Winning a customer's card sign-up is only half the battle; getting them to actually use that card is where the real value lies. As account issuance continues to climb globally while active card usage cools in many markets, a leading global payments network engaged KoreFusion to understand what truly drives spend activation.

The Challenge

Card issuance was growing across every market studied, yet transaction volume per card was slowing, a trend most pronounced in markets with strong instant-payment alternatives. This put issuers in a difficult position: the typical breakeven period for acquiring a new cardholder runs 12 to 18 months, while roughly 40% of consumers switch to a new card every two years, putting long-term profitability at risk. The payments network needed a clear, evidence-based understanding of how issuers of different sizes, segments, and geographies actually think about and pursue spend activation, what best practices separate the leaders from the rest, and how competing networks and enablers were positioning themselves in this space, so it could sharpen its own value proposition and engagement model with issuer partners.

The Approach

KoreFusion ran a multi-pronged global research program combining structured interviews with Tier 1 and Tier 2 card issuers and competing networks and enablers across several major markets, in-depth desk research spanning six countries, and internal conversations with the network's own regional business-development and account teams. In total, the effort spanned roughly 70 conversations, layered with market-level analysis of card issuance trends, issuer campaigns, and competitive activity. The research examined how issuers define and prioritize spend activation, the specific levers and triggers they use to drive engagement across the customer lifecycle, and how internal teams and issuer-facing materials were landing with the partners they serve.

The Outcome

The research produced a clear, evidence-based framework for how issuers approach spend activation, segmented by size and tier, customer segment, geography, and target market, and identified the core set of levers issuers rely on to drive engagement throughout the customer lifecycle. It also surfaced where the payments network's own capabilities and issuer-facing narrative were falling short of partner expectations. The findings translated into a concrete set of recommendations for shifting from a product-led sales approach to a consultative, partnership-based engagement model, directly informing the network's global strategy for supporting issuer partners on spend activation.