MBNA, coordinator of the ISBA affinity MasterCard program, merged with Bank of America on Jan. 1, but member participants are not expected to experience significant differences.

Account numbers will not change when the credit card programs are merged during the fourth quarter of 2006. Re-branding, scheduled to begin in the middle of the year, will result in gradual replacement of old cards with new.

“One of our immediate goals is to make the transition as seamless as possible for our affinity partners,” officials of MBNA said in a letter to the ISBA and other affiliates.

“This goal is easily achieved because Bank of America shares our core values and understands that success comes from a strong commitment to people, customers, partners and the community,” they added.

Eventual improvements in the expanded system include access to more than 16,000 Bank of America ATMs, and acceptance of payments at Bank of America branches.