Luxury credit card rivalry heats up as Amex, JPMorgan tease updates to their premier cards
The long-running rivalry between the country's top premium credit cards is about to heat up again.
JPMorgan Chase announced last week that a refresh of its Sapphire Reserve — the travel and dining rewards card that went viral when it arrived in 2016 — was imminent.
In response, American Express on Monday said that "major" changes were coming to its consumer and business Platinum cards later this year. While short on details, the New York-based card company said that its update would be its largest ever investment in a card refresh.
"We are going to double down on the things we know based on the data that our card members love," said Amex President of U.S. Consumer Services Howard Grosfield in an interview. "But more importantly, we'll bring a whole bunch of new and exciting benefits and value that will far, far, far exceed the annual fee."
The new Platinum card will launch in the fall with enhanced benefits around lounges, dining and events, Grosfield said.
American Express pioneered the premium credit card space decades ago with cards that bundled perks at airlines and hotels with access to its own network of high-end airport lounges. But JPMorgan shook up the industry in 2016, igniting stiff competition among card issuers with a lavish sign-on bonus and other incentives for its Sapphire card.
The expectation among industry experts is that both companies will offer ever-longer lists of perks in travel, dining and experiences like concerts, while potentially raising their annual fees, as has been the pattern with recent updates.
The Platinum card has a $695 annual fee, while the Sapphire has a $550 fee.
On Reddit and other forums, card users circulated rumors that JPMorgan was hiking the annual fee on its Sapphire product to $795. A JPMorgan spokesperson declined to comment.
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CNBC
22 minutes ago
- CNBC
Nasdaq-traded Chinese herb company hits near $30 billion market value after speculative surge
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Regencell's stock often makes huge one-day swings. For example, shares jumped roughly 30% on March 21, before dropping 30% the following trading day. In spite of the wild spike in the stock, little is known about the efficacy and commercialization of the Regencell's treatments for ADHD and Autistic Spectrum Disorders. Regencell's business centers on a proprietary Traditional Chinese Medicine formula (TCM) developed in a partnership with TCM practitioner Sik-Kee Au using his "Sik-Kee Au TCM Brain Theory." Sik-Kee Au is the father of the Regencell chief executive officer Yat-Gai Au, the company said in a 2022 statement. Three liquid-based, orally TCM formulae candidates claim to address mild, moderate and severe conditions and only contain natural ingredients such as so-called "detoxication herbs," blood circulation herbs and digestion herbs. "These TCM formulae form the basis of our TCM product candidates, which we intend to develop and commercialize for the treatment of ADHD and ASD," Regencell's website reads. In its latest annual report filed last October, Regencell said that it had not generated any revenue, nor filed for any regulatory approvals of its TCM formulas. For the fiscal years ended June 2024 and 2023, Regencell incurred total net losses of $4.36 million and $6.06 million, respectively, according to a 20F filing to the SEC. "We have not generated revenue from any TCM formulae candidates or applied for any regulatory approvals, nor have distribution capabilities or experience or any granted patents or pending patent applications and may never be profitable," read the filing. Regencell has not responded to a CNBC request for comment. 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Hamilton Spectator
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Forbes
28 minutes ago
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7 Must-Have Money Skills You Weren't Taught In School
Learning negotiation and storytelling throws open the door to contracts, partnerships, and high ... More net-worth deals If you were taught how to future-proof your career for the real world of work, you'd likely have a six-figure portfolio career by now, or at least be much better off than you are now, stuck in your dead-end job. But most professionals graduate with just technical skills and concepts so they can pass an exam; so they're not equipped with the life skills needed to negotiate a raise, land a promotion, or confidently make money outside of a job through using their own skill set. In fact, 'economic research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York indicated the labor market 'deteriorated noticeably' in the first quarter of 2025, with those just entering the workforce taking the hardest hits,' Fox Business reported in a story released Monday. The unemployment rate "for those between the ages of 22 and 27 years old jumped to 5.8%," it revealed. 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To grow your career and income, all seven of the skills listed above are needed. One of the most important of these is skill stacking, because this is how you become truly exceptional in your field. How can I build wealth quickly? There's no such thing as overnight success; that being said, you can fast-track your way to financial and career success through making yourself indispensable, and linking your pitches directly to your tangible value, using outcomes-focused language. And of course, don't forget, you can find creative ways to generate several streams of income from just one skill.
