Consumer Finance
Case studies in consumer finance.
American Express: Where should growth investment go while travel recovers?
On April 23, 2021, American Express faced a split recovery. Q1 Goods & Services (G&S) spending on its proprietary cards was above Q1 2019, while travel and entertainment (T&E) spending remained far below its Q1 2019 level. The company had just reported 2.1 million new proprietary cards for the quarter and said added value on several premium products was helping engagement. Read case
Capital One: How far should the card portfolio travel?
Capital One’s acquisition of Discover created an opportunity to operate a large card issuer and a payments network under one corporate roof. It also created two migration streams that are easy to confuse. One moves Discover-originated accounts onto Capital One technology. The other routes Capital One-branded cards over Discover Network. Read case
Jefferson Capital: Which Consumer Debt Should It Buy Next?
Jefferson Capital had built its business around acquiring consumer debt portfolios and collecting on them. Its June 2025 prospectus described U.S. purchases of performing loans as an area for expansion. The company said it had selectively acquired performing pools in 2022 and 2023 and believed its experience in distressed debt could transfer to them. Read case
OneMain Holdings: Growth, Credit Risk, and Capital Returns
At the end of August 2026, OneMain had several reasons to continue growing its consumer-credit portfolio—and reasons to protect its ability to absorb losses and fund that growth. In the second quarter, originations increased 10% year over year. Management’s non-GAAP capital-generation measure rose to $229 million from $222 million. Read case
SoFi’s Next Loan: Keep It, Place It, or Pass?
On May 6, 2025, SoFi Technologies filed its first-quarter report showing another record quarter for personal-loan originations. The report also showed how much the company’s lending model was changing: a growing share of the loans were being originated for institutional partners rather than held on SoFi’s own balance sheet. Read case
Synchrony Financial — Financing the Next Checkout
At 6:00:43 a.m. Eastern Time on 24 October 2023, the SEC accepted Synchrony Financial's third-quarter results filing. The company had scheduled its results call for 8:00 a.m. Its results showed a business growing in purchase volume and receivables while credit costs and funding expense were rising. Read case