Card-Linked Offers: Keep Rewarding Consumers, but Shift the Narrative

Card-linked offers are evolving from digital coupons into a strategic rewards tool for credit card issuers. As pressure on interchange fees grows, merchant-funded offers provide a way to extend cardholder value without relying solely on issuer-funded points and miles. Leading issuers, including American Express, Chase, Citi, Capital One, and Bank of America, are increasingly embedding CLOs into broader customer ecosystems. They use them to drive engagement, strengthen relationships, and create additional noninterest revenue streams. The model also benefits cardholders through stackable rewards, allowing savings from merchants to be combined with traditional card rewards. 

CLO adoption is accelerating through AI-driven personalization, the shift toward ecosystem-based banking, and the need to diversify rewards economics. Success will depend on delivering relevant offers while balancing national merchant partnerships with local retailers. Issuers that provide clear merchant ROI, integrate offers into digital banking and rewards journeys, and use data to improve targeting will be best positioned to grow. Large issuers may increasingly bring CLO capabilities in-house, while regional banks and credit unions can remain competitive through platform service providers that deliver turnkey infrastructure. 

Key questions discussed in this report:

• What role should card-linked offers play in the future of credit card rewards?
• How can CLOs help issuers reduce reliance on interchange-funded rewards?
• Why are AI-driven personalization and issuer ecosystems making CLOs more valuable now?
• Which issuers, networks, processors, and platform providers are shaping the CLO market?
• What challenges must issuers address to make CLOs relevant for cardholders and profitable for merchants?

Companies Mentioned:

American Express, Ballard Designs, Bank of America, Bern’s Steak House, Capital One, Cardlytics, Chase, Citi, Discover, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Ebates, Fetch, Figg, Fiserv, Home Depot, Ibotta, Kard Financial, Lowe’s, Mastercard, Outback Steakhouse, Quotient, Rakuten, Resy, RetailMeNot, Synchrony, TheFork, U.S. Bank, Visa, Walgreens, Wells Fargo