Capital One Card Lab Lets You Build Your Own Credit Card
By Justin McHenry
Capital One today unveiled a new Web site called Card Lab that gives consumers the opportunity to “build their own” credit card by choosing among various options for introductory and ongoing interest rates, rewards, annual fee (or none), and card design. The choices are then packaged together to create a card customized to each cardholder’s personal preferences.
Of course, choosing a card’s features means making tradeoffs. Every time you make one choice, a certain number of other choices are closed off to you. So, if you want no-frills, no rewards, you can get a lower interest rate. Want points or air miles? The interest rate goes up. Want a 0% interest rate for a year? Expect a higher ongoing rate. Want two points per dollar charged instead of one? Prepare to pay an annual fee.
While a “build your own” credit card concept has been done in the UK, we believe this is the first time it’s been seen in the United States.
The Capital One Card Lab can be found at http://www.capitalonecardlab.com.