Unlike the plain vanilla credit card, co-branded credit cards are for a specific purpose, like purchase of fuel or shopping at a retail chain or even when flying a specific airline. While these have all the features of a normal credit card, they provide some extra value to the customer. This value is in the form of rewards, discounts or special offers. Remember, like all credit cards, co-branded cards may also come at a cost or without any fee. One should use these cards when they have excessive usage at such preferred networks or chains. .