Centurion card launched in India.

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R36snowbound

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Wonder how the benefits of the Indian issued Centurion card stack up compared to Australian issued cards?

Link to article: American Express launches iconic by-invite Centurion Card for India?s wealthiest - Economic Times

Article:

NEW DELHI: The world's most famous and most exclusive credit card — you only get one by invite; you can't apply for it — is in India, and 200 or so very wealthy Indians now possess a rectangular piece of titanium, black in colour, offering a Rs 10-crore spending limit.


American Express' Centurion Card — popularly known as the black card — has been a wealth and celebrity marker in the West since 1999, when it was launched. India joined the list only now. So who are India's black card holders? It's all supposed to be hush hush.


American Express did not wish to share any information on who it has invited, saying it's company policy. And some black card holders spoke to ET only on the condition they not be identified.


ET spoke to plenty of people in the know, and they confirmed some of India's wealthiest families and celebrities have received the invite. Certain members of business families such as Oberois, Munjals, Godrejs, Burmans and Bhartiyas are learnt to have received the black titanium rectangle. Among Bollywood biggies, Amitabh Bachchan is a black card holder.


What does the black card offer, apart from a Rs 10-crore credit limit? Well, first, you have to shell out Rs 2 lakh as joining fee and Rs 2.5 lakh as annual membership charges. The privileges, as expected, are many.


The exclusive card gives you access to luxurious airline services and super premium hotels and restaurants worldwide. For example, if you want reservations in a restaurant with a six-month waiting list, it helps if you own that piece of titanium. Or, if you want a last-minute first class airline ticket, flash your black card.
Black card holders are also offered advisory services on matters such as art purchase and haute couture.


"With an ever-growing list of billionaires and projections of highest increase in 'Private Financial Wealth' in a market by 2017, the launch couldn't have been better timed," said Sanjay Rishi, president of American Express India, in an internal email earlier this month. He said the company had received a great response within the first few weeks of the launch. Super premium products such as black cards have knock-on effects.


Abraham Koshy, professor of marketing at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, said news that India's elite of the elite have received black cards will spur demand for more less-exclusive, but still high-end products. "It's the aspiration thing," Koshy said. But does a black card add anything more to the stature of a billionaire or a mega celebrity? It does, said Koshy. It's a statement of extra power among the powerful, he added. One black card holder told ET, "It's about the brag value." This person did not wish to be identified.


Amex's black card is arguably the most famous of a short global list of super exclusive credit cards that include Dubai First Royale MasterCard, JPMorgan Palladium, Coutts & Co World Card, RBC Visa Infinite and Merrill Accolades Card.


In India, IndusInd Bank has launched the 'Indulge Credit Card', which, the bank says, comes with a pure 22 karat gold inlay. The joining fee is Rs 1 lakh, and there's no preset spending limit. Services include discounted charter flights, yachts and sailing lessons, and help in finding rare super cars.
 
You have to hand it to AMEX. Centurion is a brilliant piece of marketing, getting someone to pay you nearly $5000 AUD for something that should be free to high spenders is extraordinary. As the article says it appeals to the infantile and insecure side of human nature where 'bragging rights' are on the line especially in cultures where perceived status is extremely important. I think it will do well there.
 
As if they need something else to boost their ego.

Biggest bunch of no mannered DYKWIAs, from my experience in BKK
 
LOL, I cut mine up and sent it back many many years ago. At the time they told me I'd never get another one. :) That only worries me a tiny bit...I do like nonsense like that, and now I'd find it easier to pay the yearly fee for the nonsense
 
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