published Feb 22, 2018, 3:37:48 PM, by Jenny Surane and Polly Mosendz
(Bloomberg) —
First National Bank of Omaha plans to drop its co-brand credit-card agreement with the National Rifle Association after hearing from customers in the wake of the latest mass shootings.

“Customer feedback has caused us to review our relationship with the NRA,” Kevin Langin, a spokesman for the Nebraska bank, said Thursday in an emailed statement, declining further comment. “As a result, First National Bank of Omaha will not renew its contract with the National Rifle Association to issue the NRA Visa Card.”

The debate over gun control is back in the public spotlight after the massacre of 17 people at a high school last week in Florida. President Donald Trump on Thursday offered a full-throated endorsement of the NRA and called for paying bonuses to teachers who carry guns in the classroom, embracing a controversial proposal to curb school shootings.

Trump also called for some gun-control measures, such as increasing the purchasing age to 21 and ending the sale of bump stocks, a firearms accessory linked to the Las Vegas shooting last year.

Card Design

The National Rifle Association, which dates to 1871, has almost 5 million members. It’s not known how many of those hold an NRA-branded credit card, which offers rewards on sporting goods purchases and gas. Representatives of the NRA and Visa Inc. didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

First National Bank of Omaha is Nebraska’s largest bank by deposits and a subsidiary of First National of Nebraska, the 14th-largest credit-card issuer in the U.S., according to the industry publication the Nilson Report. For the NRA card, customers were able to choose from a variety of designs, including one with a bald eagle and another with lines from the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The Second Amendment-rights organization also offers a prepaid card, which is issued by Republic Bank & Trust Co.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jenny Surane in New York at jsurane4@bloomberg.net ;Polly Mosendz in New York at pmosendz@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net Steven Crabill
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