Co-Branded Credit Cards in the U.S., 8th Edition


Attention: There is an updated edition available for this report.

Co-Branded Credit Cards in the U.S., 8th Edition


This report covers the U.S. market for co-branded credit cards, including retailer and travel cards, with an emphasis on credit card program features and benefits, marketing and loyalty program strategies, and growth trends. The report analyzes the impact of COVID-19 on the retail and travel sectors and on the co-branded credit card market, the going-forward strategies of top co-branded card issuers, key retailer programs and initiatives, and consumer use of co-branded cards segmented by type (department store, warehouse club, airline/hotel, and Amazon/Prime).


  • Executive Summary
    • Scope of Report
    • Report Methodology
    • Market Overview
      • Purchase Volume Trends for the Major Networks
        • Table Purchase Volume for Mastercard, Visa and American Express, Quarterly, Q1 2020 - Q1 2021 ($billions)
      • Long-Term Payment Trends Accelerate
      • Credit Card Usage
        • Table Share of U.S. Adults with Rewards Credit Cards: Overall and by Type of Reward, 2020 (percent)
      • Consumer Pay Down of Debt
        • Table Revolving Credit - Change, Flow and Outstanding, 2016-Q1 2021
      • Credit Card Rewards Respond to Lower Transaction Volumes
      • Business Sectors Are at Different Stages of Recovery
      • Travel and Hospitality Industries Are Slower to Recover
      • Largest Co-branded Credit Card Programs
        • Table Top Ten Co-branded Credit Card Programs by Purchase Volume, 2018-2020 ($billions)
      • Consumer Credit
    • The Issuers
      • Industry Context
        • Table Credit Card Receivables and Purchase Volume, Leading Issuers, Q4 2020 vs. Q4 2019 ($billions)
    • Airline Partnerships
      • Industry Context
      • Airline Loyalty Programs
      • American Airlines' Program Valuation
      • Delta's Program Valuation
      • United Airlines' Program Valuation
    • Hotel Partnerships
      • Industry Context
      • Co-branded Relationships
      • Hilton Revenues
      • InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) Rewards Club
      • Marriott Bonvoy Loyalty Program
    • Retailer Partnerships
      • Store Cards and Co-branded Cards
      • Amazon Prime Credit Cards
      • Costco Anywhere Visa
      • Target RedCard
    • The Consumer
      • 30% Have Co-Branded Cards
      • Co-branded Card Patterns by Type of Affiliation
        • Table Co-branded Credit Card Usage Rates by Selected Types: Have in Own Name vs. Used in Last 30 Days, 2021 (percent of adults)
  • Market Overview
    • Scope of Report
      • Report Methodology
      • Purchase Volume Trends for the Major Networks
        • Table Purchase Volume for Mastercard, Visa and American Express, Quarterly, Q1 2020 - Q1 2021 ($billions)
        • Table Largest Credit Card Issuers by Receivables and Purchase Volume, 2020 ($billions)
      • Long-Term Payment Trends Accelerate
      • Credit Card Usage Trends
        • Table Share of U.S. Adults with Rewards Credit Cards: Overall and by Type of Reward, 2020 (percent)
      • Consumer Pay Down of Debt
        • Table Revolving Credit - Change, Flow and Outstanding, 2016-Q1 2021
      • Debit Card Use Increased During the Pandemic
      • Credit Card Rewards Respond to Lower Transaction Volumes
      • Issuer Strategies Combatting Credit Card Churn
      • Digital Commerce
      • Contactless Cards
      • Business Sectors Are at Different Stages of Recovery
      • Travel and Hospitality Industries Are Slower to Recover
        • Table Number of Passengers Passing Through TSA Checkpoints on June 26th, 2019-2021
      • Largest Co-branded Credit Card Programs
        • Table Top Ten Co-branded Credit Card Programs by Purchase Volume, 2018-2020 ($billions)
      • Consumer Credit
        • Table Pandemic Unemployment Hit Leisure and Hospitality Industries Hardest
  • The Issuers
    • Industry Context
