When Courtney Kelso left American Express to become head of payments at U.S. Bank, she knew plenty about credit cards and what it took to make them appealing.
But Kelso described it as "exhilarating" to work on cards in the context of a full-service bank offering a menu of other products. And, she said, she was attracted by the growth plan laid out by Gunjan Kedia, who had been promoted to CEO and envisioned a significant role for the cards business at U.S. Bank
"I could see the potential, and I could see the intention of the entire bank behind it," said Kelso, who spent 18 years at Amex before joining Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank in February 2025.
Since then, Kelso has been working to turn that potential into profit. U.S. Bank, which generates about a fifth of its revenue from credit cards, recorded 4.8% growth in card fee revenue in 2025 and recorded stronger growth of 5.6% in the first quarter of 2026. U.S. Bank's cards business is making gains in customer acquisition as well, with new accounts rising 18.1% year over year in the first quarter of 2026.
"We put in place in 2025 many growth strategies that, I think, are really bearing fruit," Kelso said.
The strategies include increased marketing efforts, new products that interconnect the cards business to other areas of the bank and a renewed focus on customers, particularly small businesses.
"I have studied and served small businesses for the last 10 years of my career," said Kelso, who gained new respect for the segment during the Covid-19 pandemic. "At the beginning of the pandemic, I thought, 'Oh my, what is this going to do to global small businesses?' And what I saw firsthand was how small businesses pivoted, innovated and figured it out."
Amex took a cue from those customers and, under Kelso's watch, made some pivots of its own. The company swapped out its travel-heavy credit card rewards for new rewards reflecting the pandemic-era shift to working from home, ensuring its products remained relevant through the crisis. Customers could earn rewards for spending on shipping, Wi-Fi and technology purchases.
Kelso took from the experience a better understanding of small-business customers and how she could meet them as part of a full-service bank.
She draws on those insights in her approach to U.S. Bank's partnership with Amazon, which moved its co-branded small-business credit card business from Amex to U.S. Bank last year. Kelso said the transition was in the works long before she herself moved between the two companies.
The partners are intent on meeting the needs of small-business owners as the owners define them, Kelso said. Business owners don't think in terms of financial products, she said. They think in terms of opening stores or paying an overseas supplier.
