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Your alma mater may be using their relationship with credit card companies to "sell you to the wolves" by unfairly and deceptively compromising your personal information in exchange for big fees. No doubt you'll be surprised, if not outraged, by the ramifications of this common practice used to promote credit accounts in a most unfair and deceptive way. Some of you might find out, for the first time, that you have been a victim of this practice and you didn't even know it!

For the purposes of this alert, let's take a look at this example:

In May of 2008, many graduates of Dartmouth College received a promotion letter from Bank of America to get a "Clean Sweep" credit line of up to $35,000. At the top of the promotional mailer was, in bold print, "Dartmouth College". The first line of the letter reads, "Congratulations. Bank of America and Dartmouth College are offering you the opportunity to apply for the Clean Sweep line of credit."

The arrangement appears to have evolved from the hundreds of "affinity agreements" that Bank of America has with schools all over the country; as do many other of the major banks. In the fall of 2007, Newsweek reported on these "million dollars relationships" in their article entitled "The Dirty Secret of Campus Credit Cards":

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/sep2007/db2007095_053822.htm

Notwithstanding the hundreds of thousands of dollars - in some cases millions - hidden in royalties, advance fees, bonuses, and other payments to the schools by the financial institutions seeking to capitalize on these captive and exclusive marketing arrangements (these payments are not disclosed on the corresponding credit applications); perhaps the most egregious tactic is found in the weasel-worded fine-print which, in the above-referenced Dartmouth-sponsored letter states, in pertinent part, that:

"...I consent to your sharing information about me and my account with the organization, if any, endorsing this offer. I authorize you to share with others, to the extent permitted by law, such information and your credit experience with me...."

That's a potentially very dangerous thing to agree to given the fact that the application has absolutely everything necessary (including your bank account and bank ABA numbers) to enable even an amateur to rip-off your identity! Also, you can bet it won't be long before you get a call from your school's alumnae or alumni-contribution department (and who knows who else).

However, a May, 2009 article at alumnifutures.com entitled "Credit Card Transparency: U.S. Legislation May Affect Alumni Affinity Contracts" reports that:

"The Credit Card Act of 2009 (H.R. 627) has been signed into law, and includes disclosure requirements for alumni association affinity credit card contracts,"...and "The disclosure requirement says that U.S. institutions of higher education must publicly disclose any contract or other agreement made with a card issuer or creditor for the purpose of marketing a credit card."

I guess it's a step in the right direction.

- Ed Smith, Publisher
The EHS Letter Manual