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Wawa's credit cards canceled

Chase Credit Card Services cuts off Wawa and nearly 100 other corporate partners as it seeks to cut costs

Chase Credit Card Services, Wilmington Del., is cancelling Wawa Inc.'s Visa Rewards Card program, effective Nov. 1., Wawa spokeswoman Lori Bruce confirmed to my colleague Harold Brubaker, who saw the notice posted in his local store.

"Wawa card account holders will be automatically transferred to a Chase branded card," says Chase spokeswoman Gail Hurdis.

In fact, Chase has cancelled nearly half of its corporate "co-brand" partners, like Wawa, as it tries to cut costs in the shrinking credit card business. More on Chase's credit card stragety here.

Chase and rival Bank of America's credit card arm, also based in Wilmington, are the nation's top issuers of plastic debt. The two battled for years to sign up partners like Wawa, who typically refer customers in exchange for a small cut of card users' payments.

But the recession, a jump in loan losses to record levels, and stricter government credit card disclosure and fee increase rules, have pushed issuers to reduce expenses and cut the number of cards in circulation in hopes of regaining profitability.