Citi's U.S. Consumer Cards business agreed on August 13, 2026 to acquire Kard Financial, a New York company that runs a rewards and commerce media platform for banks and fintechs. Citi did not disclose the price and said the terms are not material to its financial results.
The deal is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and Citi did not give a date for completion. Until then the two companies will run independently. Citi said it is buying Kard's technology, its people and its relationships with merchants.
A Citi spokesperson declined to say how many people work at Kard but told Banking Dive that the operating plan does not include staff cuts as a result of the deal.
What Kard built
Kard sells an API-based platform that card issuers plug into their apps to show customers personalized offers paid for by merchants, rather than by the bank. It matches offers to customers using verified, first-party transaction data and machine learning, and pitches itself to issuers that would rather not build their own rewards programs.
In October 2025, Kard said it reached tens of millions of consumers through partner banks, fintechs and neobanks across the U.S. and processed more than $10 billion in transactions a month. Over time it has moved from a single rewards feature for fintech partners to what it calls a commerce media network, in which merchants pay to reach card users at the point where they spend.
“I started Kard with the goal of building more rewarding experiences for consumers. 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.”
Why Citi is buying
Citi's U.S. cards business had more than 70 million cardmembers at the end of 2025, across general purpose and private label credit cards and installment loans. According to Banking Dive, the unit generated about $18.3 billion in revenue in 2025 and holds about $177.5 billion in loans.
Citi said the deal supports goals it set out at its investor day in May, when Pam Habner, head of the consumer cards business, said the bank would speed up investment in growth and in customer loyalty through what it calls its commerce ecosystem. Merchant-funded offers give a card issuer a way to add rewards that brands, rather than the bank, pay for, and give merchants a new channel to reach cardholders.
Abhinav Anand, Citi's head of value cards, lending and commerce, said Kard's capabilities fit Citi's plans for commerce and loyalty and that the two companies could deliver more personalized experiences for customers while giving brands new ways to reach and reward them.
What happens to customers
Neither company said what will happen to the banks, fintechs and neobanks that already use Kard once Citi owns it. Kard's existing network was built by selling the same platform to many issuers, and Mackinnon framed the deal as adding Citi's cardmembers on top of the people Kard already serves rather than replacing them.
For Citi customers, the bank said the aim is more personalized rewards and offers on its credit cards. It did not say when Kard-powered offers will appear in Citi's apps or which card products will get them first. Until the deal closes, Kard continues to operate as an independent company.
The founder and the funding
Kard was founded in 2015, according to Banking Dive, by chief executive Ben Mackinnon. It was backed by venture investors Underscore VC, Fin Capital and Tiger Global. In October 2025, Trinity Capital, a Nasdaq-listed alternative asset manager, committed $15 million in growth capital to the company to help it scale and enter new markets. Kard has not disclosed how much equity funding it raised in total.
Mackinnon said he started Kard to build more rewarding experiences for consumers and that serving Citi's cardmembers, on top of the millions of people it already reaches, speeds up that goal. In a LinkedIn post, he said Kard's network could expand quickly as part of Citi.
Keefe, Bruyette & Woods was Kard's exclusive financial adviser, and Latham & Watkins was its legal counsel. Sullivan & Cromwell advised Citi.
