Wells Fargo's Co-Branded Credit Card Strategy For Rent Payment Faces Challenges, Puts Financial Strain
Wells Fargo's Co-Branded Credit Card Strategy For Rent Payment Faces Challenges, Puts Financial Strain
When Charlie Scharf became CEO of Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC), one of his key priorities was to expand the bank's credit card business. However, a high-profile partnership with Bilt Technologies is reportedly complicating this strategy.
當查理·沙夫成爲富國銀行的首席執行官之一時，他的主要優先事項之一是擴大銀行的信用卡業務。然而，據報道，與Bilt Technologies的高調合作正在複雜化這一策略。
In 2022, Wells Fargo launched a credit card with Bilt Technologies, a fintech startup backed by big names such as Blackstone Inc (NYSE:BX) and Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA).
2022年，富國銀行推出了一張與Bilt Technologies合作的信用卡，該公司是一家得到Blackstone Inc（紐交所：BX）和萬事達卡公司（紐交所：MA）等大牌公司支持的金融科技初創公司。
This co-branded card allowed users to pay rent without incurring landlord fees and earn rewards points, resulting in over one million accounts being activated within 18 months, predominantly by young adults.
這張聯名卡允許用戶支付房租而無需支付房東費用，並獲得獎勵積分，從而在18個月內激活了超過100萬個帳戶，主要是年輕成年人。
Despite its popularity, the card is costing Wells Fargo up to $10 million monthly, as internal projections about cardholder behavior proved inaccurate, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
儘管這張卡非常受歡迎，但根據《華爾街日報》的一份報告，卡片的成本每月高達1000萬美元，因爲有關持卡人行爲的內部預測被證明是不準確的。
Bilt's structure avoids charging landlords fees, with Wells Fargo absorbing most of the costs. However, this arrangement hasn't yielded the expected profitability for Wells, leading to changes in its marketing strategies and operational challenges, including fraud and potential money-laundering risks.
Bilt的結構避免向房東收取費用，富國銀行承擔了大部分成本。然而，這種安排並沒有爲富國帶來預期的盈利能力，導致其營銷策略和運營挑戰發生了變化，包括欺詐和潛在的洗錢風險。
Also Read: Wells Fargo Axes Employees Over Fake Keyboard Activity.
另請閱讀富國銀行因虛假鍵盤活動開除員工。
Customers were expected to carry balances and use the card for non-rent purchases, but the reality has been different. This led Wells to halt bidding on new co-branded credit card programs, with the Wells-Expedia card set to be its last launch for now.
預計客戶應承擔餘額並使用卡片進行非租金消費，但實際情況有所不同。這導致富國銀行停止競標新的聯名信用卡計劃，而富國銀行-Expedia卡將是目前爲止的最後一張新推出的信用卡。
The financial losses triggered a renegotiation of the program, which has been ongoing for months. The Wall Street Journal noted that Wells Fargo has informed Bilt that it will not renew the contract, which will expire in 2029 unless more favorable terms are negotiated.
金融損失觸發了該計劃的重新談判，這已經持續了數月時間。據《華爾街日報》報道，富國銀行已告知Bilt，除非協商出更有利的條件，否則不會續簽合同，該合同將於2029年到期。
Citing a Wells spokesperson, the WSJ noted co-branded cards as a "modest piece" of the bank's strategy, highlighting the long-term nature of card launches.
根據富國發言人的說法，聯名卡是銀行策略的一個“較小的部分”，強調了發行信用卡的長期性質。
A Bilt spokesperson countered, claiming the reporting misrepresents the partnership, emphasizing a commitment to a long-term relationship with Wells Fargo.
Bilt的一位發言人表示，報道歪曲了合作關係，強調了與富國銀行長期合作的承諾。
The credit card initiative significantly boosted Bilt's valuation, raising it to $3.1 billion in a January fundraising round.
信用卡計劃顯著提高了Bilt的估值，使其在今年1月的融資輪中增至31億美元。
Ken Chenault, former CEO of American Express, joined Bilt's board, further solidifying its market presence. Wells Fargo has invested over $20 million in Bilt, a rare move in the credit card sector.
曾任美國運通公司首席執行官的肯·切奈特加入了Bilt的董事會，進一步鞏固了其市場地位。富國銀行在Bilt中投資了超過2000萬美元，這是信用卡行業的一個罕見之舉。
Wells Fargo hoped the partnership with Bilt would attract younger customers and provide mortgage cross-selling opportunities, but these expectations were unmet.
富國銀行希望與Bilt的合作能夠吸引年輕客戶並提供抵押貸款跨銷售機會，但這些期望沒有得到滿足。
Projections about the card's usage were overly optimistic. Most transactions were rent payments rather than everyday purchases, undermining revenue from interchange fees and interest charges.
有關該卡使用情況的預測過於樂觀。大多數交易是房租付款而不是日常購買，破壞了來自交換費和利息收費的收益。
Price Action: WFC shares closed at $57.40 on Friday.
股票價格行情：週五，WFC股票收於57.40美元。
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
照片通過Wikimedia Commons
譯文內容由第三人軟體翻譯。