What does Co-branded card mean?

A co-branded card is basically a card issued by two organizations, one a non financial group or business, for example sports franchises universities, nonprofit organizations and other groups of the sort. The other organization is a credit card issuer, like a bank or other kind of financial organization. These organizations offer diverse benefits for creating and using one of their cards,  which vary from promotional items and discounts to free memberships and special deals, all sponsored by the retail organization.

The cards often have some sort of clever design on the surface of the credit cards along with the brands of both the retail organization and the issuer, usually a major bank the group is in a partnership with.