The news: Citi acquired 13 million credit cardholders in 2025, and total spend hit $626, per the bank’s investor day presentation.

Diving into the presentation: Head of US consumer cards Pam Habner outlined Citi’s outlook for 2026.

• AI. Citi said machine learning and AI will enhance uplift models, modernize collections, and improve fraud detection. 
• Premium. Citi’s reentry to upper-tier card programs with the Citi Strata portfolio gives the issuer a chance to capture consumers on the top half of the K-shaped economy. Strata Elite helped grow the overall portfolio by 38% in fiscal year 2025. 
• Installment loans. The issuer is scaling its buy now, pay later (BNPL) offerings, which have grown 13% compounded annually from 2022 to 2025.
• Gen Z and millennials. The share of Citi’s new cardholders who are millennial and Gen Z grew by 4 percentage points between 2022 and 2025. It plans to deepen rewards and lending products to continue this trend.

Why this matters: Citi’s proposed focus areas mirror those of peers like American Express, which is also aggressively campaigning for wealthier under-40-year-olds through experiential rewards. Amex is also leaning into AI to reinforce its membership programs’ utility. 

Implications for payment providers: To capture large payment volume, almost all legacy issuers are gearing their programs to capture the same demographic of shopper: the wealthy professional.