``There are 140 to 150 million cards out there that have some kind of affinity tie-in,'' said Robert B. McKinley, president of CardWeb Inc., a Gettysburg research organization that follows the credit-card business.
Affinity cards are often associated with alumni associations, charitable organizations and nonprofits, such as the Sierra Club and the National Wildlife Federation. A small part of the revenue generated by consumer purchases goes back to the organization or group whose logo appears on the card. McKinley said that a typical affinity card bears about $3,000 worth of charges each year, about $15 of which gets filtered back to the group.
First marketed in the late 1970s, affinity cards heated up nationwide in the late 1980s. In 1985, the Penn State Alumni Association was the first college alumni group to raise money by offering an affinity card. In 1992, Caesars Atlantic City became the first casino company in the nation to put its name on a plastic card, offering rebates and discounts for restaurants, shows and shops in the chain.
By 1994, local governments were issuing affinity cards, with a small percentage of each charge getting pumped back to the communities in different ways. Haddon Township and South Orange, N.J., were among those in the Northeast. In South Orange, 1 percent of all card purchases went to the village treasury, where the money was then funneled into revitalization of the business district. The Wayne, N.J.-based Valley National Bank, which offered a card in 1994, said it still was available to South Orange residents, but no longer was being advertised.
So how much revenue does Philadelphia get from the use of the Philadelphia Platinum MasterCard from First USA? None. Despite the Philadelphia images the card projects, it isn't pumping anything into the city's coffers, to the museums on the Parkway or to soft-pretzel companies.
