Latest news with #AllisonBeer
Time of India
10 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
JPMorgan Chase Sapphire reserve card just got pricier at $795 — here's what the bank is offering at the price
JPMorgan Chase & Co. has announced a comprehensive overhaul of its popular Sapphire Reserve credit card, raising the annual fee from $550 to $795 in a strategic move aimed at further penetrating the high-spending premium travel market. The revamp also includes the introduction of a similarly priced business version, placing JPMorgan squarely in competition with rivals like American Express and Capital One in the race to court affluent customers. The fee revision marks the first increase in five years and comes alongside sweeping enhancements in rewards and exclusive benefits tied to the card's use in travel and dining, reinforcing JPMorgan's ambition to become a full-service travel and lifestyle brand. Travel, Dining at the Heart of New Benefits As part of the Sapphire Reserve transformation, JPMorgan is integrating a number of premium credits into the card's offering. Notable among them is a $500 annual credit towards stays in 'The Edit,' a curated luxury hotel collection, and a $300 credit on OpenTable's exclusive dining experiences—offered only to consumer cardholders. The existing $300 travel credit remains in place, as mentioned in a report by Bloomberg. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Audiologists Furious About New 80€ Device That Makes Hearing Crystal Clear Again Top Trending Today Learn More Undo Also Read | Oil is boiling again: Will $5 gas return to America as Iran-Israel conflict ignites market fears? In terms of rewards, the bank has revamped its points system. Cardholders can now earn eight points per dollar on bookings made via Chase Travel—up from the previous five points for flights and ten for hotels and car rentals. Additionally, the card offers four points per dollar on flights and hotels booked directly (up from three), and three points per dollar spent on dining. Live Events 'This marks the culmination of a five-year journey to redefine our value proposition in the premium-card space,' said Allison Beer, head of card and connected commerce at JPMorgan, as mentioned in a report by Bloomberg. 'We have built a best-in-class travel ecosystem to deliver a seamless end-to-end experience.' Consolidating Acquisitions for a Unified Experience The overhaul is a result of JPMorgan's strategic acquisitions in the past few years, aimed at strengthening its footprint in the travel and lifestyle domain. These include the 2020 acquisition of rewards platform cxLoyalty, the 2021 purchase of restaurant discovery site The Infatuation, and subsequent acquisitions of marketing firm Figg and luxury travel agency Frosch in 2022. JPMorgan has also expanded its airport lounge network, opening six premium lounges across the United States accessible to Sapphire Reserve holders, with more planned in the pipeline. Strategic Positioning in Wealth and Travel Marianne Lake, CEO of consumer and community banking, emphasized JPMorgan's broader strategy during the bank's recent investor meetings. 'Travel is at the core of our card strategy,' she stated, adding that the firm has more than doubled travel volume from 2021 to 2024, underscoring its deepening commitment to the sector, as per a report by Bloomberg. Lake also noted that half of new Chase customers enter the ecosystem through the card business. JPMorgan hopes the Sapphire Reserve will serve as a gateway to additional services like self-directed investing and wealth management—core elements of CEO Jamie Dimon's long-term expansion strategy. 'Once customers come in through Sapphire Reserve, they deepen across the ecosystem—whether it's investments, banking, or wealth management,' added Beer. FAQs What major change has JPMorgan made to the Sapphire Reserve card? JPMorgan Chase & Co. has increased the annual fee for the Sapphire Reserve credit card from $550 to $795, marking its first fee hike in five years. This is part of a broad revamp aimed at premium travel-focused customers. Why is the annual fee being raised to $795? The fee hike reflects a strategic shift toward offering luxury travel and lifestyle benefits, including new high-end perks and expanded services that cater to affluent cardholders. It positions JPMorgan to better compete with American Express Platinum and Capital One Venture X cards.
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
JPMorgan Hikes Sapphire Reserve Fee to $795 in Card Overhaul
(Bloomberg) — JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) will hike the annual fee on its popular Sapphire Reserve credit card to $795 and launch a similarly priced version for businesses as part of an overhaul marking the biggest US bank's latest volley in the ultra-competitive world of premium credit cards. Security Concerns Hit Some of the World's 'Most Livable Cities' As Part of a $45 Billion Push, ICE Prepares for a Vast Expansion of Detention Space As American Architects Gather in Boston, Retrofits Are All the Rage How E-Scooters Conquered (Most of) Europe The new fee is an increase for the consumer version, which has been $550 a year since 2020. JPMorgan is also reshaping its rewards for the cards, according to a statement Tuesday, placing more emphasis on the bank's own travel and dining offerings that it assembled through a series of acquisitions and investments in recent years. Lenders have been locked in a fierce rewards battle to lure affluent customers for about a decade. American Express Co. (AXP) announced Monday that it is making its 'largest investment ever' in a refresh of its travel-focused Platinum cards for consumers and businesses. Capital One Financial Corp. (COF) has a premium travel card of its own, and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) has one in the works, Bloomberg News reported in February. JPMorgan is adding a slew of annual credits to the Sapphire Reserve card, including $500 toward its 'The Edit' collection of hotels and resorts and, for the consumer version, $300 toward exclusive tables on restaurant reservations app OpenTable. An existing $300 travel credit will continue as well. 'It's the culmination of five years of investment that we've made across Chase in completely uplifting and repositioning what we mean for premium travelers in the premium-card space,' Allison Beer, JPMorgan's head of card and connected commerce, said in an interview. 'This is about having the best-in-class travel assets and an end-to-end travel experience.' Cardholders will earn eight points per dollar spent on Chase Travel, changed from five points per dollar on flights and 10 points on hotels and car rentals. Customers will also get four points per dollar spent on flights and hotels booked directly, up from three points, and three points per dollar spent on dining. JPMorgan's latest overhaul incorporates a number of acquisitions it has made over the past half-decade and 'connecting all of those investments into a completely new service offering,' Beer said. That includes rewards business cxLoyalty, a deal announced in late 2020; restaurant review platform The Infatuation in 2021; and marketing platform Figg and luxury travel agency Frosch in 2022. The firm has also opened half a dozen airport lounges across the US that cardholders can access, with more planned. Marianne Lake, head of consumer and community banking, outlined JPMorgan's vision at the firm's investor day in 2022. 'Travel is at the center of our card business,' she said at the time, adding that the bank would become a full-service travel agency. At this year's investor day, held last month, Lake said JPMorgan more than doubled its travel volume from 2021 to 2024, and that the business remains 'a massive opportunity.' Half of Chase's new customers come through the card business, Lake said last month. The Sapphire refresh dovetails with another JPMorgan growth push: wealth management. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon has long sought to expand that business, and in late 2019 created a new unit within the consumer and community bank intended to capture more market share. 'Customers eventually deepen with the rest of the ecosystem, so they start with the Sapphire Reserve card and then they open a self-directed account, or they open a Chase wealth-management account, and they continue to deepen,' Beer said. She joined JPMorgan in 2017 after more than seven years at American Express and rose quickly through the ranks of the consumer business, taking on her current role in 2021. Ken Griffin on Trump, Harvard and Why Novice Investors Won't Beat the Pros How a Tiny Middleman Could Access Two-Factor Login Codes From Tech Giants American Mid: Hampton Inn's Good-Enough Formula for World Domination The Spying Scandal Rocking the World of HR Software US Allies and Adversaries Are Dodging Trump's Tariff Threats ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. By subscribing, you are agreeing to Yahoo's Terms and Privacy Policy
