Flex Credentials Propel High-CLTV Issuer Innovations

Even the most successful card issuers cannot rest on their laurels.

Sustained excellence demands continuous innovation and an expanding array of offerings to keep end users engaged and loyal.

The July 2025 PYMNTS Data Book, an analysis stemming from a PYMNTS Intelligence and Visa DPS collaboration survey of 451 United States-based payment executives, highlights that top-performing issuers are already plotting their next strategic moves.

At the heart of sustained growth and profitability for modern card issuers lies customer lifetime value (CLTV), a singular, defining metric. Issuers who achieve high CLTV, defined as generating an average of more than $2,500 per cardholder over the total time they remain a customer, are twice as likely to report strong business performance compared to their counterparts.

Specifically, 44% of high-CLTV issuers report strong business performance versus 22% of low-CLTV issuers. To keep relationships robust, issuers must focus on improving retention, strive to reduce churn and consistently attract high-value customers.

Some of the key features and priorities high-CLTV issuers are embracing in the coming months include:

• Driving Innovation With Flex Credentials: Ten percent of high-CLTV issuers are prioritizing flex credentials for innovation in the coming year. This focus is not merely about novelty but about enabling unified and contactless user experiences, a key attribute high-CLTV issuers specifically seek in their processor partners. High-CLTV FinTechs already differentiate themselves through innovative direct issuance strategies such as single-use virtual cards (29%) and instant issuance to digital wallets (33%), prioritizing speed, convenience and enhanced security to cater to tech-savvy customers.
• Using Advanced Analytics and Enhanced Performance Tracking: High-CLTV issuers are making investments in advanced analytics, with 18% explicitly prioritizing this area for innovation within the next year. This commitment aligns with the broader industry recognition that enhanced performance tracking and predictive analytics are hallmarks of a technologically best-in-class platform, a view shared by 67% of all issuers. These capabilities also allow issuers to understand cardholder behavior, identify critical trends, and thus, make data-driven decisions that enhance retention and reduce churn.
• Prioritizing User-Centric Design and Addressing Pain Points: Beyond specific feature innovation, high-CLTV issuers are focused on foundational platform enhancements, as 20% of issuers prefer a user-centric design when upgrading their issuing platforms, prioritizing features that directly enhance the user experience before back-end overhauls. Digital-only banks and large national banks are more likely to prioritize user-centric upgrades. However, this path is not without its hurdles; nearly one-third of all issuers cite integration issues as their most significant challenge with card-issuing platforms.

High performance demands a holistic approach centered on maximizing CLTV. High-CLTV issuers must continuously diversify revenue streams, use partnerships, lead with highly personalized customer experiences and prioritize user-centric design in platform upgrades.

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