The news: Bilt customers are receiving unwanted Wells Fargo cards as the rent platform’s card portfolio migrates to its new issuer, Cardless, per Bloomberg.
How we got here: Bilt and Wells Fargo split ways after Wells lost as much as $10 million a month funding the program.
As Bilt launched its new card program, cardholders could either stick with Bilt or convert their card to an Autograph Visa product. Instead, consumers found Autograph cards mass-mailed to their addresses, regardless of their opt-in status.
Wells Fargo said the issue was due to a mismatch between when the bank needed to start mailing cards to customers who did want them and the deadline for customers to decide which card they wanted.
Why this matters: Bungled customer service for card products can hurt an issuer’s chance at being top-of-wallet.
For example, initially meant to rival American Express’ Platinum and Chase’s Sapphire Reserve, Citi’s Strata Elite likely lost potential cardholders after a customer service fiasco involving frozen accounts, Byzantine form filing, and inflexibility around sign-up bonuses despite the lockout.
Hairy customer service experiences are more likely to repel millennial cardholders, who have increased expectations for fast and digital-first solutions to resolve issues.
Looking ahead: JPMorgan Chase’s Apple Card takeover will be the next transition test, especially for Savings users, which will either convert to Goldman Sachs savings or merge into JPMorgan’s Apple program. With 6 in 10 Apple cardholders considering the Apple Card their primary card and 70% of Apple’s cardholder base made up of millennials, per Fortune, JPMorgan has a lot of young, loyal cardholders to lose if their trust is shaken by service disruptions.
Implications for issuers: If hiccups in product rollouts are unavoidable, the customer service journey after the fact must be airtight.
To service younger customers, prioritize personalized, digital- and mobile-first solutions to help these shoppers in a format they’ll be most responsive to.