Marui Launches Museum-Supporting Credit Card

Tokyo, March 22 (Jiji Press)--Japanese department store operator Marui Group Co. has announced the launch of a credit card that allows users to make donations to museums and art galleries according to the amount of card usage.

The company introduced the Museum Epos Card Friday in partnership with the National Museum of Art, the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage and the National Museum of Nature and Science, which are independent administrative institutions in Japan.

Users of the card receive 0.5 pct of the amount spent as reward points, and of the reward points, the equivalent of 0.1 pct of the amount spent is donated to the institutions. Donations will be used for museum operations and other expenses.

There are 12 types of the card with designs of cultural properties from each museum's collection, such as "Grand Bouquet of Flowers" by Paul Cezanne. Each design represents the institution to which donations are made through the card.

The card company will donate 1,000 yen per enrollment. There are no enrollment or annual fees.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]