With the runaway success of the rewards-heavy Chase Sapphire Reserve, and a hike in the fee for its flagship Platinum Card, American Express is facing questions--and not a little criticism--about its card strategy. After all, the past four to five years have seen Chase and some other major credit-card issuers chipping away away at the cherished audience for the Platinum card – frequent travelers. For all the buzz and popularity of the Sapphire Reserve, for instance, its impact has yet to hit Chase’s bottom line. That longer view assumes that enough of the people who flocked to the Sapphire Reserve will in fact stick with the card. These savvy opportunists may not be promising prospects for conversion to other Chase products, unless those too come with attractive (and, to Chase, costly) incentives.

Source: Forbes April 06, 2017 19:07 UTC