An affinity credit card program allows an organization to offer its members and supporters—those who have an "affinity" for that organization—a
credit card
A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the o ...
branded with the organization's brand and imagery. An affinity credit card program may pay the brand owning organization a bonus for each new account generated, plus a percentage of every transaction charged to the card. In some cases the brand-owning organization will form a revenue and profit sharing joint venture on a 50/50 basis. The venture is funded by the
interchange income
Interchange may refer to:
Transport
* Interchange (road), a collection of ramps, exits, and entrances between two or more highways
* Interchange (freight rail), the transfer of freight cars between railroad companies
* Interchange station, a ra ...
from the card scheme such as
MasterCard or
Visa
Visa most commonly refers to:
*Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company
** Visa Debit card issued by the above company
** Visa Electron, a debit card
** Visa Plus, an interbank network
*Travel visa, a document that allows ...
, fees, charges and credit lent to cardholders.
Affinity credit cards are offered by many retailers, shopping centers, airlines,
universities
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
,
alumni associations
An alumni association or alumnae association is an association of graduates or, more broadly, of former students (alumni). In the United Kingdom and the United States, alumni of universities, colleges, schools (especially independent schools), ...
, sports teams, professional associations and others, and increasingly by small and mid-sized nonprofits and membership-based groups that rely on these programs for incremental revenue.
External links
Investopedia article about Affinity cards
{{DEFAULTSORT:Affinity Credit Card
Credit card terminology