To save a few clicks, cardholders would be able to download software from the company's Web site that would automatically produce a payment number for purchases at selected e-tailers, a spokeswoman said.
Hongkong & Shanghai Bank made cards a focus in Asia only in the last few years, and now has around 2 million cardholders, more than half in Hong Kong.
Cardholders usually have to spend a few thousand dollars over three months to get the bonus.
The industry has asserted that the legislation may backfire, forcing banks to issue fewer credit cards at greater cost to the current cardholders and making credit harder to get at a time when many Americans need it.
The American Express Company said on Thursday that its third-quarter profit jumped 71 percent as cardholders spent more and the company wrote off fewer unpaid bills.
The current proposals threaten to turn the clock back to when average interest rates were near 20percentt, all cardholders paid annual fees, and only the privileged few could qualify for a credit card.
In a study last September, the research company Aite Group found that nearly half of American cardholders who have traveled abroad in the past few years have had some problem using a debit or credit card, and 16 percent said their card was rejected because of this issue with magnetic stripe acceptance overseas.
Though there are exceptions, private label cardholders tend to have less robust credit histories, and thus fewer pieces of plastic to choose from than the general population.
The combination of J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank One would produce the country's largest issuer of Visa and MasterCard credit cards, effectively giving 95 million cardholders a new card company and further consolidating consumers' debts among a few big players.
Serve also offers a few value-add features, like a roadside assistance hotline, purchase protection, and other benefits reserved for Amex cardholders.
