Credit card " by invitation" only

Till a few years ago, actually ages ago, owning and flaunting a credit card was a matter of prestige and pride. It was considered to “have made it in life” if you had a credit card. Today, even the young, who have just started their career and some of the uber rich children have a platinum credit card. So what marks exclusivity now?

Well, credit cards which one cannot apply for but one will get only if you are the “chosen one”. So it is such an exclusive card, something like an ultra platinum card that the bank will invite you to apply for the card. And one such exclusive card is that from American Express – the Centurion  or American Express Black card, which provides “lifestyle management services” , which in simple language is trying to get you access to almost anything that you wish to buy.  There is also the Citi Ultima Infinite which is only for those “on invitation”.  And like a Swiss bank account, banks feel this is very secretive information. These cards, apart from the usual access to airport lounges across the world, gives deals on 7-star resorts and hotels across the world, and sometimes, get you tickets to concerts which are actually sold out! Getting that dress of Madhuri Dixit or an exclusive Godiva chocolate, the bankers will provide you all – you just pay.

It is really a sad state, a laugh at today’s time where, even flaunting a credit card, which sadly shows what a spend thrift we really are, has become a status symbol. The car we own, the brand of clothes we wear, the restaurants we frequent, the phone we use, the laptop; everything is about brands and that decides our worth. When did we get here?