Reader's Digest Association Inc., Pleasantville, NY, announced a strategic partnership with Bank One Corp. yesterday to offer branded credit cards to 7.6 million subscribers of some of its special-interest magazines.
Through the program, subscribers to The Family Handyman, Taste of Home and Birds & Blooms will be offered a Platinum MasterCard depicting the title to which they subscribe.
Reiman Media Group Inc., a subsidiary of Reader's Digest, publishes Taste of Home and Birds & Blooms.
To promote the offer, each publication included an invitation to apply for the cards in recent issues.
Aside from standard credit card benefits such as a low introductory interest rate, no annual fee and 24-hour toll-free service, the cardholders are entitled to advantages specific to the magazines.
The Taste of Home and Birds & Blooms Platinum MasterCards offer free shipping and discounts on selected products, discounts on select items from the company's Country Store catalog and Web site, and discounted vacation packages and travel news from the company-owned World Wide Country Tours.
The Family Handyman Platinum MasterCard offers free balance transfers, cash-back rewards including gift certificates to The Home Depot, hints and tips in each statement and free e-newsletters.