      • COVID-19 Pandemic Effects
        • Table Credit Card Receivables and Purchase Volume, Leading Issuers, Q4 2020 vs. Q4 2019 ($billions)
      • Note on Other Banks
    • American Express
      • Overview
        • Table American Express, Interest and Non-interest Revenue, Q1 2020- Q1 2021 ($billions)
      • Achieving Acceptance Parity with Visa and Mastercard
      • Small Business Saturday and Lower Merchant Discounts
    • Capital One
      • Overview
      • Capital One Purchase and Receivables Volumes
        • Table Co-branded Credit Card Purchase Volume and Receivables, Capital One, 2018-2020 ($billions)
      • Key Program Partner: Walmart
    • JPMorgan Chase
      • Overview
        • Table JP Morgan Chase: Co-branded Credit Card Purchase Value and Loan Receivables, 2018-2020 ($billions)
      • Snapshot of 2020 Consumer Lending
        • Table JPMorgan Chase Income Statement, 2020 ($billions)
        • Table JPMorgan Chase Credit Card Sales Volume and New Accounts, 2018- 2020
      • Chase Credit Card Income
        • Table Components of JPMorgan Chase Credit Card Income, 2018- 2020 ($billions)
    • Citibank
      • Overview
      • Citi Branded Cards
        • Table Citi Branded Card Services Co-branded Credit Card Purchase Value and Loan Receivables, 2018-2020 ($billions)
    • Synchrony Financial
      • Overview
        • Table Key Synchrony Financial and Performance Metrics, 2019 and 2020 (in dollars)
        • Table Synchrony Financial Co-branded Credit Card Purchase Value and Loan Receivables, 2018-2020 (in billions of dollars)
  • Airline Partnerships
    • Industry Context
      • Largest U.S. Airlines
        • Table Largest U.S. Airlines by Revenue, 2018-2020
      • Airline Net Income Plunged
      • Revenue Dropped $76 Billion at Five Largest U.S. Airlines in 2020
      • Global Aviation Industry Lost $370 Billion in 2020
      • Airline Loyalty Programs
      • After Cash, Travel Rewards Are the Most Popular Credit Card Reward
      • The Power of Co-branded Credit Cards to Drive Behavior
        • Table Average Miles Earned by Airline Credit Card Adopters, 2016-2018
      • Profits from a "Free" Award Ticket
        • Table Issuer Profits from Travel Award Ticket
      • How the Airlines Steer Redemption of Miles
      • U.S. Airlines Are Mileage Marketing Companies with Loyalty Flights
        • Table Market Value of Largest U.S. Airline Frequent Flyer Programs ($billions)
    • American Airlines
      • American Airlines' Program Valuation
      • Impact of COVID-10 on American
        • Table American Airlines' Selected Operating Data, 2019-2020
      • Advantage Loyalty Program
      • Rewards Redemption
    • Delta Air Lines
      • Delta's Program Valuation
      • Delta SkyMiles and Flyer Loyalty Are Cornerstone of Revenue
      • Delta Looking for 2021 Revenue
        • Table Categories of Delta Air Lines' Operating Revenues, 2018-2020 ($billions)
    • JetBlue Airways
      • Overview
      • Partnership with American Airlines
      • Enrolled vs. Elite Status
      • JetBlue's Barclay's Co-branded Credit Card
      • Goldman Sachs Vies for JetBlue's Co-branded Card Business
      • JetBlue Introduces Marcus Pay
      • Rewards are:
      • Benefits are:
    • Southwest Airlines
      • Overview
      • Southwest and the Pandemic
      • Even Southwest Lost Money in 2020
        • Table Categories of Southwest Airlines Net Income, 2018-2020 ($billions)
        • Table Categories of Southwest Airlines Operating Revenues, 2018-2020 ($billions)
      • Southwest's Rapid Rewards
      • Rapid Rewards' Response to Pandemic
      • Rapids Rewards Pivots in June 2021
      • Chase Visa and Southwest
    • United Airlines
      • United Airlines' Program Valuation
      • United Airlines' MileagePlus Program
      • United Introduces New Cards for Summer 2021
  • Hotel Partnerships
    • Industry Context
      • Largest Group of Partnerships
      • Co-branded Relationships
    • Hilton Worldwide
      • Overview
