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More than 700 dealers have signed up already, with about half of the 5,100 members expected to sign

OAK BROOK, ILL. -- Joining the growing number of companies offering private-label credit cards, Ace Hardware has introduced its Ace Credit Card program.

The Ace credit card program has been available for two months, and the number of dealer-members who have signed up their companies so far has exceeded the expectations of Greg Huff, treasury operations manager for the buying group. He said he expects about half of Ace's dealer members -- which number just over 5,100 -- will eventually sign on for the program.

NHCN research found that 103 of the nation's top 500 retailers offered private-label credit cards in 1998. More than 700 Ace dealers have signed up for the Ace credit card, which is funded by St. Paul, Minn.-based Green Tree Financial Services.

Ace Hardware is basing part of the promotion of this program on the fact that Green Tree takes a smaller percentage of each credit card purchase than either Visa or MasterCard, according to Huff. "Dealers should have no incentive to take anything but the Ace card," he said.

Dealers have been requesting the Ace card as a way to help consumers finance large-ticket purchases, and to give dealers the option of rolling open accounts off their books, according to Huff. Some dealers have said they will require all accounts to switch to the Ace cards, while other dealers plan to handle accounts on a case-by-case basis, Huff said.

While some Ace retailers want to offer the card because their competitors have private-label cards, the co-op did not develop this program in order to "keep up with Joneses," Huff said. "We believe there's a value to having Ace's name in the wallet of customers, but that's a positive [extra] benefit," he explained.

Ace Hardware is offering one card for consumers, one for contractors, and is considering one for commercial and industrial customers. The cards, which have no annual fee, have a credit limit of $10,000 for consumers, $25,000 for contractors, and would have a limit of $25,000 for industrial and commercial customers. The interest rate is 21.2 percent on the consumer card and 19.1 percent on the contractor card.

For retailers who take on the cards, Ace Hardware is providing in-store promotional signs and a letter to send to customers about transferring their accounts. Customers can use the cards at any Ace store that participates in the co-op's credit card program.

# posted by Medical Information : 4:25 AM