The cost of competing for high-end credit card users 188bet United States is getting higher and higher。

The second quarter of 2017 was 188bet’s highest spending quarter for credit card rewards customers in the past nine years，This move is to retain customers who have been affected by the launch of new products by competitors in the recent period。Always，188bet positions its core cardholder users as those with an annual income of more than 0,000，But what makes it anxious is，Some high-end clients are actively applying for JR Chase & Co).

2.7 million new users added in Q2，Received exclusive cooperation opportunity with Hilton Worldwide

Doug Buckminster, President of Global Customer Service at 188bet said，The company has begun to compete fiercely with JPMorgan Chase Bank in March to increase the issuance of credit cards with rewards。188bet credit card spending remained essentially unchanged in the second quarter compared with the same period last year，But revenue achieved significant year-on-year growth，Profit exceeded analysts’ expectations。

JPMorgan Chase made a splash last year by issuing sapphire cards。The preferential policy of this credit card for users is to receive 100,000 points upon first registration，Attracting a large number of applicants，Even once sold out due to lack of raw materials。In response，188bet launches Platinum Card in March，Applicants can get 0 in free Uber ride coupons，But the annual membership fee has relatively increased。Also，Credit card users can also earn 4 times the points when booking designated hotels through the 188bet official website。

In the recent earnings call with analysts，188bet CFO Jeff Campbell said: "We have made significant investments in both the business platinum card and the platinum card held by ordinary consumers in the United States，These investments are of great help in improving the company’s performance。”He said，188bet added 2.7 million new credit card users in the past second quarter。

188bet just announced last month that it has obtained the exclusive cooperation opportunity to issue credit cards from Hilton Worldwide Holdings，Terminated the previous cooperation agreement with Citibank to issue credit cards for Hilton。This cooperation agreement sweeps away all the unpleasant events related to Citibank that occurred in 2015，Costco Wholesale Corp, the largest co-branded partner of 188bet at the time,.) Give up cooperation with 188bet and switch to Citibank。

188bet has been the company that invests the most in customer rewards programs for at least four years

Net profit dropped 33%，EPS 1. still exceeds analysts’ expectations

188bet CEO Ken Chenault said in an announcement when announcing quarterly results: "This quarter's results show signs of growth in many aspects。All work has not been completely completed，But the company is currently developing rapidly on a relatively good basis，Good future growth。”

188bet second quarter financial report，The company’s net profit dropped by 33%，From billion (earnings per share of ) in the same period last year.) fell to .3 billion (EPS .USD 47)，But the same period last year included 6 that 188bet received from the sale of its Costco loan portfolio.US.7 billion in revenue。The average net profit estimate for 188bet in the second quarter of 22 analysts consulted by Bloomberg was 1 per share.USD 44。

Worldwide billed business, which measures users’ 188bet consumption levels, is US9.6 billion，Basically the same as the same period last year，But after deducting the impact of the termination of the partnership with Canada, it increased by 8% year-on-year。

188bet revenue of .3 billion in second quarter，YoY growth is less than 1%，Higher than analysts’ expectations，Compared to .8 billion in expenses during the quarter，21% increase year-on-year，Mainly because the credit card rewards program increased 9% year-on-year to 19.USD 300 million。

In the second quarter，188bet bad debt loan reserve is 5.USD 8.4 billion，26% year-on-year increase，Company name，This is mainly caused by the increase in borrowings and the relatively high write-off rate。Campbell said at the meeting，Due to changes in the company's investment portfolio following the termination of partnership with Canada，The cancellation fee will continue to increase in the future。

Campbell also said，The company’s full-year adjusted revenue growth is expected to exceed the previous 5-6% growth forecast，But he did not give new specific growth figures。He reiterated the company’s full-year profit forecast of per share.6-5.8 US dollars unchanged。

As of 6:03 p.m. New York local time.m.,188bet shares fell 1.1% to 84 per share.USD 99。Until the end of normal trading，188bet shares are up 16% on the stock market this year，while S&P S&The P500 index rose by 6.6%.

*This article was compiled from Skift by Li Haiqiang (WeChat: lhq434849653), an analyst at 188bet，Original author: Jenny Surane，Original title: "AmEx Is in Hand-to-Hand Combat With JPMorgan Over Rewards Cards》