Credit cards in the modern day have become a game where casual consumers obsess over points, spend hours researching their next card, and fixate on getting the best rewards possible. All this gamification exists for a reason as credit cards are a lucrative business. Getting people to project their vacations, lifestyle, and social status onto these tiny pieces of plastic and metal is all part of the plan.
Even though the industry has been around since the 1950s, power has rested in the same hands. On the network side, it’s a duopoly with Visa and Mastercard. When we look at the companies that issue credit cards, the lion’s share of profits go to the Big 4 American banks.
Even fintech startups for all their talk of disruption, have not been able to crack this power structure. In this episode, we’re diving into the conspiracy and gamed economics of credit cards through the biggest players in Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, Chase, Citibank, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America.
Modern MBA
Credit cards in the modern day have become a game where casual consumers obsess over points, spend hours researching their next card, and fixate on getting the best rewards possible. All this gamification exists for a reason as credit cards are a lucrative business. Getting people to project their vacations, lifestyle, and social status onto these tiny pieces of plastic and metal is all part of the plan.
Even though the industry has been around since the 1950s, power has rested in the same hands. On the network side, it’s a duopoly with Visa and Mastercard. When we look at the companies that issue credit cards, the lion’s share of profits go to the Big 4 American banks.
Even fintech startups for all their talk of disruption, have not been able to crack this power structure. In this episode, we’re diving into the conspiracy and gamed economics of credit cards through the biggest players in Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, Chase, Citibank, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America.
3 months ago | [YT] | 151