New Amex Platinum DropsThe refreshed Amex Platinum card is here, and its annual fee is $895. I thought Amex would go really big and increase it to $995. Call me disappointed (although probably thankful). The premium credit card battle continues on. I’m really excited to see the new mirror finish card. I ordered mine in the app right away and should receive it before next week’s edition, during which I will report back. The new cards are produced by Korean payments manufacturer Kona I, while the traditional Amex Platinum cards that I have received have been manufactured by CompoSecure.  There's no way this card is EVER this clean. Fingerprints are going to be all over it. New applicants will be charged the updated fee immediately. For existing cardholders, the new fee takes effect for Business Platinum accounts on December 2, 2025 and January 2, 2026 for consumer Platinum accounts. In the meantime, all cardholders can take advantage of a slew of new and changed benefits. This is not a deal blog, so I am not going to break down everything, but there are a few big ones I want to mention: - New $400 Resy credit tying into the platform Amex acquired
- Tripled hotel benefit to $600 at Fine Hotels and Resorts
- New Lululemon credit (I guess I have to try some new pants)
- New card design (see above)
In general, Amex only added features and benefits, whereas many other card refreshes come across as a mixed bag of additions and removals. A key note for Business Platinum Card users is a favorite feature of mine: the 35% points redemption rebate against flight purchases is now limited to the user’s selected airline. Previously, any first-class ticket on any airline was possible. Still a good deal, I think. Business Platinum Card Members can receive 3.5 points back for every 10 points they redeem for flights with their selected qualifying airline using Membership Rewards Pay with Points through American Express Travel (35% Airline Bonus), up to 1,000,000 points back per calendar year limit, per each Membership Rewards Account. Points received through the 35% Airline Bonus are subject to a limit as of the date on which the redemption occurred.
Some insane signup bonuses are going on, so check that out. Rumor has it you can earn up to 300,000 points with some offers. Five Years of CardsFTWIssue #174 marks five years since I first started writing CardsFTW. If I had kept to my goal of 50 issues per year, we’d be around 250, but I think 174 is pretty good: I’ve written CardsFTW 67% of the 260 weeks since I started. (There was a dry spell during my time at Apto Payments.) CardsFTW was a classic pandemic newsletter project. My friend and Vertical Finance co-founder, Peter Mansfield, suggested I stop posting my thoughts on industry news to a private Slack channel and start sharing them with the world. I’ve asked the Totavi team to share their favorite issues over the years. Thank you to everyone who has read, shared, and subscribed to this newsletter. Here’s to the next five years! Ellen Dearborn, Principal, ProductCardsFTW #98 is one I keep coming back to because it does what the best posts do: It pulls back the curtain on how things actually work. At Totavi, we spend a lot of time talking with clients about how points are funded and why rewards exist in the first place, and this issue laid it out clearly. It didn’t just explain the difference between cashback and points. It got into the mechanics of what points cost issuers, how people assign value, and how the whole card P&L supports it. I love when we go deeper than the marketing and actually show what’s going on under the hood. This one did exactly that. Scott Grimes, Principal, Risk, Ops & ComplianceAs an Ops/Risk/Compliance person, I’ll be the first to admit that topics like fraud and chargebacks aren’t the sexiest part of the card business - we can’t compete with partnership deals, rewards, and product innovation. That’s why I’m always happy to see my field of work highlighted in a CardsFTW issue. Matthew’s use of the Swiss Cheese analogy has long been a favorite of mine. It’s a good example of how proactive, prevention-focused risk and fraud strategies can serve as a competitive advantage for companies willing to invest in smart people and technology.
