Credit card promotions profitable for two Iowa universities

Clark Kauffman of the Des Moines Register reported in a two-part series that Iowa's two largest public universities are aggressively marketing credit cards to their students as part of an arrangement that generates millions of dollars for the schools' privately run alumni organizations. Records obtained by the Register showed that while the schools and their alumni have kept secret the details of their arrangement with Bank of America, they have given the bank access to mailing addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of students, parents and people who buy tickets to football and basketball games. One of the schools has used coaches and student athletes to promote the cards, promising the biggest spending cardholders lunches with football players and private, 90-minute Q&A sessions with coaches.