Charlotte Observer 10/26/06  http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/business/15850504.htm

Card rewards users on their next drugstore trip

by RICK ROTHACKER

With Bank of America Corp.'s new credit card, a trip to the drugstore can help you earn points toward travel, cash, gift certificates — even a bone-shaped storage bin for your dog's stuff.

The Charlotte-based bank today will announce a new credit card that gives users rewards points for all retail purchases as well as extra incentives for buying generic and preferred prescription drugs. The Visa card will be available later this year only to users of prescription drug plans administered by Nashville, Tenn.-based Caremark Rx Inc.

The no-annual-fee card is the latest in the line of "affinity" credit cards pioneered by MBNA Corp., which Bank of America bought in January. In its effort to gain wallet space from customers, the bank offers cards with sports team, alumni association, charity and other links.

"In many cases, the customer is overlooking something they may otherwise have done," David Turner, Bank of America's senior vice president of sales and product development, said. "Now they're getting benefits to do it."

Caremark Visa customers will choose rewards under the bank's "WorldPoints" program. The storage bin is 2,200 points. Users typically earn a point for every dollar spent.

Bank of America has focused on health care because of the millions of consumers involved and the amount of the money they spend, Turner said. It's also another product the bank can offer health care firms it already does business with — and their patrons. Caremark has 60 million customers.

The bank is talking to other prescription drug and managed-care companies about similar programs, Turner said. The bank expects more deals this year and next year.

BofA: No Glitches in Credit Card Conversion

The Observer this week heard from a number of Bank of America customers who said they encountered glitches with their credit card accounts during a conversion of Bank of America and MBNA systems. On Wednesday, spokeswoman Betsy Weinberger said the bank was not experiencing "any issues outside normal business processes."

Weinberger said some customers may have experienced planned outages and delays at call centers. "We have sent numerous letters and e-mail messages to our customers informing them of the merger-related activities and what to expect," she said. "Customers have access to their account information through online channels, call centers and our banking centers."