Competitive Compass

Gen Z and Millennials are doing great. Gen Z and Millennials feel fantastic about their financial situation. Please re-read the previous sentence. It’s easy to get caught in the doom loop that surrounds all of us. Doom & gloom gets more clicks, and we all know this, yet we allow the negativity to cloud our judgment. This summer, I wrote The Mythbuster Memo , my worst-performing newsletter for...

Targeting and Channel Strategy in Q3 2025. What the Data Tells us about Issuer Intent?   Fulcrum Question: If discovery is shifting to GenAI andtrust is being built on the margins, where does competitive advantage come fromnext?   I typically spend 4-6 hours putting this newsletter togethereach week. Sometimes, I take twice as much time (this happens quarterly) .The reason is that these two report...

Gen Z wants to borrow smarter, faster, and on their own terms. The opportunity? Build the tools that meet them where they are.   Fulcrum Question: Does our product help a user make a smart choice right now, one they’ll feel good about tomorrow? I always smile when people say Gen Z doesn't like credit, as I know this is not true. Today, I have some statistics to back up that smile. Gen Z is res...

The New Chemistry of Growth Money 20/20 this year was less about competition and more about connections/partnerships; everyone’s finding their element.   Walking the expo floor at Money 20/20 in Las Vegas thisweek, it struck me that the word “alone” is fading from the payments vocabulary. Wallets are partnering with AI firms, banks are collaborating with crypto firms, fintechs are teaming up with...

Today’s edition covers two big moves in cards and banking. A deep dive with Citi’s Pam Habner on the launch of Strata Elite and the premium card renaissance A fast read on the Q3 earnings momentum that is reshaping card marketing and product strategy   Fulcrum Question: Are you building for the earn and burn of today, or the yearn and AI-driven journeys of tomorrow?   Andrew interviewed Pam Habner...

Anti-Algorithm: Empowerment Over Efficiency Consumers are pushing back against black-box systems. They don’t want to be told “the algorithm knows best.” They want personalization with transparency and control over their choices. In finance, this shift is stark. Algorithms drive credit decisions and product recommendations, but today’s consumer asks: are you empowering me, or just automating me? Th...

Fifteen seconds change everything. Once you feel instant access, you expect it everywhere. After that speed, you don't want to go back to the old way. Last week, I tried something that left me genuinely amazed. I applied for the Coinbase Card, expecting the usual processof filling out details, approvals, and delays. Instead, what I got was a journey that lasted all of fifteen seconds. A few sc...

For decades, marketers believed story came first. Today, a new generation has flipped the script: the product speaks first, the brand follows. What drives brand love today? For younger consumers, the answer starts with product. Gen Z is reshaping the credit card market, expecting their card to be more thanjust a means of payment. They want simplicity, design that doubles as self-expression, and a...

We are in a moment where the Top 10% continue to remain strong, and the Bottom 10% have seen the most significant increase in their wages. I like to think of this as a moment where the edges are defining the next leg of the credit cardjourney. I touched on this idea in “ Strength at the Edges, ” and today we build on it. The Amex Platinum Refresh is setting the tone. That said, the center, prime a...

Fulcrum Question: How do we pivot from being SEO-obsessed to AIO-obsessed?   Andrew and I were invited to a Fireside Chat at Meta’sFinancial Services Summit, and as a result, social media has been top of mind for me. It’s fascinating to see the progress Meta has made on the regulatory and policy front, which confirms to me that social media will be responsiblefor a significantly larger share of ac...

Fulcrum Question: How do you justify a premium price to an aspirational market that just wants to "shop like a billionaire?"   Breaking News: The Amex Platinum Refresh is set to launch on September 18. This week, the financial world is buzzing with news of the upcoming American Express Platinum card refresh,rumored to launch on Thursday, September 18, with a potential new annual fee of $...

Week at a Glance:     Financial Profiles Application Behavior Report Upgrade's New Card Chief on Blending Discipline with Flexibility Fulcrum Question: What offer at the edges earns the nextwave of applications. Or does a simplified middle offer win because the field is clear.   I was at the US Open this week, watching Djokovic vs Fritz. The match delivered. The other contest was American Expr...

