The international arms of Transmedia Networks Inc., a discount dining card company, are extending their customer bases with partnerships in the United Kingdom and Australia.
Transmedia Europe Inc. and Transmedia Asia Pacific Inc. each entered a marketing agreement with Countdown Holdings Ltd., an international provider of membership discount services in London.
The agreement gives the Transmedia units access to Countdown's six- million-member data base in Europe and Asia to market the Transmedia card.
In a separate agreement, Transmedia Europe Inc., has been marketing its cards to 250,000 of MBNA Corp.'s Visa and MasterCard holders in the United Kingdom.
"MBNA offered the month-old program to a select group of its portfolio as an added service to its customers," said Peter Frank, a spokesman at the Delaware card bank.
Transmedia said it is offering some of MBNA's cardholders a free-for- life card with 20% savings per dining transaction.
Before the MBNA promotion, through an agreement with Barclays Bank in London, Transmedia had offered membership discounts to Barclays Premier account customers.
"Both programs have been very successful," said Edward Guinan, president and chief executive of Transmedia Europe and Transmedia Asia.
"In the last six weeks, the card base for Transmedia in the U.K. has jumped from 25,000 to 42,000," he said. Also, after three years in the British market, Transmedia's discount dining program now has 500 participating restaurants.
Transmedia Asia's expansion of its two-year-old Asian presence resulted in a marketing agreement with Westpac Bank in Australia.
Transmedia is marketing its card to some of the bank's Visa and MasterCard holders.
The Transmedia card was introduced in the United States in 1985 and now has 930,000 members.
