From Uber adding hotels to the Uber App to AI showing up in credit card marketing, Andrew Davidson breaks down the latest news in the financial services industry. He also discusses Bank of America communicating to Spirit Airlines cardholders, Citi revealing card metrics at Investor Day, and Dick’s and Synchrony relaunching cards with 10% back.
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. Uber Adds Hotels to the Uber App
I recently checked with Apple Card support and confirmed something interesting: 3% cash back with Apple Pay applies to ALL Uber purchases.
That’s interesting because Uber just announced a major expansion into travel by adding hotel booking directly in the Uber app.
Uber and Expedia Group are partnering to offer Uber users in the U.S. access to a wide selection of hotels, which they say will grow to more than 700,000 properties in destinations around the globe.
“Uber is becoming an app for everything—helping people go, get, and now travel all in one place” – Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi
💡 Did Uber just upend credit card ridesharing perks?
- Uber card perks just got more valuable. If Uber purchases now include hotels, the value of existing credit card perks changes quickly. A benefit that was designed for everyday, lower-ticket spend suddenly applies to travel-sized transactions. Apple Card at 3% is the clearest example. That is no longer just rides and food, it is potentially hundreds of dollars of hotel spend earning simple, immediate cash back. The same dynamic could extend to cards with Uber credits or category-based rewards, depending on how transactions code. And it raises an immediate question for issuers: if your Uber benefit was calibrated for rides and dining, does it still make sense when it extends into travel?
- Who owns the travel journey? This is ultimately a battle over who owns the travel journey and the spend that comes with it. Airline cards have extended their benefits to include rideshare and Instacart, while banks have invested in lounges and travel portals to capture booking. If more of the journey shifts into high-frequency apps like Uber, the center of gravity moves. The question becomes less about rewards and more about default behavior. If consumers book where they already spend time, even strong points ecosystems risk being bypassed as consumers skip portals and book directly within apps like Uber.
2. AI Shows Up in Credit Card Marketing
The first visible sign of AI in credit marketing…compliance disclosure buried in terms and conditions.
Barclays co-brand acquisition direct marketing offers began displaying the following disclosure in March and April that applies to Colorado residents:
“Barclays uses artificial intelligence (AI) systems classified as ‘high-risk’ under Colorado law.”
Since those mailings went out, the law has changed. In early May 2026, the Colorado legislature passed SB 26-189, which repeals and replaces SB 24-205 almost entirely. The specific “high-risk AI systems” language Barclays cited in its disclosure is being swapped out for a new, narrower framework. The disclosure Barclays wrote for one law will soon reference a law that no longer exists.
Source: Comperemedia Direct [03/01/2026 – 04/30/2026] as of 5/12/2026
💡AI disclosure arrives before the rules behind it are defined
- This is regulation, not innovation. Colorado passed one of the first comprehensive AI laws in the U.S. in May 2024 (SB 24‑205), requiring companies that use “high-risk” AI systems in credit, lending, and other consequential decisions to actively manage bias risk and disclose when those systems influence outcomes. That framework is now being replaced with a narrower one. The point is that what you’re seeing in this mailer isn’t a new feature or capability. It is compliance. The first time “AI” shows up in credit card marketing is not through personalization or better targeting, but through a legal disclosure about algorithmic decision-making.
- Barclays may be the first to make it visible. Every major issuer already uses AI, but Barclays appears to be one of the first to surface that reality directly in acquisition marketing materials rather than keeping it buried in digital disclosures or state-specific inserts. This creates an unusual moment: the disclosure arrived before the regulatory framework was settled, and the law it references is now being replaced entirely. Barclays is not first to use AI, but may be first to make it visible in acquisition marketing. How AI impacts compliance is something new to watch out for as regulators grapple to understand its impact.
3. Bank of America Communicates to Spirit Airlines Cardholders
Spirit is gone but the credit cards are still here…for now.
Spirit Airlines has shut down operations. Flights canceled. Loyalty program frozen. An entire ecosystem disrupted.
- Bank of America issues the Free Spirit Travel Mastercard AND the Free Spirit Travel More World Elite Mastercard ($79)
- The near-prime card program with Mercury (acquired by Atlanticus) was shut down at the end of March
- Just weeks ago, Spirit launched a debit card powered by Aviere and issued by Cross River Bank
Bank of America wasted no time communicating with cardholders via email 👉. In short:
- We are on it
- Your account remains open
- We will be in touch about next steps, including a possible transition.
