Citi to Acquire Kard to Power Rewards for 70 Million Cardmembers

Citi agreed to acquire Kard Financial, folding the fintech's machine-learning rewards platform into its U.S. consumer cards business to deliver merchant-funded offers to 70 million cardmembers. The deal, announced Thursday, combines Citi's payments scale with Kard's technology, talent and merchant relationships.

"We're focused on helping customers get more value from their everyday spending," said Abhinav Anand, head of value cards, lending and commerce at Citi. "Kard has built advanced capabilities that complement our vision for the future of commerce and loyalty."

Kard processes more than $10 billion in transactions each month across a network of banks, fintechs and neobanks, using verified transaction data and predictive AI to match high-intent consumers with brand offers. The company raised $15 million in growth capital from alternative asset manager Trinity Capital in October. Terms were not disclosed and are not material to Citi's financial results, the bank said.

A Rewards Engine Built on Transaction Data

The acquisition extends a strategy Citi laid out at its May investor day, where executives including Pam Habner, head of U.S. consumer cards, described a "virtuous cycle of growth" fueled by partnerships, loyalty and digital engagement. Kard's platform turns that cycle into a measurable marketing channel: merchants fund rewards delivered through financial institutions, with machine learning determining which offers resonate with which customers.

For merchants, the appeal is precision. Kard uses verified purchase activity rather than broad advertising signals, so brands pay to reach consumers who have already demonstrated intent to buy. That model has drawn a network of investors — Tiger Global, Fin Capital and Underscore Ventures — and positioned Kard as a bridge between financial institutions and the fast-growing commerce media market, where banks monetize transaction data.

Competing With Fintechs on Their Own Turf

The deal gives Citi a direct route into commerce media, a segment where rivals including JPMorgan and Capital One have built similar capabilities. The acquisition lets Citi close that gap without developing the technology in-house. For a bank whose cards business faces pressure from neobanks that have long used data to drive engagement, the move is both defensive and offensive.

"Joining forces with Citi marks an exciting new chapter for Kard, our team and our customers," said Ben Mackinnon, Kard's founder and chief executive. "Now being able to do that for Citi's 70 million cardmembers, on top of the millions we support today, accelerates that original vision towards building the future of commerce."

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, and the companies will operate independently until it closes. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, a Stifel company, acted as exclusive financial advisor to Kard; Sullivan & Cromwell advised Citi and Latham & Watkins advised Kard.

For Kard's backers, the exit confirms a model that has struggled to scale independently despite processing billions in monthly transactions. For Citi, it converts a loyalty program into a revenue-generating asset — one that could help the bank defend market share as card competition intensifies. The deal also shows how traditional banks are responding to fintechs that have used transaction data to win younger, higher-spending customers, a shift that could reshape how card rewards are funded and delivered across the industry. With the transaction expected to close in coming months pending customary conditions, Citi's cardmembers could begin seeing Kard-powered offers before year-end.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.