--- title: "Kimi released an \"AI-native credit card\"." type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/292401269.md" description: "Kimi, a subsidiary of Moonshot AI, launched the 'world's first AI-native credit card' in partnership with Agricultural Bank of China and American Express. This product integrates AI membership levels directly with card tiers, allowing users to redeem spending points for AI computing power (tokens) and premium features. The launch aims to drive user acquisition and retention by embedding AI benefits into high-frequency payment scenarios, marking a strategic shift in the declining credit card market." datetime: "2026-07-12T11:26:18.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/292401269.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/292401269.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/292401269.md) generator: "portal-rs" --- # Kimi released an "AI-native credit card". Author: Cai Pengcheng; Source: Barron's On July 10th, Kimi, a subsidiary of Moonlight's Dark Side, officially launched the "world's first AI-native credit card" in conjunction with the Agricultural Bank of China and American Express. This card, which began development in April of this year and opened for pre-orders on June 12th, was launched in just three months. Against the backdrop of three consecutive years of declining credit card issuance, this is a "lightning marriage" between a large-scale startup, a major state-owned bank, and an international card organization. According to Kimi's official website definition, the so-called "AI-native credit card" refers to embedding Kimi membership, credit limits, and other core benefits into the credit card opening and points consumption system, and allowing users to experience AI usage through prompt-word courses, AI sharing sessions, and other activities. Unlike previous co-branded card models in the market where "banks were the main players and AI benefits were added as supplementary perks," the Kimi co-branded credit card directly links AI membership levels to card levels. The product is divided into two tiers: the standard version corresponds to the Kimi Andante membership level, with an annual fee of 580 yuan for the main card, waived for the first year and waived for the following year after 10 transactions; the premium platinum card corresponds to the Kimi Allegretto membership level, with an annual fee of 880 yuan for the main card, which can be offset by 200,000 points. In terms of core benefits, cardholders can redeem Agent credit limits, Kimi Code credit limits, and access to Kimi's new model beta testing through spending points. The points redemption ratio is 1000:1, with daily spending points redeemable at an 80% discount for Kimi membership benefits, and a maximum redemption rate of 50% using points. Premium platinum cardholders also enjoy customized benefits such as "priority AI scheduling during peak hours," premium private sessions, and prompt word courses. Five "Token Cards" Launched Within a Month From the perspective of the cooperation structure, the three parties have different business objectives. For Kimi, this is an attempt at a "second growth curve" beyond the subscription model. The large-scale C-end commercialization model has long relied on monthly subscriptions, with a clear ceiling. Credit cards connect the conversion link of "daily consumption—points—computing power," effectively embedding customer acquisition and retention into users' high-frequency payment scenarios. The choice of American Express is particularly intriguing. American Express's high-net-worth customer base, including business people and cross-border practitioners, highly overlaps with the demographics of people willing to pay for productivity AI. According to the head of Moon's Dark Side B-end, Kimi's overseas paying users and API revenue both grew by 400% at the end of June this year, and the product has entered more than 200 countries and regions. For a company that views globalization as a growth engine, American Express's international network represents a readily available, low-cost channel to reach overseas users. For Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), this is a key to competing for technology customers in the existing credit card market. By the end of 2025, the number of credit cards issued nationwide had decreased to 696 million, a cumulative reduction of 111 million from the peak at the end of the third quarter of 2022, marking three consecutive years of decline. Traditional benefits such as restaurant discounts and travel memberships are losing their marginal appeal, while tokens, acting as "electricity fees in the AI ​​era," have real utility for high-value customer groups such as developers, technology professionals, and frequent AI users, simultaneously serving business goals such as customer acquisition, user activation, and asset accumulation. For American Express, at a time when Visa is aggressively partnering with OpenAI and Mastercard to promote Agent Pay, collaborating with a leading Chinese model manufacturer is a strategic move to stay ahead in the AI ​​payment narrative. Since June, several banks, including China Merchants Bank, Ping An Bank, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, and MYbank, have launched bank card products equipped with AI computing power benefits, creating a significant wave of innovation in the industry. In mid-June, China Merchants Bank launched an exclusive AI benefit for its engineer credit card, linked to the MiniMax function; on June 30, Ping An Bank, in conjunction with China UnionPay and Tencent Cloud, launched the "AI Smart Computing