NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - MBNA, one of the nation's largest credit card issuers, yanked a controversial new card Friday after critics said it exploits the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks for financial gain.

"It was not our intention to offend anyone and we apologize if anyone was offended by the card," MBNA spokesman Jim Donohue told CNNfn. "We intended to give customers the opportunity to give money to an organization that was supporting 9/11 families.

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MBNA's "Spirit of America" MasterCard, which features the now-famous image of three New York firefighters hoisting a flag over wreckage from the World Trade Center, was to donate a small portion of the card fees to two 9/11 charities, including The Bravest Fund.

But a report in the New York Daily News said the charity hasn't yet registered with the New York State Attorney General's office, as required by law, and has only disbursed about $72,000 of the $750,000 it raised since it was granted non-profit status in January 2002.

"I don't think anyone should be making money [off] of what happened there. My brother died there, and to have a major corporation like a bank to make a buck is as bad as those vendors selling crap at Ground Zero," Lynn King told the paper, which noted that her brother Bobby King was one of 343 firefighters who perished during the attacks.

MBNA's Donahue said his company has been sensitive to the families of 9/11 victims. "MBNA has already given more than $5 million to 9/11 charities, not from card transactions, but directly from the company and the pocketbooks of our employees," he said.

The question of exploiting 9/11 images surfaced this week when Democrats and some victims' families criticized President Bush's first re-election TV ad. The ad used images of the World Trade Center wreckage and firefighters carrying a flag-draped coffin.