First National Bank Of Omaha To Issue Chrysler Credit Card

First National Bank of Omaha is expanding its cobranded card products under a new agreement with Chrysler Group LLC.

First National will issue credit cards that carry the Auburn Hills, Mich.-based automobile maker’s various brands, including Jeep, Dodge and Fiat, Chrysler announced April 6. Chrysler will market the MasterCard-branded cards through its dealerships and online starting in May.

Cardholders will earn three points for every $1 they spend at participating dealerships, two points for travel-related purchases and one point on all others.

The program is designed to “reward Chrysler Group’s passionate drivers,” Stephen Eulie, president of First Bankcard, First National’s credit card division, said in a Chrysler press release.

First National has been making a bigger push in the past year to grow its cobranded card business, which has seen retrenchment from other issuers and retailers in recent years (see story). As part of that effort, the bank last year announced deals with American Express Co. and Discover Financial Services, which issue their own cards, to issue cards on their networks.

“The economic crisis caused lots of chaos in how banks have managed cobranded programs,” Philip Philliou, a partner with payments consulting firm Philliou Partners LLC who worked with Chrysler on the First National deal, said in an interview. “We’ve seen lots of great programs disappear. We’ve seen a number of issuers either get out of co-branding or basically not renew agreements, so it’s been a very challenging marketplace for both issuers and, consequently, for partners.”

Chrysler previously had a cobranded credit card that was issued by Bank of America Corp., which purchased the portfolio from Chrysler in 2004. The companies dissolved their relationship in 2009, Philliou says.