Simple, clear, and reassuring. Exactly what customers need in the moment.
Source: Mintel ePerformance 05/03/2026 as of 05/12/2026
💡Timing Matters
- The language tells you what’s coming. Moving quickly with transparent communication is the right move. It stabilizes behavior and reassures customers. But the language also does more than that. “Possible transition” signals that change is coming. Some cardholders will be migrated into Bank of America products like Travel Rewards or cash back cards. Others will likely be exited. That is typical in these scenarios and this is an opportunity to clean up the portfolio. Spirit’s performance in recent years suggests this was not an unexpected outcome, and contingency plans were likely in place.
- Timing matters when the value prop collapses. Figuring out the right path forward takes time. Segmentation, product mapping, and positioning do not happen overnight. But the value proposition is already gone. The airline is gone, and with it the core reason many customers engaged with the card. That creates a window where customers still have an active product but no clear reason to use it. This is when competitors step in. Balance transfers, new account offers, and alternative rewards products will be marketed aggressively into that gap.
4. Citi Reveals Card Metrics at Investor Day
“Our acquisition engine isn’t just growing accounts, it’s compounding value.”
Citi revealed in its first investor day in four years that it has increased the lifetime value of new credit card accounts by 20% since 2022 while maintaining retention at 98%.
The metrics are a result of a deliberate shift away from a huge legacy private label business to a general-purpose bank and co-brand card business with higher quality customers.
Citi’s massive cards business (70 million customers) is positioned to be more recession-ready.
Source: Citi 2026 Investor Day
💡Signaling an inflection point
- Transparency. Citi put lifetime value per acquired account front and center, a metric most issuers keep internal. That choice signals confidence. It also creates a clear benchmark that the business is now publicly accountable to. More importantly, it reframes how Citi wants to be evaluated, not on short-term volume, but on long-term economic value. That is a meaningful statement about the kind of card company they are becoming.
- Go mode. Pam Habner used those two words in the Q&A, and they carried weight. To investors, it signals a shift toward growth and innovation. To partners, it signals stability and long-term commitment, reinforced by 16 years of average partner tenure and marquee relationships like American Airlines and Costco. Internally, it signals that the rebuilding phase is over and the growth phase has begun. Two words, but a clear signal that the company has moved into a different phase.
5. Dick’s and Synchrony Relaunch Cards with 10% Back
Dick’s Sporting Goods and Synchrony have refreshed both the private label store card and the Mastercard.
The headline…10% back in rewards at Dick’s which is what Synchrony CORRECTLY claims to be “one of the most competitive rewards rates in U.S. retail.”
- The ScoreRewards Credit Card program has rebranded to the DICK’S Credit Card program
- The new cards are called DICK’S Credit Card: The Card for Sport (private label) and DICK’S Mastercard
- 10% back in rewards at Dick’s stores or up to 24 months of special financing
- 1% back in rewards elsewhere (Mastercard only)- $30 bonus reward for new cardholders
- Automatic Gold status in Dick’s ScoreCard loyalty program
- No annual fee
- APR: 30.49%
Source: Mintel ePerformance 05/05/2026 as of 05/12/2026
💡A co-brand credit card no brainer
- No brainer! I’ve posted on this topic before but when you are playing for a slice of the wallet you have to make your card a no-brainer and to use a sport-related term, Dick’s and Synchrony just knocked it out of the park with this one. It’s a simple but powerful value prop. If you shop regularly at Dick’s and pay in-full then you would be mad not to get the credit card to cash in on the 10%.
- Why bother with a Mastercard? In the context of Citi’s investor day (see post above) showing a shift from private label to general purpose cards, I realize the question is a bold one but in an ultra-competitive credit card space, I struggle to see the use case for 1% back on all purchases on a specialty co-brand card. I don’t have the inside lens on the economics, but if Dick’s really wants to be “the card for sport,” why not make it a category play rather than 1% on everything. Maybe we will see a fee-based version that does just that in the future? 🔮
- The $40 billion game of youth sports. You may have read a fascinating article about Dick’s Sporting Goods recently in the Wall Street Journal. Families are spending more on youth sports than EVER and Dick’s, which began as a fishing supply shop in Binghamton, NY, is now a $14 billion business. This is a HOT segment.
