Wells Fargo has branches all over the country. And yet, the nation’s fourth-largest bank is barely making a dent in the credit card market compared to its larger rivals JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup . A yearslong effort at Wells, aided by the removal this summer of the Federal Reserve’s punitive asset cap, may help change all that. Here is what Wells Fargo is up against. The largest U.S. card issuers — Chase, American Express , Citi, and Capital One — dwarf Wells in credit card market share. Wells Fargo grabbed 4% share in 2024, making it the seventh-largest issuer in the country, according to global payments research provider Nilson Report. Comparatively, the No. 1 issuer, JPMorgan Chase, accounted for a whopping 17.27% share, while Amex, Citi, and Capital One each secured more than 10% share, respectively. It’s a catch-up game for sure, but Wells Fargo has strategically positioned itself to become a significant contender in credit cards by leveraging its massive existing customer base. In fact, CFO Michael Santomassimo said so himself earlier this month, saying credit cards would become a “meaningful contributor” to the bank’s bottom line within the next few years. Credit cards are “a huge opportunity for us to continue to grow,” Santomassimo said at an industry conference on Sept. 9. Wells Fargo has launched at least nine new credit cards since 2021 . The most popular introductions from Wells have been its Active Cash Card in 2021, which offers a 2% cash back on all purchases, and the Reflect Card that same year, which offers a competitive and lengthy introductory annual percentage rate (APR) period. The bank has put more money into advertising its credit cards, with commercials airing at high-profile events such as the Olympics. Revenue for Wells Fargo’s credit card business — housed within its largest reporting segment, consumer banking and lending — jumped 9% year-over-year on higher loan balances last quarter. Still, Wells Fargo’s credit card push hasn’t been without its hiccups. In fact, the firm had to end its flashy credit-card agreement with Bilt prematurely earlier this summer, which allowed card holders to earn rewards on their rent. The Wall Street Journal reported in July that the partnership had become a money-losing venture for Wells, citing a lack of expected interest income as cardholders would pay their bills in full each month. A Wells Fargo spokesperson told the Journal last year that this was only “a modest part” of the Wall Street firm’s overall credit-card strategy. “As with all new card launches, it takes multiple years for the initial launch to pay off,” the spokesperson said to the outlet at the time. During a CNBC interview last week, however, CEO Charlie Scharf continued to tout the bank’s efforts in the credit card business. “When you look at our credit card growth, we’ve grown substantially over the last four to five years,” Scharf said last Wednesday. “We’ve gone from $35 billion to $50 billion receivables.” Higher outstanding receivables — the amount of money that customers owe to a credit card issuer — is a key gauge of profitability. That’s because the main way these businesses make money is through the interest they charge on outstanding balances. The larger the pool of outstanding receivables, the more money the issuer generates from interest-based income. JPMorgan Chase, by comparison, had $220 billion in outstanding receivables last year. RBC Capital Markets analyst Gerard Cassidy described Wells Fargo’s credit card expansion as a “natural evolution.” Wells Fargo has an underpenetrated deposit base when it comes to credit cards, the result of not only heated competition from peers, but a loss of customer trust from its 2016 sales practice scandal, which predated Scharf’s tenure. Wells has improved its reputation over the years, though, as the firm made strides to appease regulators and clean up its act. It also helps that the bank offers better credit cards than it used to. Both of these, in turn, make the firm better positioned to cross-sell its offerings to its existing clients. If a customer has a Wells Fargo debit card, for example, the bank could advertise its credit cards directly to them. This is a more efficient and cost-effective way of getting additional business because Wells already has an idea of what their customers can qualify for, and what they may want based on existing relationships. “There are real benefits to having multiple products from the bank, especially from the bank’s perspective,” Cassidy, who has a buy-equivalent rating on Wells Fargo stock, recently told CNBC. He added, “It’s been proven that the more hooks a bank can get into its customer, the more sticky that relationship will be over a long period of time and more profitable.” WFC YTD mountain Wells Fargo (WFC) year-to-date performance After a sizable amount of credit card growth, however, Scharf said the bank’s outstanding receivables have “kind of leveled out” in recent quarters. “We’ve tried to be very prudent on who we extend credit to, but also because payment rates are very high,” the Wells Fargo CEO added. Scharf’s mention of “payment rates” is a reference to the elevated APRs for credit cards. Management is being cautious to minimize credit risk at a time when many on Wall Street wonder how the U.S. consumer will hold up under a sustained period of elevated inflation and only gradually lower rates. This matters to Wells Fargo and other credit card issuers because their performances are heavily tied to the health of the consumer. So far, despite months and months of uncertainty about Federal Reserve interest rate cuts and President Donald Trump ‘s tariff moves, consumers are still spending and paying back their credit cards at a decent rate. “In our own data, things are remarkably stable,” Scharf said before last week’s Fed rate cut. “Consumer credit is as good as it’s been in the last six months. In fact, it’s probably trending a touch better. Companies are in really great shape. We look for signs of any kind of change, and you just don’t see it,” he argued. Having said that, the CEO added that there is a dichotomy between “low-end” and “high-end” consumers. Those with less means are “living on the edge,” he said. “It hasn’t impacted credit yet, but they’re certainly not becoming more healthy.” Capital One, our other Club credit card issuer, has seen similar resilience among average consumers. Capital One CEO Richard Fairbank also struck a fairly positive tone this summer. “Despite all the noise out there and the tariff news and everything, even when we look at the very latest daily data on things like spending data or anything related to consumer behavior, we just don’t see an effect,” Fairbank said in June during an industry conference. “It’s as if our consumers aren’t really reading the same newspaper that we are.” He added, “I’m cautiously optimistic about what I see.” COF YTD mountain Capital One (COF) year-to-date performance Additionally, Fairbank pointed out that Capital One’s delinquency trends have steadily improved since the fourth quarter of 2024. All of this bodes well for the company’s own financials. Capital One clients are not only able to pay back their minimums on their credit cards during a period of economic uncertainty, but also are still managing to spend consistently, he added. Wells Fargo’s credit card push has also put the bank in direct competition with Capital One, which acquired Discover Financial in May for $15 billion. In early 2025, the Club bought Capital One for this very reason. Owning Discover allows Capital One to become a bigger credit card issuer and an operator of a payment network. That dual setup has only been enjoyed by American Express. Outside of Discover and Amex, Visa and Mastercard dominate the payment network space. The new structure at Capital One is expected to deliver billions of dollars in benefits over time, partially by relying less on Visa and Mastercard. Capital One is expected to report third-quarter earnings in mid to late October. Wells Fargo is scheduled to report Q3 earnings on Oct. 14, the same day as JPMorgan and Citigroup. Amex is set to release its quarterly results on Oct. 17. Bottom line While Wells Fargo has work to do to catch Capital One in credit cards, that’s OK with us. Continued growth from the Wells Fargo’s smaller base could still be positive to its overall financials. Additionally, Wells has many new lines of expansion before it without the shackles of the Fed’s long-standing $1.95 trillion asset cap. Now that it’s lifted, Wells can finally grow its balance sheet after more than seven years. Management can turn its focus to going on the offense after years of fixing its past regulatory missteps. Wells can grow deposits, offer more loans, and bulk up wealth management. It can also build out its investment banking business, which was already underway . While investment banking depends on constantly getting new initial public offerings and merger clients after each deal is completed, it does allow Wells Fargo to be less reliant on interest-based revenue in banking and loans, which are at the mercy of the Fed’s monetary policy moves. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long COF, WFC. See here for a full list of the stocks.) 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