Harvard Credit Card To Fund Fellowships

Tuition at Harvard College... $28,752. Room and board...$9,578.

Having a Harvard credit card in your wallet...priceless.

Starting tomorrow, Harvard alumni and affiliates will be able to apply for the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) World MasterCard, a credit card that will carry the Harvard name and help fund graduate student fellowships.

While many of the card’s benefits are geared toward alumni, it will also be available to students, faculty, and staff.

The card, offered through the Barclays Group subsidiary Juniper Bank, will have no annual fee and will be available in three different backgrounds—crimson, black, and a picture of the John Harvard statue.

The credit card will be Harvard’s first, according to HAA Executive Director John P. Reardon Jr. ’60. Reardon said the HAA decided to offer the card because of the revenue it could generate for the Presidential Scholars program, an initiative that provides financial aid to graduate students interested in careers in public service—education, academia, government, and public health.

“It’s something we’ve looked at for a while,” Reardon said. “Most universities in the country, almost all of them, have credit card programs.”

But Reardon said that the revenue from most universities’ credit cards supports the operating costs of alumni associations, while all revenue from Harvard’s card will go toward graduate student financial aid.

Reardon said he expected the card to generate significant revenue, but he declined to give a specific amount.

When searching for a financial institution to offer the card, the HAA settled on Barclays because it could offer benefits customized for Harvard, said Deputy Executive Director Charlie Cardillo ’91.

The card will feature a “Crimson Rewards” program through which members can redeem points for reunion fees, club dues, or alumni travel programs—or convert the points to a cash donation to the University.

Cardillo said that, based on his research, Harvard’s reward offerings are unique among university credit cards.

He added that the HAA and Barclays will explore possible additional benefits that cater to students.

Only U.S. residents will be eligible to apply for the card, but Cardillo said the card may be available internationally in the future.

And down the road, other changes are possible as well. The bank may offer a greater variety of card images, such as card faces that tout a specific graduate school, Cardillo said.

Barclays will assume all marketing responsibilities for the card, and will offer applications at Harvard Clubs, around campus, and through direct mail.

But the HAA required that Barclays refrain from telemarketing or cross-selling customer information.

“We care very much about how the alumni feel about the contacts they get,” Cardillo said.

Undergraduates can also expect to see the card promoted at athletic events, according to Cardillo.

He added that the HAA and Barclays hope that students who use the card will gain “credit education.”

After all, there are some things money can’t buy.

—Staff writer Nicholas M. Ciarelli can be reached at ciarelli@fas.harvard.edu.