What I learned at the Co-Brand Credit Card Conference yesterday

Anika and I were at the UK’s only annual co-brand credit card conference yesterday where representatives from most of the card groups we discuss on Head for Points meet up to discuss what is happening in the industry.  Which, at the moment, is obviously quite a lot.

If you are interested in seeing what I spoke about – none of which will be a surprise to regular readers – you can download my slides (PDF) by clicking the image below.

I would like to be able to say that we came away with an exciting new vision for where the co-brand card market is going, but we didn’t.  “No-one knows nuffin” it seems, so far.

This is what we did pick up:

One consultant felt that the impact of 0.3% interchange fees is not as bad as expected.  His logic was this:

30% – 40% fall in interchange revenue, but offset by

15% – 20% recovered through interest rate rises, annual fee rises, other tweaks

I am not convinced, partly because I do not feel that interest rate revenue is that high, and because only one card (BA Premium Plus) has hiked its fee.  I doubt MBNA would have killed its entire airline product line if the net revenue drop was only 20%.  This view only holds water if the card companies ditch their highest spending customers and attempt to sign up more people who pay interest – and there are few of those in the core London business traveller market.

Other interesting titbits:

One of the longer established co-brand travel cards has just started a root and branch review which is likely to see a substantially changed product emerge.  In this particular case it might actually be positive.

We may see cards try to reign in costs via benefit cuts (no 2-4-1 voucher?) or caps on points earning – or perhaps staggered earning tiers which reduce depending on how much you charge.  Big spenders are now a problem as the marginal miles cost exceeds the marginal interchange fee.

Cardholders are seen as insensitive to rises in fees and interest rates – seemingly true in the case of the BA Premium Plus fee rise, I agree

The current operating model (airline takes all its revenue via sign-up commissions and a ‘pence per mile’ payment) is broken.  Future co-brand agreements should be treated as ‘open book’ joint ventures with a 50 / 50 profit split, with the airline or hotel group having to accept that it is now in the credit card business.

Card data needs to become a greater source of value.  Apparently American Express has never delivered on the promises of ‘big data’ it made to British Airways.  The ability to use card data – perhaps using PSD2 to add data from other cards – must improve.  This may involve doing things which seem illogical, eg if the BAPP Amex offered double Avios on all airline purchases – not just with BA – then BA would get a better picture of how much you were spending with other carriers and could act accordingly.

‘Card linked offers’ such as the Avios and Virgin ‘in-store earning’ deals are seen as a valuable source of revenue going forward.  (Off the point, but apparently Head for Points is entirely responsible for the many changes to the Virgin / Waitrose in-store deal, because it went so crazy after we originally wrote about it that the budget was blown very quickly and emergency action was required).

The good news is that there was not a major sense of despair in the room.  All of the parties have too much at stake.

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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – May 2025 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card

30,000 Avios and the famous annual Companion Voucher voucher Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

The American Express Business Platinum Card

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

The American Express Business Gold Card

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business Card

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review