Visa CEO Charles Scharf told analysts during an earnings call last week that “we’ve agreed to terms to move a significant consumer credit co-brand from a competitor to Visa,” but didn’t name the retailer.
Bloomberg reported on Tuesday (Nov. 4) that the merchant is Best Buy, which has partnered with MasterCard for its rewards-card partnership since it was launched in 2006. The change is not expected to happen until 2015, according to Bloomberg’s unnamed sources, who were briefed on the switch.
Best Buy, Visa and MasterCard all declined to comment on the report.
The sources didn’t explain the reason for the rewards-card shuffle, but it comes after a series of shifts for the cards over the past three years. HSBC, the original issuing bank, sold its U.S. card business to Capital One in 2011. In 2013, Citigroup agreed to take over the Best Buy cards from Capital One. Citi will remain the card-issuing bank after the switch to Visa, the sources said.
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