The operator of a gold vault on the Isle of man is to issue a credit card made of solid gold that enables customers to draw down cash on their holdings of the valuable metal. The 14-carat Visa gold card from IMGold will be made available to clients who have at least £100,000 of the metal bars in their vault. The idea is that customers can use the card to borrow against their reserves, effectively hedging against a decline in the value of gold.
IMGold is currently inviting applicants for the blinged up store of wealth under the banner: The card that carries more weight.
The Isle of man is some way behind Kazakhstan’s oligarchs, who have been brandishing gold and diamond-encrusted cards for some year now. MasterCard and Kazkommertsbank introduced their own diamond-encrusted card in the province back in 2008. This was followed in 2012 by the launch of Visa Infinite Exclusive cards – made of pure gold, with pearl embossing and 26 diamonds – by Sberbank for its top 100 customers in the energy-rich country.