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Jessica Marquez, Principal, ProductI recently went back to read this post while I was working on an interest-related project, because even at Totavi we often find ourselves going back to Matthew’s writing in CardsFTW when we need a refresher on some random, or even fundamental, card topic. Interest is such a core part of how credit cards work, but it’s also one of those things that even card people may not stop to really think about the nitty-gritty of. Reading it again reminded me of how much I appreciate the way Matthew lays things out, and exemplifies what makes CardsFTW so valuable to so many of us. He takes topics that everyone assumes they understand, and explains them in a way that’s clear, practical, and connected to the real products that many in this community are working on. I also had to laugh at the image…“Credit T. Rade.” It’s wild how quickly our AI image generation expectations have changed in just a year. That image feels like a little time capsule! Julia Nicholls, Associate ConsultantCardsFTW has been a staple for me as I’ve been learning the ins and outs of the fintech industry. Matthew has a way of taking complicated topics and breaking them down in an easily digestible way, and CardsFTW #148 is a great example of this. I reread a few CardsFTW posts, but this one is the one I share the most. When people ask about my work, I don’t usually get any follow-up questions after mentioning the word ‘fintech’. If I chat with someone curious about what I do, I typically talk about launching a credit card program (working at Totavi has turned me into a credit card nerd). This post helped me form my explanation! I also want to give an honorary mention to CardsFTW #108, Jessica's deep dive into the Bilt program. It was super interesting to see what goes on behind the scenes of a seemingly very complicated credit card program, and it sparked my interest in dissecting credit card rewards programs for myself! Jennifer Allan Goldman, Chief of StaffAs the (unofficial) editor of CardsFTW, I get to do the fun stuff, like ask ChatGPT for silly card illustrations that show up when the post is embedded. I also get to find random Capital One commercials and photos from the signing of Dodd-Frank. I appreciate Matthew's latest irregular series on the history of credit cards, including answering the question "Why Utah?" Most consumers don't know anything about what's going on behind the piece of plastic or metal in their wallet. Having an understanding of the history (both business and legislative) is crucial in understanding why that great card idea (see Kamelia's pick below) is going to succeed or fail. Kamelia Dianati, Chief Technology OfficerI picked this one because I love a good origin story, especially one that connects to one of my most rewarding professional and personal relationships: the story of Wallaby. What I find so compelling about this piece is how Matthew took a very personal moment, standing at a gas station and realizing the complexity of managing multiple cards, and turned it into the spark for an entirely new idea. That ability to see a common frustration and imagine a systemic solution is what great product thinking looks like. And the title, No, you can’t have one card to rule them all, is the cherry on top for me, since I’ll admit I’m a sucker for any Lord of the Rings reference. It also highlights what makes Matthew such a powerful voice in fintech. As a genuine lover of credit cards and financial technology, he approaches the topic with deep passion but also with a remarkably clear-eyed view of the rules of engagement. He understands not just the consumer ideal but also the realities of how banks and networks operate, and he is unafraid to call out the tension between the two. That blend of vision, realism, and thought leadership is why I continue to learn so much from him, and why this issue in particular resonated with me. Fold Bitcoin Credit Card2025 is the year of Bitcoin credit cards. We covered Fold's waitlist launch months ago, and today, more details arrive: The new card offers a new innovative rewards setup, with 2% unlimited cashback on purchases, plus an additional 1.5% back when you pay your card from your Fold Checking account.  My money don't jiggle jiggle, it Folds. Fold's announcement today also shares that the card will run on the Visa network and be powered by Stripe's new Issuing product. The three largest networks (Visa, Mastercard, American Express) each power bitcoin cards, demonstrating the mainstreaming of these products. These cards focus on Bitcoin rewards, marrying traditional fiat purchases with crypto via the rewards (post-purchase) function. Cards from Coinbase, Gemini, and others, create ways for both crypto novices to start to accumulate crypto rewards and crypto enthusiasts to double down on their holdings. We'll keep watching this confluence of traditional and decentralized finance. CardsFTWCardsFTW, released weekly on Wednesdays, offers insights and analysis on new credit and debit card industry products for consumers and providers. CardsFTW is authored and published by Matthew Goldman and the team at Totavi, a boutique consulting firm specializing in fintech product management & marketing. We bring real operational experience that varies from the earliest days of a startup to high-growth phases and public company leadership. Visit www.totavi.com to learn more. Interested in reaching our audience? You can sponsor CardsFTW.
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