Affinion Group
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Customer engagement, loyalty solutions |
| Predecessor | Affinion Group, CUC |
| Fate | Global Loyalty division acquired by JPMorgan Chase in 2021; remaining business rebranded as Tenerity, Inc. |
| Headquarters | Stamford , United States |
Area served | 20 nations |
| Products | Customer engagement and loyalty programs, marketing collaborations, membership and insurance offerings, credit/debit card enhancement services |
Number of employees | 3000 (2016) |
CXLoyalty—previously known as Affinion Group and CUC—is a privately held firm headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut that specializes in developing customer engagement and loyalty solutions. The company creates, promotes, and administers programs aimed at strengthening business-to-consumer relationships, impacting 250 million individuals across 20 nations. In 2006, Affinion was ranked 321st on Forbes' list of the largest private enterprises.
By the year 2016, Affinion had a global workforce of approximately 3,000 employees. As reported in March 2015, the company had not generated profits since 2004. At the close of 2014, its portfolio included around 5,500 marketing collaborators, with 59 million members enrolled in its membership and insurance offerings, and 62 million customers engaged through loyalty and credit/debit card enhancement services.
In 2021, JPMorgan Chase acquired CXLoyalty's Global Loyalty division. Subsequently, the remaining segment focused on Global Customer Engagement was rebranded as Tenerity, Inc. in April of that year.
History
Affinion has disbursed millions in settlements related to civil claims and agreements with state attorneys general across 47 states due to allegations of unfair and deceptive business practices. The company is also subject to various class-action lawsuits.
In December 2006, Trilegiant reached a settlement concerning accusations of deceptive sales tactics for not adequately informing customers about automatic renewal clauses in membership products.
In 2013, Affinion resolved disputes with 47 states regarding misleading marketing of discount club memberships by establishing a $19 million fund to reimburse customers who were charged without authorization.
Acting as a third-party service provider for US Bank, Affinion was linked to a 2014 incident where US Bank incurred $9 million in fines and paid $47 million in restitution for billing customers for services that were never delivered. US Bank committed to compensating affected clients and issuing apologies. Affinion admitted that some consumers were erroneously charged without proper verification. Additionally, in 2012, Capital One Financial faced penalties associated with add-on services facilitated by Affinion.
In July 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau determined that Affinion had billed customers for undelivered services and mandated $6.8 million in customer refunds alongside $1.9 million in civil fines.