After ending its decade-long partnership with Citi, Wawa is relaunching its credit card as a cobranded offering with First National Bank of Omaha (FNBO). This shift from a private-label card to a cobranded one is expected to provide greater flexibility for Wawa customers, allowing them to use the card beyond just Wawa’s convenience stores.
Wawa operates more than 1,100 locations, primarily in the Mid-Atlantic region. Citi first issued the chain’s private-label card in 2015, but as the payments landscape evolved, the card struggled to keep pace. While neither Wawa nor Citi has commented on the reasons for the partnership’s end, online complaints suggest the old card was not compatible with the Wawa app.
“Nothing pissed me off more than having a Wawa credit card that couldn’t be used in my Wawa app,” said one commenter on Reddit. “What a joke.”
Another complained they couldn’t add the card to their digital wallet or use tap-to-pay.
Experience with Convenience Stores
FNBO is a logical partner to step in, especially given the growing concerns about using private-label cards at gas pumps.
“FNBO is no stranger to cobrands,” said Ben Danner, Senior Analyst, Credit and Commercial at Javelin Strategy & Research. “They have quite a few in their portfolio, including Amtrak, Best Western, MGM, and Chrysler. They’ve also built expertise in the c-store/fuel retailer space with the Sheetz partnership, which launched a revamped cobranded card last year.”
This switch also reflects a broader decline in private-label usage. According to data from Javelin, private-label cards accounted for 26% of the credit card market in 2022, dropping to 20.8% by 2024.
Mending Fences with Mastercard
The new partnership also reunites Wawa with Mastercard nearly two years after a bitter legal battle between the two, stemming from a 2019 data breach. Malware stole credit card data from Wawa customers for at least nine months before Visa alerted Wawa that something was wrong.
After the breach, Mastercard issued a $17.8 million reimbursement assessment against Bank of America, Wawa’s bank. Wawa alleged Mastercard of breach of contract and “unjust enrichment,” but eventually lost its $10.7 million lawsuit against the payments giant. Wawa eventually settled a $12 million class action lawsuit over the data breach, as well as an $8 million payment to seven states in which it operates.
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