This week, AMC announced a partnership with VISA to issue movie-loving consumers an AMC-branded VISA credit card. Purchases made using the card will earn the cardholder points in the AMC Stubs loyalty program.
AMC CEO Adam Aron touted the new venture as a first-of-its-kind partnership between an exhibitor and a consumer finance company. “Until now, the theatrical exhibition industry is one of the few untapped major retail sectors that hasn’t offered consumers the opportunity to amplify their purchase power, accelerate their rewards, and demonstrate their loyalty through the use of a co-branded credit card.
With a built-in customer base of tens of millions of existing AMC Stubs members, we know some avid moviegoers will benefit greatly from using their AMC Entertainment Visa Card at the movies and for their everyday purchases.”
AMC hopes the new offering will rekindle some of the buzzes that swirled around the company early in 2021 when retail investors rallied under the banner #SaveAMC to buy up shares in the ailing exhibitor at the height of its pandemic struggles. This time around, many financial analysts are skeptical that peripheral efforts such as a branded VISA card will have a long-term impact on the business. AMC is saddled with enormous debts due to aggressive expansion in the 2017-2019 period and the sudden shock of the pandemic and drop off in moviegoing.
In a recent Bloomberg poll of investors, 80% of respondents rated IMAX stock as a “buy,” 50% saw Cinemark as a buy, but 0% thought AMC stock was worthy of investment at the current price of $5.31 per share. The financial community sees AMC as up against a unique set of challenges within its sector.