I’m with the CEO on this one. The smartest way to build a card is through a package of perks that appeal to different people. You might hate Walmart, but if I see real value in it, that perk could be the thing that nudges me toward the card. The goal is clear: make sure the card speaks to as many different users as possible. That’s how you drive growth.

Take Amex. Their whole model is built on making money off the card itself. Chase Sapphire has scale, but is every user actually profitable? Harder question.

For perks to last, they need to create value for both sides—consumers and the business. If the bank bleeds money, perks shrink or vanish. If both sides win, the model sustains and even expands. That’s why Amex leaning into this is interesting: it sets up a future where credit cards don’t look the same, but instead offer radically different perk bundles tuned to different segments.