Mastercard Incorporated MA recently teamed up with the leading online travel platform, Expedia Group, Inc. EXPE, and the renowned financial services company, Wells Fargo WFC, to introduce two co-branded credit cards. These cards are branded the One Key Card and One Key+ Card. Applications for both cards will be accepted nationwide later this summer. Inclusive of terms applied, the One Key Card will not carry an annual fee, while One Key+ will bear an annual fee of $99 .
The One Key Cards, created for all kinds of travelers, will provide the opportunity to earn rewards in the form of OneKeyCash. These rewards can be redeemed across Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo apps for bookings on eligible hotels, vacation rentals, car rentals, activities and flights. Existing Hotels.com cardholders will be informed of the changes to their cards and should continue using their current cards to earn OneKeyCash until they receive their new One Key Card in September.
The ulterior motive of the partners behind launching the two new card offerings remains to provide U.S. travelers with increased flexibility, instant discounts, greater perks and enticing rewards. The move also seems to be a time opportune one considering the growing consumer preference in prioritizing experiences over material goods, leading to a heightened interest in travel.
The One Key and One Key+ cards also grant instant tier upgrades to One Key Silver and One Key Gold, respectively. These tiers offer benefits such as 15-20% savings on more than 10,000 hotels across the globe. Additionally, cardholders will enjoy priority travel support and in-stay benefits, including food and beverage credits or complimentary room upgrades, at select VIP Access properties.
Delving into the individual benefits of the cards, the One Key Card will enable cardholders to receive $400 in OneKeyCash on purchases of $1,000 in the first three months while the One Key+ Card will enable them to earn $600 OneKeyCash rewards on spending of $3,000 in the same time frame. Both cards will offer opportunities to earn 3% OneKeyCash rewards on Expedia and Vrbo purchases. Additionally, cardholders can earn 3% at gas stations, grocery stores and for other purchases, 1.5% for One Key and 2% for One Key+. The cards will not carry any transaction fees.
Other common features of the cards include provisions of cell phone protection and trip protections, such as trip cancellation and interruption coverage, auto rental collision damage waiver and common carrier travel accident insurance. Cardholders can also reap the Mastercard World Elite benefits, such as enhanced security with the help of Mastercard ID Theft Protection, Zero Liability Protection and Global Services for emergency support.
Moves similar to the latest one are expected to attract new customers to use the card by enriching them with lucrative features and benefits. Increased usage of the card, which carries the Mastercard brand as well, is expected to boost the net revenues that the company derives from its payment network by charging fees to customers based on the gross dollar volume of the cards. Payment network net revenues improved 7% year over year in the first quarter.
The tech giant seems to place an intensified focus on entering into partnerships to unveil new card offerings aimed at utilizing the growing desire of people to travel. This month, MA teamed up with one of the largest alliances of independent hotel brands globally, Global Hotel Alliance, to unveil a co-branded card that promises to offer personalized travel benefits and lucrative rewards to affluent cardholders of the UAE. In March 2024, Mastercard partnered with Emirates NBD and Marriott Bonvoy to introduce co-branded credit cards and enable cardholders to enjoy exclusive hotel stay benefits with the accumulated card spending points.
Shares of Mastercard have gained 9.4% in the past year compared with the industry’s 7% growth.
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MA currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
A Stock to Consider
A better-ranked stock in the Business Services space is GigaCloud Technology Inc. GCT, currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The bottom line of GigaCloud Technology outpaced estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 47.90%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GCT’s 2024 earnings indicates an improvement of 41.3% from the 2023 reported figure. The consensus mark for revenues implies growth of 63.2% from the 2023 figure. The consensus mark for GCT’s earnings has moved 9.1% north in the past 60 days. Its shares have gained 264.4% in the past year.
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Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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