MBNA, barnesandnoble.com Develop Co-Branded Credit Card

Credit card issuer MBNA America Bank and barnesandnoble.com on Wednesday inked a wide ranging marketing deal that includes the development of a co-branded credit card, which card holders will be rewarded for using at barnesandnoble.com or at Barnes and Noble stores.

The agreement represents the first time that such a marketing deal spans both the online presence and the traditional retail outlets of a major US retailer.

The deal gives MBNA the exclusive right to market credit cards to barnesandnoble.com’s customers, and gives barnesandnoble.com the right to market its products to millions of MBNA’s customers.

Another part of the agreement calls for barnesandnoble.com to be featured on MBNA’s three Web sites — MBNAnetaccess.com, MBNAwallet.com and MBNAoffers.com. MBNA will also become an affiliate of barnesandnoble.com.

“This relationship marks an important step in leveraging the power of our multi-channel network, which reaches tens of millions of customers, and through the rewards program, to give them great reasons to come back and shop with us again and again,” says Carl Rosendorf, senior vice president of barnesandnoble.com.

MBNA has been one of the most active credit card companies on the Internet, forging a co-marketing deal with Infoseek and working on a digital wallet with CyberCash.