5 January 2007: Cool for Cats

An Australian bank has admitted issuing a credit card with a credit limit worth about £1500 to Messiah, a ginger tom cat.

Messiah's owner, Katherine Campbell, already had a Bank of Queensland Visa card, and says she applied for the additional card in the name of her cat to test the bank's identity security system.

"I just couldn't believe it," she told local media, cradling the cool cat and his card. "Banks need to have better security," she said.

A Bank of Queensland spokeswoman admitted issuing the card to the cat, saying "We apologise as this should not have happened."

The card has now been cancelled so Messiah will just have to go back to paying cash.