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Holiday Inn Club Vacations Partners with Imprint for New Card
A well-known timeshare brand is launching its own rewards credit card. This week, Holiday Inn Club Vacations (which is separate from IHG Hotels & Resorts and the core Holiday Inn brand) announced that had partnered with the FinTech startup Imprint and issuer First Electronic Bank to create the Holiday Inn Club Vacations World Mastercard.
About the Holiday Inn Club Vacations World Mastercard:
First, the card earns 3% back on Holiday Inn Club Vacations purchases. These include purchases from on-site restaurants and stores as well as on vacation rental nights and HICV mortgage and HOA payments. Meanwhile, all other purchases earn 1% back. Looking at the terms of the card, rewards earned may be redeemed on transactions at eligible Holiday Inn Club Vacations retail locations or “Redemption Partners.”
The Holiday Inn Club Vacations card will also offer a welcome bonus. Currently, new cardholders can earn $50 in bonus rewards after making $1,000 in purchases on the card within their first 90 days. On that note, cardholders will receive a digital card upon approval so they can begin making purchases right away. Of note, the Holiday Inn Club Vacations Mastercard carries no annual fee.
What they’re saying:
Announcing the new credit card offering, Holiday Inn Club Vacations Incorporated’s CFO Sonya Dixon stated, “Powered by a strategic goal of customer obsession, we are constantly listening to our owners and guests. Working closely with Imprint, we were able to build a new credit card that uniquely fits the needs of our owners and guests, while providing even more value to the Holiday Inn Club Vacations experience.”
Additionally, Imprint CEO Daragh Murph said of working with the Holiday Inn Club Vacations, “At Imprint, our goal is to partner with America’s great brands and launch credit card programs that their customers will love. Holiday Inn Club Vacations is a great example of this, and we are excited to support its mission to be the most loved brand in family travel by delivering a modern and rewarding experience for cardholders.”
My thoughts:
As with several other Imprint releases, the Holiday Inn Club Vacations World Mastercard is aimed at a very specific audience. In this case, it’s Holiday Inn Club Vacation owners — to the point where this card makes no financial sense for anyone outside of that circle. But is it a good pick for those who are HICV owners? While the 3% back on Holiday Inn Club Vacations purchases could be useful, the fact that you can only redeem those rewards with the company makes it a little less interesting.
Of course, while an outsider like me might see this as a negative, someone who’s in the ecosystem may actually appreciate that they effectively get “free bonuses” on their vacations just for using this card. With that framing, I can see some of the appeal of the Holiday Inn Club Vacations Mastercard. Of course, prospective customers will need to decide for themselves whether this singular benefit is worth adding a new account to their credit report.
Turning to Imprint, I continue to find the FinTech fascinating — although I thought their “rewards card” model was more innovative than the regular credit cards they’ve been issuing. Nevertheless, I look forward to seeing what niche products and partnerships they do next.
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