Surf City may get its very own credit card

Jenny Marder

Residents could be flashing the Surf City logo at stores worldwide if

a new credit card is approved by the City Council on Monday.

The hope is that the Surf City credit card, provided by U.S. Bank,

will provide new revenue for the city, benefiting Huntington’s parks,

beaches and libraries.

“Our motto here is, we raise revenue without raising taxes,” said

Don Schulte, CEO of Public Enterprises, the company hired by the city

to manage negotiations and marketing for the card.

The credit card, which would be available in August if approved

Monday, would benefit the city in two ways. The city would make $20

from every sign-up fee, and $1.40 for every $1,000 spent.

That is a lot of money in a city in which the average credit card

user charges about $11,000 a year on their card, said Mike Riley,

president of Public Enterprises. The average in the United States is

$3,000 a year per card.

“After we get it up and running, based on the potential users, we

think it could bring $100,000 to $200,000 a year to the community,”

Riley said.

The money that the card would bring to the city would be put

toward city services. Of the revenue generated, 20% would be spent on

parks and recreation, 20% on culture and 20% on library programs.

Another 20% of the money would be put to use for marketing, and 15%

would go to the general fund. The remaining 5% would go to Public

Enterprises.

Public Enterprises is also working on a merchant’s program, in

which Surf City cardholders could get on-the-spot discounts at local

businesses.

“The merchants program would be not only an added benefit to the

user, but it would also be nice if the city had the ability to drive

traffic to its merchants,” Riley said.

City officials anticipate that motivation to get the Surf City

MasterCard would vary, said David Bigg, director of Economic

Development for the city. Some, he speculated, would use it to help

the community, some would be attracted to the discount, and others

might simply want to flash the Surf City card while traveling.

“The city has been endeavoring to become entrepreneurial in its

approach to things,” Biggs said. “To the extent that we can take

advantage of Huntington Beach as a brand identity, we can turn that

brand image into something that generates revenue to support

lifestyle programs that people like.”

If it passes, information and applications for the card will be

available online at surfcitycard.com.

“Even though it’s not the best time to spend marketing dollars,

it’s a good time to help the community by naturally spending,”

Schulte said.