Week at a Glance:  The Evolution of Cobrand Co-branded Card 2025 Competitive Intelligence Trends Co-branded Card Predictions for 2025 All That Glitters Is Not Gold: Sometimes It’s Sapphire Fulcrum Question: Who owns the future of co-brand: issuers, brands, or ecosystems? Bonjour, I am back after a two-week break and re-energized, raring to go. Time away always sharpens perspective, and this week’s...

The Micro‑Entrepreneur Mandate The American small business is no longer the corner shop or the family franchise. The new face is the micro‑entrepreneur. The delivery driver. The online seller. The creative freelancer. This is not a side hustle economy. This is the engine of modern entrepreneurship. Almost half of consumers now consider gig work necessary to support themselves . For struggling hous...

Trust has shifted. Millennials and Gen Z treat peer voices as the highest form of credibility. Their priorities place experiences ahead of ownership. Their financial stack now includes digital assets. Their journey with financial services begins earlier than any prior generation. These shifts define the next era of marketing. Fulcrum Question: Are you listening to the narratives your next customer...

We operate in an industry of narratives. There is the story we tell consumers: one of value, access, and aspiration. Then there is the story the ledger tells us: one of cost, liability, and margin. The legend of a reward point is its perceived value on afirst-class flight; its reality is a line item on a balance sheet, meticulously managed and strategically deployed.  The gap between the ledger an...

Why Every Launch and Refresh Strengthens the Market We're witnessing an extraordinary moment in premium credit cards, a moment defined not by competition, but by precision, innovation, and strategic clarity. Each refresh and launch not only enhances the issuer's proposition but also elevates our entire industry. Let's unpack the strategic moves reshaping our landscape.   Citi Strata El...

The brands winning today are sharper, not louder. They listen with intent, decode signals quickly, and act with precision. Every click, pause, and swipe from your customers is a message. It is direction. The challenge is the discipline to interpret the insight before the moment passes. Relevance does not wait. It belongs to those who read the market in motion and move with purpose. Fulcrum Questio...

Week at a Glance: Marketing Momentum Is Real Credit Card Debt, Reconsidered Institutional Crypto Quietly Goes Mainstream Last week , I made the case for an explosion in marketing in 2H 2025. The response? Strong opinions on all sides. Many asked, “In this macro environment?” Fair question. But here’s something to consider: there has neverbeen a moment in time that wasn’t clouded by uncertainty. An...

Marketing as Signal | H1 2025 Spend Sets the Stage: First-half 2025 data shows financial marketers ramping up spend (overall +11% YoY) even as credit card promo budgets took a brief breather. Now, a wave of product refreshes and record budgets from the likes of Chase and Amex signal that the second half of 2025 will be a marketing blitz of historic scale, one aimed at brand identity as much as cus...

The definition of value is undergoing a fundamental shift, driven by a new generation of consumers and transformative technology. For leaders in the financial sector, this represents a tremendous opportunity. Understanding how consumers perceive value, from the demand for authentic marketing to the redefinition of premium rewards and the very assets people can own, is the key to building brands th...

Why ‘Boring’ Is The New Bold PNC’s Counter-Play : How a "Brilliantly Boring" card is chasing relationships, not rewards Paid Search in the Age of AI : Shifting from broad keywords to deep conversations Wealth Management's Two Fronts : The battle betweenchallenger hype and legacy reassurance The CURB Advantage : Why local focus is delivering national-level results How Black Swan Data...

The New Math of Exclusivity: Why We Pay for Prestige This section breaks down the consumer psychology and market trends that make a $795 annual fee not only palatable but also desirable. It’s less about the math and more about the meaning. ●     Credit Cards as Veblen Goods: The core principle is that for certain goods, demand increases as the price rises. The high annual fee isn't a bug; it&#...

Week at a Glance: Entry is Easy – But Winning is Not Entry is Easy – But Retention is the Game Entry Is Easy – But Bundles Bind   Fulcrum Thought: The next great credit card won’t just bechosen. It will be joined . Is yours worth joining? Entry is Easy — But Winning is Not The Chase Sapphire Reserve refresh just raised the stakes. New cards are launching weekly. The barrier to entry has dropped. B...

Fulcrum Thought: Parallel growth isn’t a shift in direction,it’s a widening of the field. Are you in it?   We often default to covering the arms race in rewards. But this week’s marketing data and product moves reveal a much broader playbook in action. Issuers are executing a calculated expansion, not just in premium or proprietary rewards, but across non-rewards cards, secured offerings, and pers...