Does Sync Ever Up Their Benefits to Compete?

[SecretAzure]

Hello, fellow denizens of the MyFico Community Universe, or MCU for short.

A couple of years ago, I was looking for a card that could up my rewards (CB) on dining which is one of my major spending categories. Entertainment was not my highest spend category but I did get some spend in this category online and at the movies. Inevitably, I dediced upon the Sync Marvel MC. The experience was lackluster from the beginning but I won't get into that at the moment.

Since getting the card, 3% (or more dining) has popped up as a benefit of more cards, especially post-pandemic. For instance, my Chase Freedom Unlimited now offers this perk. Besides matching the major perk, I find Chase's portal and history tracking, as well as the UR system a much better experience overall. Besides this, entertainment spend has dropped for me. I no longer go to the movies infrequently and drop ~$80 every couple months or so. I rent movies online sporadically and have a few streaming services that have remained constant but it's a very minor category for me at this point. Theme parks and concerts are out of the question atm, obviously. 

TLDR: Does anyone think Sync will update one of their "Prime Cards" (I'm using this term extremely loosely) to better compete in the current market where 3% on dining is common and 3% on entertainment, which isn't really a thing anymore?

[coldfusion]

No, because there is no indication that either they or their co-branding partners want to shift upward from the current core demographic.

If the partner wanted to go more upscale they would negotiate a new relationship with a different issuer.

[SecretAzure]

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@coldfusion wrote:

No, because there is no indication that either they or their co-branding partners want to shift upward from the current core demographic.

If the partner wanted to go more upscale they would negotiate a new relationship with a different issuer.

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Then I will cross my fingers and hope Disney wants to move the Marvel card under Chase with the rest of their cards...and maybe then they'll want to enhance the benefits.

It seems I always get the short end of the stick with Sync and get stuck with mostly or entirely useless cards. 

(At least this one is more useful than Texaco/Chevron)

[coldfusion]

I don't know why Disney would want to do that but I can think of a few reasons why they wouldn't.

[SecretAzure]

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@coldfusion wrote:

I don't know why Disney would want to do that but I can think of a few reasons why they wouldn't.

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As could I. 

Like the new name btw!

[coldfusion]

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@SecretAzure wrote:

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@coldfusion wrote:

I don't know why Disney would want to do that but I can think of a few reasons why they wouldn't.

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As could I. 

Like the new name btw!

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Thank you!  Some things have to come full circle sometimes lol - blame Remedios haha

[notmyrealname23]

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@SecretAzure wrote:

TLDR: Does anyone think Sync will update one of their "Prime Cards" (I'm using this term extremely loosely) to better compete in the current market where 3% on dining is common and 3% on entertainment, which isn't really a thing anymore?

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Sync now has a Venmo card that will be 3% on your highest category in a month. They offer a 2% on everything card (PayPal MC) that beats Chase Freedom Unlimited. Their Amazon Prime Store card is competitive with Chase's Amazon Visa.

What exactly are you expecting from a firm targeting sub-prime credit profiles? (Frankly they're pretty competitive with Capital One and other firms, you just have to put up with them being potentially squirrelly.)

[kdm31091]

The Disney/Chase example is interesting because IMO that card is even weaker than the Marvel card! The Disney earns you Disney dollars, not real cash back, and the no fee card is only a flat 1% card. The fee version is $49 a year for 2% on some categories. Neither really makes sense for spending, although holding the free one for the discounts and perks, not for the rewards, is somewhat common among Disney fans.

So moving to Chase would not necessarily help. Being as though the money is in the form of Disney dollars and not cash,  again, you'd think they'd be a little more generous with the earn rates. It is certainly not as good as the Marvel which may not have as polished of a website but is giving you cold hard cash at 3% with no fee.