Loyalty Partner Affinity Index

Only brands with a loyalty program are included. A loyalty partnership links two programs, so a brand without one can't take part.

Dealbreakers run first. A pairing is disqualified if the brands compete for the same purchase, share a parent company, don't serve the same markets (a regional brand paired with a national one, or two regional brands that share less than half of the smaller one's states), if either brand already has a partner in the other's category, if a brand with its own credit card is paired with a card issuer, if their positioning tiers are three or more steps apart, if an alcohol or adult-oriented brand is paired with a kid-focused one, or if a delivery app has no points program to link.

No pillar can be averaged away. The index is capped at the weakest pillar score plus 30. Program Compatibility is left out of the cap, because it's already reflected in how the pairing is labeled: brands that fit but have no points to link are flagged as co-marketing rather than a loyalty partnership.

Card issuers are scored differently. For banks and card issuers, Payment Relevance replaces Usage Adjacency. It looks at how much customers spend with the brand each year, whether they actively choose a card at checkout (rather than paying through a stored app wallet or with cash and debit), and whether the brand's category matches the card's reward focus.

Dataset as of mid-2026. Tiers, categories, footprints, and program details come from public information. Channel mix and audience skews are informed estimates, and brands marked "some data estimated" have lower-confidence profiles. Existing partnerships and co-brand cards reflect public announcements and should be verified.