For more than a decade, the First National Bank of Omaha has offered special branded Visa cards to National Rifle Association members to support the group. On Thursday, following two days of public pressure, the bank announced it “will not renew its contract” with the NRA.
The bank confirmed, in a tweet, that “customer feedback caused” the decision:
Customer feedback has caused us to review our relationship with the NRA. As a result, First National Bank of Omaha will not renew its contract with the National Rifle Association to issue the NRA Visa Card.
— First National Bank (@FNBOmaha) February 22, 2018
On Tuesday, ThinkProgress reported that First National Bank was one of at least 22 corporations that the NRA says offer incentives to NRA members. The bank and its parent company did not respond to repeated inquires about whether last week’s horrific mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida, would cause it to reconsider its relationship with the group leading the charge to oppose gun violence prevention efforts.
But less than 24 hours later, ThinkProgress spotted that the website advertising the “official credit card of the NRA” had mysteriously vanished, with an error message appearing in its place.
Neither the bank nor Visa responded to repeated ThinkProgress inquiries about the disappearance, but the bank did respond on Twitter, to many outraged customers, many of whom threatened to cancel their accounts because of the relationship.
We appreciate you taking the time to voice your concerns. First National Bank issues the NRA Visa Card to the organization members. I will make sure to pass your feedback on to our leadership team.
— First National Bank (@FNBOmaha) February 21, 2018
First National Bank is the first of the corporations to officially end its relationship with the NRA in the aftermath of Parkland.
There are still at least 21 corporations with ongoing relationships with the NRA.