Betting on a cash-back strategy, Robinhood takes a shot at premium card spend.

TD Bank will finally offer Amazon Shop with Points in the US for its credit cardholders, per a press release. Earning consumers’ loyalty requires delivering on competitive rewards. While perks like fraud protection and Amazon rewards are seen as default credit card features, issuers trying to impress should incorporate at least 2% cash back, rewards for paying off balances, and payment flexibility at checkout, per our 2025 US Cash-Back Credit Card Emerging Features Benchmark.

As credit card loyalty wanes, staying top-of-wallet is getting harder for issuers. Our fifth annual study dives into which emerging features will help cash-back credit card programs meet customers' growing expectations.

Brands redefine customer acquisition through tech partnerships: Retailers tap nontraditional channels to connect with new audiences in a challenging economy

On today’s podcast episode, we talk about our latest report that looks at new features being offered by the top cash-back credit cards and how much consumers value them. • In our “Headlines” segment, we break down a recent CNBC article about some of the limited-time merchant rewards the major credit cards are offering. • In “Story by Numbers,” we discuss the Insider Intelligence emerging features benchmark that identified 49 novel qualities and carefully reviewed the feature sets of 10 popular no-fee cash-back credit cards. We also talk about free security features that customers value the most. • In “For Argument’s Sake,” our host Rob Rubin has a difficult time staying true to his position (Credit card features are so tempting!) as he debates why consumers feel certain credit card features are valuable and that they would forgo most of them for more rewards. Listen to the podcast with Rob Rubin and our analyst David Morris.

More than anything else, cash-back credit card customers want security and control. Free identity theft insurance and Social Security number monitoring are by far the most valued features among potential users of these cards in the US. These consumers also look for ease of earning and redeeming rewards.