The "Significant Shrinkage" Moment of Credit Card Benefits

The user rights that once served as a "customer acquisition tool" for bank credit card businesses are gradually losing their luster.

According to incomplete statistics, in November alone, five banks including Huaxia, CCB, Bank of Shanghai, Ningbo, and SPD Bank have announced multiple credit card benefits for the following year, with service content showing varying degrees of "shrinkage."

The projects involved include amusement park exchanges, overseas consumption cashback, airport and high-speed rail VIP lounge services, and green channels for medical treatment.

Looking at the overall progress of the year, "shrinkage" has become the norm.

At the beginning of the year, some benefits of the UnionPay Diamond Card were "cut"; mid-year, the "Big Six" banks and several joint-stock banks and rural commercial banks have made multiple adjustments to credit card benefits.

The direct reason for the shrinkage may lie in the search for a new balance point between income and expenditure.

As the influx of new customers enters a downward channel, the previously rough model of "land grabbing" for credit cards is gradually failing; the continuously rising difficulty in customer acquisition and operations has made cost management a new challenge.

Frequent "Shrinkage"

Since the beginning of this year, several state-owned banks and rural commercial banks have adjusted their credit card businesses.

The leading "Big Six" banks are among the representatives.

According to incomplete statistics from Jiefeng, the credit card businesses of the "Big Six" have frequently adjusted throughout the year, involving content benefits, fees, and the suspension of credit card issuance.

The most concerning aspect is the frequent "shrinkage" of benefit services.

Overall, adjustments to "mid-to-high-end" credit cards are concentrated on canceling specific services and reducing service frequency; adjustments to "mid-to-low-end" credit cards with fewer benefits are reflected in annual fees and repayment limits.

For example, CCB announced that after 2025, it will cancel the designated domestic airport VIP lounge service for five types of platinum and above credit cards, and cancel global medical rescue services for three types of platinum and above credit cards;

Agricultural Bank of China canceled the policy of waiving the annual fee for the "Zunran Essence Platinum Card" after 30 transactions in September;

Postal Savings Bank canceled the automatic installment function for two credit cards, as well as the benefits of automatic installment discounts, points rewards, and early repayment fee waivers.

Similar adjustments in benefits are also not uncommon among joint-stock banks and rural commercial banks.

For example, CITIC Bank adjusted the transaction benefit point rules for the "UnionPay i Platinum" credit card starting in November;

SPD Bank will reduce the exchange benefits of high-end credit cards and services such as "Beast Style" in 2025, with the overseas consumption cashback of 10% for the "American Express Centurion Card" adjusted from six times to once per quarter;

Bank of Shanghai will cancel the airport and high-speed rail VIP lounge privileges for two high-end credit cards after 2025, and the surgical hospitalization arrangement service for the "World's Extreme" level credit card will change from unlimited to two times per month for the green channel for medical treatment.

Moreover, as early as the beginning of the year, some cardholders had already "lamented" on social platforms that several core benefits of UnionPay high-end cards were cut in the first quarter.

For instance, the most practical benefit of the Diamond Card, which allows unlimited distance airport transfers, saw the maximum number of times per account reduced by four compared to the same period last year in the first quarter, with daily quotas decreasing by nearly 20%; benefits for Disney parade and fireworks viewing were directly canceled Frequent "shrinkage" has led to numerous complaints and disputes regarding credit cards due to changes in benefits.

On the Black Cat Complaint platform, nearly 10,000 complaints involve the two key terms "credit card" and "benefits." The main reasons include unissued benefits, false advertising of benefits, and misleading information due to the omission of annual fees in promotional materials.

Some disgruntled cardholders have even filed lawsuits against card-issuing banks for arbitrarily changing benefits.

The Chaoyang District People's Court has previously pointed out in a case where a cardholder sued China Guangfa Bank that the rules for earning and using points constitute reasonable expectations for consumers. "Banks should not have the arbitrary right to modify the rules for redeeming points without fulfilling their obligation to provide adequate notice and explanation."

Why Actively Shrink

The latest data from the central bank indicates that as of the end of the second quarter, there were 749 million credit cards and combined credit cards nationwide, a decrease of 1.53% quarter-on-quarter.

If we refer to the first quarter data, the decline in the number of credit cards and combined credit cards in the second quarter is approximately 11 million.

Zhou Maohua, a macro researcher at the Financial Market Department of Everbright Bank, pointed out that the "shrinkage" of certain credit card benefits indicates that banks may be in a phase of reducing overall operating costs.

