"What we found, quite frankly, is that many students, particularly foreign students, really don't have any credit vehicle available to them here," Powell says.

In 1997 the Coop Visa replaced the old Coop card that had a line of credit that could only be used at the Coop.

"After the proliferation of bank credit cards, people were no longer using the Coop credit card," Powell says.

So in order to quit losing money but still offer a credit card, the Coop negotiated a deal with First USA. According to Powell, students need the credit in order to buy their first round of books and supplies before they have a source of income.

The Coop has a special deal with the University, through which it gains access to a list of the names of all first-year students.

Lewis says the arrangement is an unusual one for Harvard, in that the University is generally averse to issuing companies lists of student addresses or even names.

"I can't think of a case when we would do that, leaving aside a few unique institutions such as the Coop and the yearbook," he wrote.