# Citi Bank has 27 different credit cards **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 19, 2026, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citi-bank-has-27-different-credit-cards/1030222 "2026-05-19T20:29:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 7
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citi-bank-has-27-different-credit-cards/1030222/7 "2026-05-20T10:19:58Z")
I think the bottom line is the last 20-ish years in the credit industry has been all about loyalty cards. Whether from Amazon, Airline X, Hotel Y, or Disney, those non-bank corporations benefit when you have and use a card with their name on it. Even when you’re buying stuff from somebody other than them. So the vast proliferation of kinds of credit cards is not about _banks_ (card issuers) competing to offer different terms for credit itself. The competition is about the vastly larger number of big consumer-facing businesses competing with others in _their industry_ to generate customer loyalty through branded credit cards. And as we’ve just seen, those branded cards are not shy about changing their card-issuing bank if they think there’s benefit (for them) to be had from doing so. Further, there’s a change of seasons working through this happy proliferation that may well kill the whole loyalty industry. And upend a few other mini-industries along the way. The existing bargain that merchants just suck up credit card fees is breaking down. More and more merchants are charging 2-4% extra to use a card. Me buying _everything_ on my e.g. airline card for “free to me” miles, now costs me more in incremental CC surcharges than the miles are worth in airfare. That’s a mug’s game. There’s a lot of inertia out there, in me and millions (billions?) of other people. But _if_ there doesn’t come a consumer backlash, or regulation (hah!), that prevents CC surcharges, real quickly the entire loyalty system will collapse in a very large cloud of dust and noise. Or else the loyalty rewards need to get richer; a lot richer. If CC surcharges become nigh universal, the only card I’d want then is a cash back card that reimburses me all of those surcharges or more. And if it’s less (darn good bet), I start to question using a credit card at all vs debit card or greenbacks. There is value to paying merchants on average 45 days late. But not more than WAG 0.75% worth. The credit and consumer loyalty industry pundits have been talking about this for awhile now. Pressure is building and something is gonna give. I expect, like a dam bursting, there’s going to be a sudden stampede in some direction. Unlike a dam burst, it’s hard now to say which way the water’s gonna go. Here’s further recent discussion on loyalty cards, points, and the coming crisis if anyone is interested in that topic. > [@I'm new to credit card miles & points, please explain this to me like I'm 11](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-new-to-credit-card-miles-points-please-explain-this-to-me-like-im-11/1029147): > > I am finally at a place in my life where I have, in combination, good credit and some money. So I decided to jump into the world of credit card miles & points. Now, some context: I don’t intend to gin the system to such an extreme that I can get free Business Class trips to Dubai for free, [like these people](https://youtu.be/U1pk2FJBhcg?si=KoHS-3WTE9y6uwes) (sort of the Miles & Points version of Extreme Couponing). I have neither the money, the time, nor the wherewithal to dive into that rabbit hole. But at the same time, I don’t want to leave m… --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citi-bank-has-27-different-credit-cards/1030222)._