Membership Rewards® from American Express

Shelle  Santana; Frances X. Frei; Lauren G. Pickle

Case | HBS Case Collection | June 2018 (Revised January 2019)

Membership Rewards® from American Express

by Shelle Santana, Frances X. Frei and Lauren G. Pickle

Abstract

Credit and charge card issuer American Express (Amex) had developed a strong reputation among consumers due in part to its Membership Rewards (MR) loyalty program, first established in 1991. Through MR, all Amex cardholders could accumulate and redeem “points” based on how much they spent, while customers with Amex’s Gold and Platinum Cards received additional perks. By 2016, however, the U.S. credit card market had become increasingly competitive, with many credit card companies increasing their sign-on point bonuses for new customers. Chris Cracchiolo, Amex’s vice president of U.S. loyalty, strategy, and global partnerships, had to decide how to position the MR program in the face of this competition. Should Amex begin offering more competitive sign-on bonuses and point redemption rates, or would this dilute the company’s strong brand?

Keywords: financial services; customer loyalty; Credit Cards; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Brands and Branding; Customer Value and Value Chain; Value Creation; Financial Services Industry; Banking Industry; North America; United States;

Language: English

Format: Print

16 pages

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Citation:

Santana, Shelle, Frances X. Frei, and Lauren G. Pickle. "Membership Rewards® from American Express." Harvard Business School Case 518-079, June 2018. (Revised January 2019.)

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Case | HBS Case Collection | August 2018

Garanti Payment Systems: Digital Transformation Strategy (A)

Shelle M. Santana and Esel Çekin

Işıl Akdemir Evlioğlu, executive vice president of marketing at Garanti Payment Systems (GPS), a subsidiary of Garanti Bank, is grappling with three questions. First, should GPS create its own mobile app for credit card customers or leverage the bank’s already successful mobile banking app? Second, if a separate app was developed, then who should manage it? GPS managed the bank’s credit card business and was as a separate entity, but the bank’s digital assets were managed exclusively by the bank. Third, if a separate app was not developed, then would the required breadth and depth of functionality for the credit card customers be delivered? If a separate app was not developed, then would GPS be able to design one when they had never done so before? The credit card business included a popular loyalty program and GPS leadership was very focused on customer engagement and experience for program enrollees, but how best to do that was a critical question.

Keywords: Loyalty program; campaign management; campaign enrollment; branding; customer acquisition; regulations; regulatory changes; bank; retail banks; banking; credit card; payment systems; installment; mobile app; call center; Data Analytics; digital transformation; Digital technology; Banks and Banking; Business Subsidiaries; Mobile Technology; Credit Cards; Brands and Branding; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Services Industry;