Alliance Data

Alliance Data was formed from the December 1996 merger of two entities: J.C. Penney's credit card processing unit and The Limited's credit card bank operation, named World Financial Network National Bank.

In August 1998, Alliance Data acquired LoyaltyOne, then-branded The Loyalty Group Canada, for $250 million. The deal gave Alliance Data two business enhancements, Canada's Air Miles Rewards Program and the company behind the Air Miles program, LoyaltyOne.

In 2001, Alliance Data went public.

In May 2007, The Blackstone Group, a private equity firm, announced plans to acquire Alliance Data. In April 2008, Alliance Data terminated the merger agreement with Blackstone Affiliates.

Ed Heffernan was promoted to president and CEO of Alliance Data in February 2009, after being with the company since 1998. In 2019 he resigned as CEO of Alliance Data and was replaced by Melisa Miller, who previously ran Alliance Data's Card Services division. This change in leadership effectively moved Alliance Data's Headquarters from Plano, Texas, to Columbus, Ohio. Melisa Miller held the role for about 6 months before being replaced by former CITI executive Ralph Andretta.

In 2019, Alliance Data opened its first international office in Bangalore, India.

In November 2021, Alliance Data completed the separation of its LoyaltyOne segment, consisting of the Canadian AIR MILES Reward Program and Netherlands-based BrandLoyalty businesses, into an independent, publicly traded company, Loyalty Ventures Inc. In March 2022, Alliance Data rebranded as Bread Financial.

Former businesses

Alliance Data Card Services

Card Services is a provider of integrated credit and marketing services including private label, co-branded and commercial credit card programs. Alliance Data Card Services manages over 135 card programs for retail brands such as Victoria's Secret, J.Crew, Eddie Bauer, Buckle, HSN, Pottery Barn, Pier 1 Imports, Lexus, Toyota, Williams Sonoma and Wayfair among many others.

Alliance Data Card Services maintains two banks to manage the funding and receivables for its clients' credit programs. In September 2012, the banks rebranded their names from WFNNB (World Financial Network [National] Bank) and WFCB (World Financial Capital Bank) to both operate under the Comenity name, as Comenity Bank and Comenity Capital Bank, respectively.

LoyaltyOne

LoyaltyOne, located in Toronto, Canada, provides loyalty marketing programs for North American brands in the retail, financial services, grocery, petroleum, travel, and hospitality industries.

Five businesses make up the LoyaltyOne: Air Miles national reward program, in which approximately two-thirds of Canadian households participate; Colloquy; LoyaltyOne Consulting; Precima; and Squareknot.

1998: LoyaltyOne was acquired by Alliance Data.

2002: Colloquy/Frequency Marketing was acquired by Alliance Data.

2004: Epsilon was acquired by Alliance Data.

2005: Bigfoot Interactive was acquired by Alliance Data.

Controversy

In 2010, Epsilon failed to heed warnings to secure data. In March 2011 it was discovered that email addresses from customers of at least 50 client companies were stolen. A phishing tactic that uses personalized emails to trick people into disclosing personal information, including passwords and financial details, it was reported that the breach was related to Epsilon itself being phished. The company quickly notified the public about the breach. In June 2011, company executives were called before Congress to answer questions about the security breach. Interviewed for a 60 Minutes segment titled "The Data Brokers: Selling your personal information", then-CEO and chairman Bryan Kennedy called the hearings "political theater" and stated that "consumers ought to understand that the Internet is an advertising medium."