日本語
한국어
Tiếng Việt
简体中文
Mobile banking applications have long served as versatile platforms for managing personal finances. However, a significant evolution is underway within credit card apps, transforming them into powerful tools designed not just for financial oversight, but specifically to encourage and facilitate consumer purchasing. This shift is driven by a new generation of digital shopping tools, according to a recent study by Keynova Group.
The study reveals that credit card issuers are strategically enhancing their mobile app capabilities on two key fronts: stimulating consumer spending through innovative digital shopping features and streamlining backend operations like billing dispute resolution. This dual approach aims to boost card usage and improve the overall customer experience.
“Issuers are strengthening the mobile credit card experience on all fronts — expanding digital shopping tools that enrich rewards and serve as powerful marketing and retention agents, while adding deepened transaction details that reduce resource-intensive disputes,” explains Beth Robertson, managing director at Keynova Group. Her firm’s comprehensive study evaluates the offerings of ten leading credit card issuers.
The Rise of Digital Shopping Tools in Credit Card Apps
The ultimate goal of the credit card business, for both merchants and issuers, is to drive sales. Programs that connect consumers with deals, discounts, and rewards are increasingly popular and widespread. Keynova Group’s Q4 2025 Mobile Credit Card Scorecard traces the emergence and growth of these digital shopping tools.
Initially, many of these tools, such as Rakuten Rewards, PayPal Honey, and Wikibuy (later acquired by Capital One to become Capital One Shopping), operated as standalone platforms. Their popularity surged during the pandemic, highlighting a growing consumer demand for seamless digital savings.
Card issuers are now integrating various types of programs directly into their platforms. Keynova focused on digital browser extensions and mobile apps that automatically provide coupons and discounts as consumers shop online. Once enrolled, these services monitor shopping patterns in the background, identifying savings opportunities without requiring active searching from the shopper.
Robertson notes, “Other than installing the extension, once you go out to a site to shop, the extension generally lets you know if there is an opportunity to either use a code to get rewards or to activate particular rewards.” A key advantage of many such programs is the ability to offer “stackable rewards,” allowing cardholders to combine savings from the digital tool with existing cashback or other card benefits.
In contrast to these automated tools, other merchant offers, like Chase Offers, require cardholders to manually review and activate each desired promotion on the issuer’s digital platform. These activations typically last about 30 days and must be renewed. Keynova’s analysis found that four out of five major issuers provide such programs.
Driving Engagement: Issuer-Specific Shopping Platforms
Some financial institutions are developing their own branded digital shopping experiences to maintain “front of mind” awareness and foster card usage:
- Capital One Shopping: This widely accessible platform works with over 100,000 merchants and is not exclusive to Capital One customers. The bank earns commissions from purchases made through the service, while also gaining brand exposure and goodwill. It can even lead to pre-approved card offers, as Robertson observes, “Capital One’s brand continues to pop up in front of you.”
- Citi Shop: Available to qualifying Citibank cardholders, Citi Shop requires card registration to access discounts from more than 5,000 merchants.
- U.S. Bank Shopping Deals: Offering savings and opportunities for additional rewards like points or cashback, U.S. Bank Shopping Deals partners with over 1,000 merchants and ties benefits to the usage of U.S. Bank credit cards.
Streamlining Dispute Management with Enhanced Transaction Data
A common pain point for credit card users is encountering unfamiliar charges on their statements. While some may indicate fraud, often these are legitimate transactions that have simply been forgotten or made by a joint cardholder without the primary user’s knowledge. Such disputes are costly and time-consuming for issuers, merchants, and cardholders alike.
A few years ago, some banks attempted to address this by allowing cardholders to upload physical receipts and link them to digital transactions. While a good concept for expense reporting and dispute reduction, the two-step process proved cumbersome for many users.
Today, more than half of the issuers studied by Keynova have adopted a more sophisticated digital approach. They now provide detailed digital receipts by integrating directly with merchant transaction information, offering precise details on what was purchased and where.
Further enhancing this capability, less than half of these issuers offer the ability to differentiate transactions made by individual users on joint card accounts. This feature is particularly useful for identifying transactions and proactively reducing potential dispute activity.
When a genuine issue arises, the dispute process itself has become more accessible. Nine out of ten issuers now allow users to file disputes directly through their mobile devices, with transaction details automatically populated. Additionally, two-thirds of issuers enable users to track the status of their disputes within the app.
Robertson highlights other helpful advancements, such as providing detailed merchant addresses and phone numbers for transactions. Some apps even display the merchant’s location on a map, aiding users in recalling specific purchases. Capital One goes a step further by directing users to the merchant’s own website, where possible, for direct login and transaction review.
“These features can be really helpful to jog your memory and can help when reaching out to the merchant first,” Robertson explains, noting that issuers typically advise cardholders to contact merchants directly before escalating a dispute. This trend of enhanced purchase detail provision is also expanding to debit card issuers, with Bank of America currently leading in providing actual digital receipts, a practice Keynova anticipates will become more widespread.
Source: TheFinancialBrand.com