Bank of America to Begin Issuing MasterCard Debit Cards

Just in time for the start of football season, a deal between the NFL and Bank of America may have a huge impact on MasterCard’s race to catch up with #1 card firm Visa.

Bank of America will issue affinity credit and debit cards with NFL team logos as part of a deal that makes the bank the the first “Official Bank of the NFL,” and exclusive sponsor for the league’s banking services, Charlotte, N.C.-based BofA announced yesterday.

The deal with NFL is the first time the huge bank will issue debit cards with MasterCard. BofA is the largest issuer of debit cards in the country and has issued Visa debit cards exclusively. The link with MasterCard was tipped in January when BofA reported a pricing arrangement with the card network. The inclusion of MasterCard cards in the program represents a huge opportunity for the #2 card brand to gain some ground on its dominant competitor Visa.

"Debit, from a payment perspective, is important. More and more consumers are using debit, day in, day out," Gary Flood, president of global key accounts for MasterCard, told the Associated Press. Still, BofA’s credit card group is no slouch either, reporting average receivables of nearly $148 billion in the second quarter.