Card," integrating the TokenPlan computing power package with Tencent WorkBuddy; in early July, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, in conjunction with China UnionPay and Alibaba Cloud, released the "SPDB Technology Elite Credit Card (Cloud Smart Edition)," offering a full computing power subsidy of up to 3 billion large-scale model tokens; and at the end of June, MYbank, in conjunction with Alibaba Cloud and Sesame Credit, upgraded its business card, providing small and micro-sized business operators with up to 10 million tokens for trial use and business-oriented AI capabilities. The rapid emergence of at least five "Token Cards" in the past month demonstrates the banking industry's high regard for this differentiated market segment. Token credit cards still face several hurdles. Amidst the hype, the scaling of these products still faces real constraints. Firstly, there's the data compliance red line. Under the current regulatory framework, financial asset transaction data is considered core sensitive information, while large-scale model access records are classified as personal behavioral information. Wang Pengbo, chief analyst at Broadcom Consulting, points out that the cross-institutional transmission of these two types of data requires explicit authorization from the user, physical isolation must be established between banks and computing power platforms, and core financial data cannot be directly synchronized to third parties, let alone used for model training. Secondly, there are costs and standards. Dynamic fluctuations in computing power costs may lead to uncontrollable redemption costs—the price of large-scale model inference has been declining for the past two years, meaning that the token rights promised today may have a reduced or even lower value tomorrow; inconsistent token measurement standards among different vendors create barriers to rights interoperability; and unclear division of responsibilities for computing power services may also lead to consumer disputes. Thirdly, there's the issue of customer fit. Token benefits naturally favor developers and heavy AI users, offering limited appeal to ordinary cardholders without AI usage habits. Zeng Gang, deputy director of the National Institution for Finance and Development, pointed out that in the short term, this is a differentiated customer acquisition method, and in the long term, it has the potential to build a value loop of "consumption-computing power-production." However, "at present, the audience is relatively small, the universality of benefits is insufficient, and whether it can be scaled up remains to be seen." For Kimi, the significance of this credit card may go beyond customer acquisition. In a global competitive landscape where OpenAI and Anthropic are both approaching a trillion dollars in valuation and have successively launched IPO processes, large Chinese model manufacturers are eager to prove the feasibility of C-end commercialization. In fact, this wave of "AI + finance" has already seen more aggressive exploration overseas. In June of this year, Visa announced a strategic partnership with OpenAI, allowing AI agents to initiate transactions directly within user-preset spending limits and merchant ranges using tokenized payment credentials (rather than original card numbers). Mastercard, meanwhile, has been pushing Agent Pay since 2025 and this year partnered with over 30 institutions, including Stripe, to launch Agent Pay for Machines, targeting machine-to-machine transactions. Compared to the overseas focus on restructuring infrastructure around "smart agent payments," the current approach of "computing power into cards" in China remains cautious, essentially representing an upgrade to the benefits system. ### Related Stocks - [01288.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/01288.HK.md) - [AXP.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AXP.US.md) - [601288.CN](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/601288.CN.md) - [V.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/V.US.md) - [OpenAI.NA](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/OpenAI.NA.md) - [MA.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MA.US.md) - [03968.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/03968.HK.md) - [600036.CN](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/600036.CN.md) - [000001.CN](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/000001.CN.md) - [600000.CN](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/600000.CN.md) - [00700.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/00700.HK.md) - [TCEHY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/TCEHY.US.md) - [80700.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/80700.HK.md) - [HTCD.SG](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/HTCD.SG.md) - [TCTZF.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/TCTZF.US.md) ## Related News & Research - [Nvidia’s Biggest Customers Face a Painful New AI Bill](https://longbridge.com/en/news/297062287.md) - [Former Miami Mayor Francis Suarez Joins HelloGov AI as Advisor to the Board](https://longbridge.com/en/news/297064972.md) - [Lorka AI Report Finds Higher Workplace AI Adoption Among Younger Workers](https://longbridge.com/en/news/297049938.md) - [Over 580 Dental Practices Now Use Dently.ai's AI Team — Reporting 76% More New Patients](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296812368.md) - [Consulting's race to become AI native](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296676838.md) --- > **Disclaimer: This article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice.**