Exclusive competition is gaining momentum. New cards are coming for the wealthy

The luxury credit card market has been attracting the most demanding customers for years, offering them unique privileges and prestige. Leading financial institutions are constantly outdoing each other in offers, trying to maintain the loyalty of premium card holders. The latest movements of two giants show that the competition in this segment is only getting worse.

Last week, JPMorgan Chase announced that the refreshing of Sapphire Reserve is already close. This product is a card with prizes for travel and gastronomy, which became very popular right after its premiere in 2016.

In response, on June 16, American Express announced that “big” changes are coming later in his Platinum cards this year, both in consumer and business versions. Although the details were not revealed, the New York company pointed out that it would be the largest investment in refreshing the card in history.

Howard Grosfield, president of American Express for consumer services in the USA, said:

“We intend to double their efforts in areas that – as the data show – our clients really love. But more importantly, we will introduce a lot of new, exciting benefits and values ​​that definitely exceed the annual fee.”

Increasing benefits and higher fees. Direction for premium cards

American Express was a pioneer of the premium card market decades ago, offering the benefits packages in the airlines or hotels and access to your own network of exclusive airports salons. However, in 2016, JPMorgan shook the industry strongly, introducing an attractive welcome bonus and other encouragements in the Sapphire card, which initiated sharp competition between card publishers.

According to industry experts, it can be expected that both companies will continue to expand the list of benefits related to travel, gastronomy and unique experiences – potentially also increasing the annual fees, which is part of the last trend.

Currently, the annual Platinum card fee is $ 695, while for Sapphire $ 550.

On Reddit and other forums, users began to speculate that JPMorgan is planning to raise an annual fee for the Sapphire card to $ 795. JPMorgan spokesman refused to comment.

As Grosfield informed, the new version of the Platinum card is to be introduced this fall.

The changes announced by the American Express and JPmorgan are the next stage of competition about the most wealthy customers. New offers are not only to attract new users, but also emphasize the innovation and prestige of Marek. For customers, this means even more benefits, but probably also higher costs.

JS

Source: