From T-Mobile launching a new credit card via text to United Airlines launching a unique co-branded debit card, Andrew Davidson breaks down the latest news in the financial services industry. He also highlights the Bilt announcement of its timeline for Bilt 2.0 and talks about the reveal of the new Klarna Card.
Want to discover more of Andrew’s cutting-edge insights on financial products, marketing strategies, and industry innovations? Follow him on LinkedIn, or listen to him as the host of Mintel’s Little Conversation podcast.
Here are the 5 things you need to know:
1. T-Mobile launches a new credit card via text
Hold the phone! T-Mobile has what most credit card marketers would die for… phone numbers (and consumers who have opted in for text messaging).
T-Mobile and Capital One launched the new T-Mobile Visa, offering 2% back on all purchases and 5% back at T-Mobile, with rewards redeemable toward your bill or next upgrade, plus $5 off per line when the card is used with AutoPay.
The official launch day (Nov 4) was the signal to hit send on millions of SMS text messages and emails to a subset of its 140 million customers promoting the new card.
💡 Breaking through in a crowded market
- Distribution is destiny. The “phone number advantage” isn’t new; Verizon and Synchrony had it for that card launch in 2020. What’s changed is the environment: in a world crowded with social, digital, out-of-home, and TV ads—and an increasingly competitive credit card landscape with endless choices—having a direct, permissioned channel to reach consumers feels uniquely valuable in 2025.
- SMS cuts through the noise. Texting remains one of the few channels that still guarantees visibility, with consistently high open rates and near-instant engagement. And because T-Mobile is a trusted sender, as the same brand that delivers your bill and service updates, its marketing texts are more likely to be seen, believed, and acted on. In a world chasing attention, that kind of built-in trust is gold.
2. United Airlines launches a unique co-branded debit card
📫 My Gen Z daughter received this DEBIT CARD OFFER in the mail in November.
It’s for the new United MileagePlus Debit Rewards Card, a product that combines Sunrise Banks’ regulated banking infrastructure with Galileo Financial Technologies’ embedded finance platform to deliver a checking account that earns MileagePlus miles.
- 10K bonus miles
- 1x mile per $1 on United purchases
- 1x mile per $2 on other purchases
- 2,500 mile annual bonus
- ⭐Earn up to 70K miles each year based on account balance
- $4 monthly fee (waived if balance is $2K+)
- And unlike a credit card… no credit check!
💡A unique challenge for a unique product
- Bold claim: “No other debit card like it.” True? Pretty much. We’ve seen Wyndham Hotels & Resorts and Southwest Airlines recently launch debit rewards, but none that reward your balance. Bask Bank launched a savings account during Covid that rewarded savers with American Airlines miles instead of interest, but that was savings, not checking. So yes, this one’s different.
- More miles for more people. With 110+ million members, United MileagePlus is one of the world’s largest loyalty programs. This looks like a smart play to tap younger, debit-first consumers while deepening engagement among those who may not use United credit cards.
- Success or struggle? The challenge is behavior. Most people keep their debit card with their primary bank, and big-ticket purchases like flights usually go on credit cards for protection and rewards. But there’s opportunity here, especially for consumers who prefer or can’t access credit and rewards on checking accounts are almost nonexistent. The key will be education. If United can clearly show how earning miles on your balance fits into everyday life, this could make loyalty feel more inclusive and relevant to a new generation of travelers.
3. What does tiered pricing based on card type look like?
The settlement between Visa and Mastercard and U.S. merchants will end the “honor all cards” rule and could usher in tiered pricing based on card type, according to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
Two lines from the WSJ article stood out for me:
“A basic, no-frills credit card might come with a surcharge of 2.5% of the transaction amount, versus 3% for a rewards card.”
AND
“The settlement would require banks to add clear visual markers to cards to help consumers and merchants determine what category a card falls into, but that could take years to update.”
I subsequently spoke to the Financial Brand about this issue
💡Welcome to the age of card surcharge markers
- Card-as-marketing might be thrown a curveball. For years, card design has been part of the value story: metal cards, bold colors, minimalist layouts. Now banks may need to add functional category markers which affects more than physical plastic/metal cards. It extends to mobile wallet card art, which suddenly becomes a UX challenge as much as a branding one. This could become the most complicated checkout experience in years!
