American Express Co.’s latest efforts to enable cardholders to tailor their young adult-themed Zync card benefits follows a general trend toward customization to build loyalty, one observer says.
Moreover, AmEx’s move likely will graduate those cardholders to higher-fee cards, Megan Bramlette, managing director of Auriemma Consulting Group, tells PaymentsSource. “I don’t’ think AmEx is imagining that this is going to change their core business, but it’s one more product they can add to their toolkit to graduate people from the Zync card to higher-end charge products,” she notes.
AmEx announced Nov. 17 the addition of four card-benefit “packs” for the Zync charge card tailored to specific cardholders’ interests and spending habits. The packs, which provide relative discounts, special benefits and bonus Membership Rewards points, have as their themes art, health and fitness, spas, and Las Vegas.
The four new packs add to the 10 existing ones that offer benefits and discounts for such areas as charitable giving, travel, music, fashion, and food and wine. AmEx launched the Zync card in January (
“This strategy is really well-aligned with the market AmEx is going after–the young-adult market under 40 years old,” says Bramlette. “These are people who want to be empowered to customize their personal solutions to everything, from the way they dine or make payments or shop. Everyone [in this group] wants a customized solution that fits them.”
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