For years credit card companies' attempts to develop a see-through credit card, which would have obvious aesthetic appeal to consumers, have been foiled by the inability of some point of sale terminals and automated teller machines to read such cards.
The most notable example was American Express Co.'s introduction of the Blue smart card in 1999. Amex intended to issue a clear card punctuated by a blue square and a silver microprocessor chip, but it ran into technological problems.
However, Amex and its card manufacturer, Oberthur Card Systems of America, the North American division of France's Oberthur Card Systems, did not give up. After two years of tinkering they say they have devised a clear plastic card that all machines can read and that some new Blue customers in the United States will begin getting soon imminently.
American Express spokeswoman Judy Tenzer said distribution of the cards will be "slow, phased process" in which new customers will get them first. "We are introducing it in a way we can manage," she said.
The clear Blue card has already made its debut Australia, and Amex says it will eventually switch to it in other countries where it issues Blue. Ms. Tenzer would not say how many clear cards had been issued.
American Express has applied for patent protection on its clear card, but sources at Oberthur say the smart card company may help other issuers develop their own manufacturing process for similar products. The patent application should, however, guarantee Amex exclusivity at least for the next several months, according to the sources.
Amex was embarrassed two years ago when it advertised Blue a clear card but delivered opaque white cards and pearl-gray ones with silver flecks. A few months later, when three Visa issuers began pumping out smart cards, one issuer, Providian Financial Corp., created a translucent one. The Providian Smart Visa is printed on smoky-brown plastic.
