MBNA

MBNA Corporation , is a bank holding company headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware. It is the world's largest independent credit card issuer, specializing in affinity marketing. MBNA is derived from Maryland Bank National Association, but is no longer an acronym. The main part of MBNA is MBNA America Bank, National Association.

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On June 30, 2005, MBNA announced that it is being acquired by Bank of America for stock and cash totalling more than $35 billion. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2005. After the merger, MBNA will be renamed Bank of America Card Services and be based in Delaware.

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This purchase is a reunion of sorts. In 1993 NationsBank bought Maryland National Bank (from which its credit card division was purchased and became MBNA). Five years later, the Bank of America that exists today was the result of the merger between the San Francisco-based Bank of America and the Charlotte-based NationsBank. In 2005, with Bank of America buying MBNA, it is in effect, reuniting Maryland National Bank's credit card portfolio to its original banking assets.

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MBNA was founded in 1982 by a group of Maryland National Bank executives headed by Charles M. Cawley. Until his recent death, Cleveland Browns owner Al Lerner served as Chairman of the Board. The company's first branch was in Ogletown. When the company relocated to Delaware, its first office was housed in a converted A&P supermarket.

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The company, which has operations throughout the United States, Canada, Ireland, Spain, and the United Kingdom, also provides retail deposit, consumer loans, and insurance products.

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Employing more than 28,000 people around the world, MBNA currently owns more than $100 billion in outstanding consumer credit loans and consistently outperforms Wall Street expectations.

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Individuals at MBNA have been strong financial supporters of the U.S. Republican Party. As a group, employees of MBNA are the top all-time campaign donors to George W. Bush, and over 80% of the political donations made by MBNA employees and its PAC go to Republican candidates. A few critics of the Republican party and of MBNA have organized a fledgling boycott of the company. It does not appear to have had any effect.

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MBNA was one of the prime movers in lobbying for the passage of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, one of the most regressive pieces of legislation of recent times, after 11 years and millions dollars of lobbying the act was finally passed when 15 Democrats (all of whom had recieved "contributions" from MBNA, most notably JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR. (D-DE) $147,700) joined with their Republican colleages to sign it into law.

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Wilmington, Delaware: :For other places called Wilmington, see Wilmington...

Credit card: A credit card system is a type of retail transaction settlement and credit system, named after the small plastic card issued to users of the system. A credit card is different from a debit card in that the credit card issuer lends the consumer money rather than having the money removed from an acco...

Affinity marketing: Affinity Marketing (or Partnership Marketing) is a targeted way of marketing products and services. By linking complementary brands, it can develop them into lasting partnerships and strategic alliances....