FIS Sees $42 Billion Opportunity in Offers Consumers Never Get
The next contest for cardholder loyalty may depend less on rewards programs than on whether consumers receive relevant offers before they decide how to pay.
That is the larger message emerging from research conducted by FIS® and PYMNTS Intelligence, according to FIS Head of Product, Payment Networks, Mladen Vladic. The findings point to a $42 billion opportunity tied to offers that never reach consumers at the moment they can influence spending.
The problem is not simply creating offers, Vladic said. It is delivering them in ways that match how consumers now shop and pay.
Legacy delivery models remain an obstacle. Consumers move between physical stores, digital commerce and mobile channels, while many offer programs still require manual activation or delayed statement credits. These processes create friction for consumers and make it harder for merchants to measure whether promotions actually drive incremental sales.
“There are some gaps in terms of how the industry is delivering on that today,” Vladic told PYMNTS in an interview. “The way that offers are being constructed and delivered, it’s really not matching the expectations of consumers.”
The challenge extends beyond convenience. In what Vladic described as a K-shaped economy, consumers pay close attention to opportunities that lower the cost of everyday purchases.
Rather than viewing embedded offers solely as discounts, Vladic said he believes financial institutions should think of them as engagement tools that strengthen relationships among consumers, merchants and payments providers. Better offers can influence payment choice while giving merchants another way to connect marketing spending to measurable results.
AI Changes the Definition of ‘Top of Wallet’
Technology is beginning to remove many of the barriers that have limited offer redemption. Real-time matching, tokenization and better attribution can replace manual processes with automated experiences that fit naturally into the payments journey.
“The technology is simply getting better in terms of the ability to do lookups in real time, do the matching, and then the presentment on the offer,” Vladic said.
Those improvements become even more important as agentic commerce develops. Vladic said he views artificial intelligence-powered purchasing as the next major commerce channel, one where agents make payment decisions using consumer preferences and permissions rather than brand loyalty alone.
“I think of agentic as the fourth major expansion when it comes to commerce,” Vladic said, listing physical transactions, eCommerce and mobile as the other three.
The emergence of agentic commerce changes what banks and credit unions must compete on. If AI selects the payment credential that delivers the best value, institutions will need to earn that recommendation through better experiences rather than relying on established customer habits.
Vladic said he believes financial institutions begin with an advantage because consumers trust them with financial data, but he cautioned that the lead may not last.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for our industry,” Vladic said. “But I also believe that it is a limited time opportunity because the rest of the industry players are very quickly going to catch up.”
His advice is straightforward. Waiting for perfect technology carries greater risk than learning through implementation, Vladic said.
“The key is for all participants and all brands to embrace the new technology,” Vladic said. “It’s a lot about iterating the models as we learn more and gain access to better technology.”
Watch the full interview with Mladen Vladic to learn more about:
- Why better attribution could change how merchants allocate advertising budgets.
- How payment-linked offers differ from traditional loyalty and coupon programs.
- Why Vladic said he believes AI’s long-term utility matters more than today’s valuation debate.
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