MasterCard hopes that a worldwide recession won't stop shoppers from toting around a gold-encrusted, diamond-inlaid credit card, the Financial Times reports. Later this month, the company will issue VIP customers in Kazakhstan the "Diamond" card—which comes with a personal manager, is trimmed with gold, has a 0.02-carat gem in its center, and a credit limit of $50,000.
The bling is “only a design element” meant to “show status,” said the bank issuer, who will distribute just 1,000 pieces of the glittering plastic. Kazakhstan is flush with wealth from a boom in oil and minerals.
(More Kazakhstan stories.)