I think about low interest credit cards, balance transfer credit cards, cash back credit cards, gas credit cards, business credit cards, credit cards with rewards, 0% credit card offers, airline credit cards, and credit cards for people that would probably be better served to not have credit cards at all. Sometimes reporters call me to talk about credit cards. I have personally created a massive credit card list that now numbers 1,018 credit cards.

You know what? It's kind of boring. (Which is part of the reason I write this blog.)

But every so often it's fun, because I get to see all the nutty new credit cards as they hit the market. Here's a few that I think are silly but still amusing:

The KISS Platinum Visa Card - "KISS High Interest Rates Goodbye" it promises. I thought this would be a cool reward card, but it only seems to offer a KISS newsletter and some KISS merchandise discounts. Not surprising, actually, as the KISS guys are always looking to make a buck--hence the imminent arrival of KISS fragrances.

American Association of Neurological Surgeons Credit Card - Brain surgeons are cool, but are there really enough of them to support a credit card? And do they really want to be defined only be their profession? I'm guessing a lot of them would rather have the KISS card.

World Series of Poker Credit Card - Definitely an audience for this. You can get some good poker rewards.

Bowling Platinum MasterCard - I love bowling as much as the next guy, but come on.

Cal Ripken Jr. WorldPoints MasterCard - Everyone loves Cal, but do we really want to carry him around in our wallets? (There's a Don Mattingly card, too.)

MINI Platinum Visa - This one's actually pretty cool if you own a MINI. Decent rewards and good looking. And you MINI drivers are, like, totally insane about your MINIs.

Olivia Credit Card - Credit card for lesbian travelers. A niche of a niche.

South Dakota Democratic Party Credit Card - Less than 150,000 South Dakotans voted for John Kerry in 2004, so we're not looking at a huge pool of potentials here.

I could go on, but why? Just because I have to look at these things doesn't mean you should have to.