        • Table Hilton's Balance Sheet, Reflecting Point Presale to American Express, 2020 ($millions)
      • Hilton's Response to Covid Pandemic
      • Hilton Honors Members Fill Rooms
      • How the Rewards Program Works for Hilton
      • Hilton Honors as an Engine of Revenue
      • Key Hilton Honors Members Benefits for Booking Directly
      • Enhancing Member Benefits
    • InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG)
      • Overview
      • IHG's Priorities for Growth
      • Employees
      • IHG's Response to COVID-19
      • Pandemic Adjustments for Rewards Members
      • IHG Rewards
    • Marriott International
      • Overview
      • Marriott's Response to COVID
      • COVID Drove Corporate Borrowing and Pre-Sale of Loyalty Points to Issuers
      • Sharp Rebound in Hotel Occupancy, But Still Far to Go
        • Table Recovery in Marriott's Business and Group Travel Business
      • The Marriott Bonvoy Loyalty Program
      • Bonvoy Promotions
        • Table Purchase Volume, Marriott Co-branded Credit Cards, 2018-2020 ($billions)
  • Retailer Partnerships
    • Industry Context
      • Store Cards and Co-branded Cards
    • Amazon
      • Overview
      • Amazon Membership Surge
      • Amazon and Prime Member Loyalty
      • Income and Net Income Defy Pandemic
        • Table Consolidated Income Statement for Amazon, 2018-2020
      • Amazon Prime Credit Cards
        • Table Co-branded Credit Card Purchasing Volume and Receivables, Amazon, 2018-2020 ($billions)
    • Costco
      • Overview
      • Marketing Strategy
      • Loyal Shopping Members
      • Costco Anywhere Visa
    • Target
      • Overview
      • Target Was Ready for 2020
  • The Consumer
    • Co-branded Credit Cards in Context
      • Three-Fourths of Adults Have Credit Cards
        • Table Major Credit Card Customer Base: Have in Own Name vs. Used in Last 30 Days, 2021 (percent and number of adults)
      • 30% Have Co-Branded Cards
        • Table Customer Base for Co-Branded vs. Store-Only Credit Cards: Have in Own Name vs. Used in Last 30 Days, 2021 (percent and number of adults)
      • Co-Branded Cardholder Demographics
        • Table Credit Card Usage Rates by Consumer Demographic: Major Credit Cards Overall, Store-Only Cards, and Co-Branded Cards, 2021 (percent of adults who are cardholders)
        • Table Credit Card Customer Base by Consumer Demographic: Major Credit Cards Overall, Store-Only Cards, and Co-Branded Cards, 2021 (number of adults in thousands)
        • Table Credit Card Usage Index by Consumer Demographic: Major Credit Cards Overall, Store-Only Cards, and Co-Branded Cards, 2021 (index with base = 100)
      • Co-branded Card Patterns by Type of Affiliation
        • Table Co-branded Credit Card Usage Rates by Selected Types: Have in Own Name vs. Used in Last 30 Days, 2021 (percent of adults)
        • Table Co-branded Credit Card Usage Rates by Selected Types: Have in Own Name vs. Used in Last 30 Days, 2021 (number of adults in thousands)
      • Co-branded Card Demographics by Type of Affiliation
        • Table Co-branded Credit Card Usage Rates by Type and Consumer Demographic: Department Stores, Warehouse Clubs, Amazon/Prime, and Airline/Hotel, 2021 (percent of adults who are cardholders)
        • Table Co-branded Credit Card Usage Rates by Type and Consumer Demographic: Department Stores, Warehouse Clubs, Amazon/Prime, and Airline/Hotel, 2021 (number of adults in thousands)
        • Table Co-branded Credit Card Usage Rates by Type and Consumer Demographic: Department Stores, Warehouse Clubs, Amazon/Prime, and Airline/Hotel, 2021 (index with base = 100)
      • Motivators to Apply for Co-Branded Cards
        • Table Card Features or Benefits That Would "Strongly Influence" Consumer Decisions to Apply for a Co-Branded Credit Card, 2021
        • Table Influence on Use of Co-Branded Credit Cards: By Type of Benefit, 2021 (percent of cardholders)

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