A deep dive into the marketing funnels of prominent US credit card issuers

Turning brand awareness into a committed customer base is no small feat. For businesses, the journey from awareness to conversion is often an uphill one, with many pitfalls along the way. This article compares the performances of three major US credit card issuers—American Express and Capital One —in converting awareness into dedicated customers.

American Express

American Express demonstrates a substantial level of Awareness among US adults, with nine out of ten consumers stating they are aware of the brand (90.3%).

In terms of Consideration, American Express excels among its peers, boasting a score of 21.6%. This reveals a 24% conversion rate from the Awareness stage to the Consideration stage, which leads the pack among the three brands we're discussing today.

Even more impressive is American Express's Purchase Intent score of 9.8%. This score indicates a conversion rate of 45% from the Consideration stage. This rate comfortably eclipses those of Capital One and Bank of America. Consideration scores refer to the share of the audience who would consider a brand when they are next in the market, while Purchase Intent narrows it down to the one brand out of those considered that consumers are the most likely to opt for.

Capital One

Capital One comes very close to matching American Express's Awareness level with a score of 89.9%—virtually neck-and-neck with its competitor.

Moving further down the marketing funnel, Capital One has a Consideration score of 17.5%, representing a conversion rate of 19% from the Awareness stage—lagging behind American Express, even though the brands’ Awareness levels are nearly identical.

Capital One’s Purchase Intent score of 6.4% translates to a conversion rate of 36% from the Consideration stage. While lagging behind American Express, it suggests that Capital One is still managing to convert a healthy portion of those considering the brand into its customers.

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