The news: Changes to Amex’s and Chase’s credit card welcome offers do away with guaranteed points for new cardholders, per CNET.

Welcome offers shifts: Amex and Chase used to guarantee a fixed number of points and perks for top-tier card signees. 

• Amex Platinum cardholders used to get 80,000 points for $8,000 in spending in the first six months. Under the new policy, new cardholders may be eligible for an impressive 175,000 points within the first six months—or nothing at all. 
• Chase’s Sapphire cards additionally did away with multiple welcome offer benefits. Cardholders can now only get one lifetime welcome bonus per card within the Sapphire portfolio.

Utilizing ambiguity: The allure of a hefty sign-up bonus will be a tantalizing gamble for potential cardholders—while still giving Amex discretion to award only a few enrollees with the full point package. 

Amex is betting that once a cardholder is already approved, even a reduced point package will still be enough for a signee to commit to a new account.

Our take: Amex and Chase are trying to maximize their marketing appeal while also limiting their rewards costs. 

However, these cards’ appeal to undecided consumers rested in no small part on their one-time signup windfall—Chase’s Sapphire Reserve’s welcome offer alone nearly paid for the entire card. 

With the firm promise of those massive sign-up incentives fading, both issuers are going to have to crunch a delicate calculus to recruit the cardholder base they desire.

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