Chrysler unit sets credit card

In the latest skirmish in the credit card wars, Ford Motor Co. said yesterday that one of its financial services units would offer a credit card as a marketing tool to help retain old Ford customers and attract new ones.

But Chrysler Corp. may also be planning to enter the credit card business, according to The American Banker, a trade publication.

Unlike the Ford program, Chrysler's effort would be for private-label cards that would not carry the Chrysler logo but rather the name of a furniture store or similar issuer, the publication said.