TD Canada Trust recently launched an interesting web site called Shop MyAXS. It is an online shopping site that can be accessed only by TD Visa cardholders. In order to purchase an item, the user must enter their TD Visa account number and create a username and password. The site claims to offer savings of up to 50% off brand names to eligible shoppers. TD appears to have signed up for a loyalty program with a firm called MyAXS. MyAXS offers the online shopping portal and passes along the discounts to members.

I find it curious that a bank would like to extend itself into the retail business. Granted consumer cards are used for retail purchases, but positioning the bank as a place to shop online is a completely different matter. The big question here is can TD encourage consumers to switch to a TD Visa by offering them shopping discounts? Even if customers do sign up for a TD Visa card, offering them a single deal or a handful of deals is not enough to encourage customers to alter their affiliations. Can it be used as a carrot? For sure. However, the features and rates of TD Bank's cards would have to be extremely compelling in order for customers to switch. In fact, I would argue that TD is more likely to attract one-off deal shoppers than a loyal contingent of converts. It is also a nice feature/perk for existing cardholders.

TD also promotes the MyAXS offering on its own web site, buried in a section called "Related Services.":