As to why these cards are being offered only to the previleged alumni of a few chosen institutions, the answer is not difficult to find. ``The alumni must individually meet our eligibility criteria to avail the credit card facility,'' says Manoj Varma, Assistant Vice President, Citibank. ``Given the profile of the alumni of the schools and colleges we've tied up with, it is very likely they will meet our criteria''.

For most banks it is difficult to identify good customers and affinity cards are an almost foolproof way to identify `high net worth' clients, whose credit patterns are better than that of average clients. ``Although still early in India, worlwide figures show that affinity card members demonstrate higher spend and loyalty,'' says Varma. As a bank's profits come from how much a customer spends and how disciplined he is in paying his bills, the upper crust of Indian society is probably their best bet.

For an affinity card client, apart from the fee waiver that he gets from the bank, the cards serve to satiate the emotional needs of the alumnus to contribute to his/her alma mater. ``Since I got the affinity card, I've cancelled all my other cards,'' says Deepak Nirula, head of the Nirula's chain and president of the Doon School Old Boys Association. ``I'd rather the school benefitted than any other recipient.'' Jayant Juneja of the Mayo Alumni Association agrees: ``It's a personal thing really, a feel-good thing. Helps you give something back to the institution.'' While a proportion of the annual card fees goes as contribution to the institution, each time an alumnus uses the card, a portion of the card spend is given to their alumni association.

With the photocard technology being introduced by Standard Chartered, the latest on the affinity card front is that the card holders have a picture of the school on the facade of the card. While DPS, Mathura Road and Doon School cards have pictures of the main building, Lawrence School, Sanawar, has a picture of its famous cannons and some, like Mayo, have the school coat of arms. So, for those to whom school and college affiliations hold nostalgia value, or for those who just want to flaunt their associations with the country's premier institutions, affinity cards are probably a good way to do so.