Client: A top-10 U.S. credit card issuer managing a portfolio of issuer-branded and co-branded credit card products, including a card issued in partnership with an automotive brand.
The Challenge
The issuer's co-branded credit card team needed to make an objective, data-backed case for improving their automotive co-branded card's value proposition — and bring their brand partner along in the process.
They needed rigorous benchmarking against competitors in the automotive co-branded space, moving beyond internal assumptions to real, defensible comparisons across rewards, benefits, fees, and acquisition offers. The goal was to arrive at a joint partner presentation armed with clear findings and actionable recommendations.
What Panoramic Research Did
Panoramic Research deployed the Credit Card Value Index (CCVI), our proprietary spending model, to evaluate the client's automotive co-branded card against a comprehensive competitive set: more than a dozen automotive co-branded credit cards, as well as a selection of issuer-branded credit cards identified as potential wallet-share competitors.
Critically, the client provided actual cardholder spending data, which we integrated directly into the CCVI framework. This elevated the analysis beyond a generic benchmarking exercise. The card's performance was measured against what their own customers were actually spending — producing a more precise and defensible competitive picture.
The Outcome
Panoramic Research presented findings jointly to both the issuer and their automotive co-brand partner, delivering data-driven recommendations for strengthening the card's competitive position.
The engagement produced two significant outcomes:
1. A clear product roadmap emerged. Based on the analysis, the client began seriously evaluating the addition of new cardholder benefits and a more competitive acquisition offer — changes the data showed would meaningfully close the gap with top performers in the automotive co-branded space.
2. The competitive frame was fundamentally redrawn. The research surfaced a critical blind spot: the client had been benchmarking exclusively against other automotive co-branded cards. The CCVI analysis revealed that premium issuer-branded credit cards — cards with rich rewards structures and broad benefits not tied to any single brand — were the real competition. Cardholders with the spending profiles and loyalty economics that make an automotive co-branded card attractive are the same cardholders being targeted by premium general-purpose cards. This insight reframed the partner conversation entirely, raising the bar for what the card needed to deliver to remain competitive.
Automotive Co-Branded Card: Competitive Benchmarking
Credit Card Value Index (CCVI) Scores — Current vs. Projected After Recommended Improvements
"The presentation landed really well. The group was genuinely impressed by the quality of the deck and the rigor behind it. What stood out most was how the detailed competitive comparison gave our partner a clearer, more objective view of their own product than they'd had before. It opened up the conversation in a way that internal analysis simply couldn't."
— Vice President, New Product Development, Top-10 U.S. Card Issuer
Services Used
- The Credit Card Value Index (CCVI)
- Custom Competitive Benchmarking
- Executive Presentation and Recommendations
Panoramic Research helps payments and banking teams make faster, better-informed decisions with structured competitive intelligence. Contact us to learn how we can support your team.