As we enter the era of existing stock, the cost of acquiring and operating credit cards continues to rise.

Chen Guang (pseudonym), a customer service manager at a joint-stock bank, stated that banks still have a heavy task of opening new cards, "but it is very difficult to acquire new customers in the market; we must also engage in the most basic 'door-to-door' sales, which is very inefficient."

According to Chen Guang, the various benefits associated with credit cards have led to rising costs for banks, "We are now required to have our salespeople go door-to-door to open cards, and the final commission for each card is only 50 yuan."

Under various pressures, changes in benefits have become one of the most direct results of banks balancing credit card income and expenses.

However, changes should not be limited to the "shrinkage" of benefits.

Zhou Maohua pointed out that the core competitiveness of credit card business in the new era lies in enhancing user experience and stickiness to offset the rising customer acquisition costs under the traditional model.

From this perspective, more adjustments in credit card business also become traceable.

For example, some credit cards have introduced new exemption policies and encouraged customers to upgrade in order to attract deposits at a lower cost.

Bank of China has added exemption policies for private banking, wealth management, and investment-grade customers in the charging of its "MasterCard Great Wall Platinum Credit Card Premium Edition" in 2025.

If customers apply to be classified as regular private banking, wealth management, and investment-grade customers before 2026, they can waive the first year's annual fee, and these categories of customers can also enjoy a 50% discount on points used to offset the annual fee.

According to the latest standards, the entry requirement for private banking at the bank is a monthly average balance of financial assets equivalent to over 6 million yuan.

Zhou Maohua also pointed out that the future "business competition" for credit cards lies in whether a balance can be achieved between profitability and customer satisfaction, which can be approached by expanding usage scenarios and enhancing functional differentiation.

For example, during this year's "Double Eleven" e-commerce battle, credit card institutions also made their presence felt.

Banks such as ICBC, Bank of China, Ping An, and China Guangfa Bank have launched related activities, including multi-platform installment discounts, points activities, and bill installment interest rates starting at 20% off At the same time as specific business adjustments, credit card organizations in various banks are also showing a tendency for structural adjustments, with many state-owned banks returning the leadership of credit card business from long-independent credit card centers back to branches.

On one hand, national credit card centers are showing a trend of reduction, with several sub-centers exiting the historical stage.

Data disclosed by the Financial Regulatory Bureau shows that from 2023 to date, Bank of Communications, Huaxia Bank, and Inner Mongolia Bank have respectively closed 1, 3, and 2 credit card sub-centers; during the same period, no bank has added any.

On the other hand, many state-owned banks are gradually emphasizing the "local operation" of credit card business.

The credit card center of Bank of Communications has promoted the integration of sub-centers with local branches, and some credit card sub-centers have suspended operations, with their business merged into branches.

For example, the Guilin sub-center of the Bank of Communications credit card center received approval from local regulators to "cease operations" in July, with its business merged into the Guilin branch of the Bank of Communications.

According to relevant media reports, the vast majority of provincial branches of the Bank of Communications have completed reforms, which are expected to conclude by the end of the year.

Many joint-stock banks have also begun their transformation.

For instance, Huaxia Bank has stated that "the cessation of sub-center operations is a necessity for operational mechanism reform";

China Everbright Bank revealed that "returning to branches" is one of the key focuses of credit card mechanism reform in the first half of the year.

The recruitment of personnel also reflects this trend.

This year, the credit card center of CITIC Bank has set up a position for "cooperation with branches and regions" in its recruitment for multiple sub-centers.

The position involves promoting the credit card assessment standards of local branches, facilitating the integration and resource sharing between branches and sub-centers, focusing on customer acquisition, and driving the performance of credit card indicators for local branches.

Zhou Maohua pointed out that the localization of credit card business in some banks has obvious advantages.

"It allows for the optimization and integration of business resources, reducing costs and increasing efficiency." Zhou Maohua stated, "Branches conducting business can bring them closer to customers, better respond to market demands, and enhance business competitiveness."

As of the end of the first half of the year, the proportion of credit cards acquired through branch channels reached 41.2%, an increase of 7.7 percentage points compared to the end of the previous year.

At the mid-term press conference, the then Vice President and Risk Director Hu Gang stated that "credit cards acquired through branch channels can prevent fraudulent risks, thus the asset quality of credit cards acquired through our own channels is higher than those acquired externally."