I imagine the numbers must have taken a slight dip following the abolition of the ECCCA.

The ECCCA was a corporate agreement with high spending companies whereby employees were permitted to link their individual EC accounts with their employer's corporate account. The major benefit for the employee was the reduced tier thresholds. Companies were also given a number of complimentary Gold, Silver and even Premier cards each year to distribute amongst staff at its discretion.

ECCCA's were wound down as part of the July 2003 changes and employee's accounts transferred into normal individual accounts as a result.