Merrill to launch credit card

Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. is continuing to expand the banking products its brokers can offer clients. Last week, the New York brokerage giant said it would soon add a credit card to its list of bank offerings.

Merrill is in a partnership with MBNA America Bank NA of Wilmington, Del., for the new card, which is expected to be launched in the first quarter of next year. In turn, Merrill will market its products and services to MBNA customers. MBNA offers standard and gold Visa and MasterCards.

Sources say the move counters the mission of the retail brokers: investing client assets. “I know that brokers don’t like talking to their clients about stuff other than investments,” says one industry observer, asking not to be named. At Merrill, “the more experienced guys are not likely to push it.”

James P. Gorman, president of Merrill Lynch’s global private-client group, disagrees. In a statement, he said Merrill “aspires to meet all of our clients’ financial needs, and just as we offer diverse products such as mortgages, annuities and a debit card, the addition of a credit card will be attractive to many of our clients.”

Others say the move is another signal that banks and broker-dealers are competing for the same territory.

“It’s part of the way that major brokerage firms are continuing to offer investors a full plate of fee-based services and create a deeper bond with clients,” says Mark Elzweig, who runs an eponymous broker and money management recruiting firm in New York.

Merrill Lynch isn’t the first to offer credit cards. Its crosstown rival, Morgan Stanley, owns the Discover credit card. This is the first time Merrill has offered a traditional credit card. In the past, the company has offered debit cards to its clients.

Terms such as interest rates and incentives will be announced when the card is launched.