- Consumers stand to lose the most. We spent years encouraging consumers to move toward rewards cards because we wanted their loyalty. Now we might penalize them for listening. Even if merchants decide that distinguishing card tiers is not worth the operational effort, the risk is that the door to surcharging will open wider at the very moment consumers can least afford it.
4. Bilt announces its timeline for Bilt 2.0
Bilt released the timeline for Bilt Card 2.0, and at the same time, Wells Fargo has been mailing letters to existing Bilt cardholders letting them know their cards will convert to a Wells Fargo Autograph Visa on February 6, 2026. This was revealed in Ben Hedges’ recent video.
- November: Bilt is no longer accepting applications for its credit card
- January: Bilt will host a launch event for Bilt 2.0 featuring three new cards
- February: New cards launched, issued by Column and powered by fintech Cardless
Bilt members must actively opt in and select one of Bilt’s new cards or become a Wells Fargo Autograph Visa customer.
This creates a rare split-path transition where the old issuer keeps the entire portfolio by default. Bilt is essentially starting its card portfolio from scratch.
💡One of the most unusual co-brand card transitions we have seen EVER
- Bilt cuts the cord and sees major upside. Bilt is leaning into a friction-reduced transition designed to pull as many of its approximately 750,000 cardholders into its new ecosystem as possible. With more than 5 million loyalty program members and a broader lifestyle and neighborhood strategy, Bilt is betting that an expanded value proposition, including earning points on mortgage payments, combined with no hard inquiry, no change in card number and automatic mobile wallet updates will motivate users to join Bilt 2.0. With the expansion into mortgages and with most renters not yet using the card, Bilt sees huge potential for growth with more control of the economics of its card program.
- Wells Fargo is relying on the power of inertia. It is normal for issuers to communicate during transitions, but what stands out here is the strength of the default position. Wells Fargo keeps every customer who does nothing and converts them into a solid no-fee Autograph Visa. The size of this default group makes inertia the primary competitive force, particularly for those cardholders who are not fully engaging with the program. Like Bilt, Wells Fargo is trying to minimize friction by stressing “no changes to rates or fees.” The next few months will be a fascinating test of Bilt’s value proposition versus the natural pull of simply staying put.
5. Klarna Card revealed
Launched in July, Klarna Card blends debit with BNPL using Visa’s Flexible Credential. In just a few months, Klarna has already acquired 1.4 million cardholders and is expanding its membership model with two new tiers.
- Member: $3.49 per month, 0.5% cashback, 2 service fee waivers, and 2.9 percent APY on balances.
- Plus: $7.99, premium black card, 1% cashback, $8 quarterly shopping voucher, purchase protection, travel eSIM, 2 subscriptions, and 10 service fee waivers.
- ⭐Premium: $17.99, metal card, 1.5% cashback, partner bonuses, free monthly shipping credit, expanded subscriptions, and no service fees.
- ⭐Max: $44.99, 16g rose gold metal card, 2% cashback, airport lounge access, travel and car rental insurance, no foreign exchange fees, and the largest bundle of premium subscriptions.
💡The great Klarna unlock starts to take shape in the U.S.
- From product to platform. Klarna is executing one of the strongest platform plays in consumer finance which it leverages as a unique acquisition funnel: Globally, 114M shop with Klarna at checkout, 49M use the app, 3.2M use the card, and 2.2M use the bank. As customers move deeper into the funnel, average revenue per user rises. Klarna generates value not only from consumers but also from merchants and advertisers and its platform is where all three converge.
- Membership over accounts. Consumers are shifting away from choosing banks based purely on products and toward brands that offer belonging, relevance, and continuous value. 67% of consumers say they prefer to have all of their financial services inside a single mobile app. Klarna’s membership model strengthens loyalty, frequency, and engagement by creating an ecosystem customers want to be part of.
- Reposting for emphasis. I don’t usually repost my own content, but I did for this as the industry needs to be aware of what Klarna is doing. Klarna Card Max is a $540 premium DEBIT card. Premium has always belonged to credit cards, but the launch of the Visa Flexible Credential, combined with Klarna’s expanding ecosystem, is the unlock that proves it is not about the product, it’s about the value.
