News Summary

• Annual fees help credit card companies subsidize the cost of their benefits.
• JPMorgan Chase’s Sapphire Reserve card now offers $2,700 in annual benefits.
• Amex has added more benefits to its list of preexisting perks, such as concierge service and airport lounge access.
• But taking advantage of some of these perks could require meeting a certain spending threshold — and you may need a spreadsheet to keep track of everything.
• The fees charged by card networks and big banks to process credit and debit transactions, totaled $187 billion in 2024.