Origination Growth Sets Scene For New Subprime Card Brand

Credit card originations grew 4.5% on a year-over-year basis in the first quarter of 2025, according to a new report from TransUnion on U.S. consumer credit trends. It’s the first annual increase since 2022.

What may surprise many issuers is which borrowers are driving the rebound. Subprime originations jumped 15.2% over the past year — more than triple the growth rate among superprime borrowers.

Snap Finance has rolled out a new brand, Seen, that may help sustain growth in subprime borrower originations as we head into 2026. 

Seen offers two credit cards, the Seen Mastercard and the Seen CashBack Plus Mastercard. The cards, which report payments to leading credit bureaus, can help underserved consumers build their credit history, according to a press release from Snap Finance.

The brand is an important element in the company’s work to promote financial inclusion, said Debtosh Banerjee, President of Seen, in the release. We recently caught up with Banerjee to learn more about the new Seen products and how credit card issuers can court subprime borrowers with solutions tailored to their financial situations.

Market research led Snap Finance to develop credit cards that help consumers build their credit.

Banerjee told us that in 2022, as Snap Finance was deciding its future direction, the company turned to a time-honored business strategy, market research, to inform their next moves.

“After talking with consumers and doing some market research, it was a very easy decision to choose our next step to take,” he said. “Everybody wanted a credit card to help them build their credit.”

By engaging with their customers, issuers can gain insights that help them craft new product development programs and avoid wasting resources on unwanted solutions.

Seen had a soft launch for its two credit cards and has been testing its hypothesis around the products since that time, Banerjee explained. 

“We have 100,000 cards now that we have issued,” Banerjee said. “We’re very careful with compliance and things of that nature, and our customers love us and what we do. So right now, we are feeling pretty confident that we have a real solid credit card program.”

Seen released two versions of its credit card to offer its customers options. 

As people progress through their financial journey, card issuers can aim to offer them solutions that match their specific needs along the way.

“In order to grow, you have to create different product sets for different customer segments, and then you graduate them as they show good behavior,” Banerjee explained. “That’s what we’ve been focusing on building, and that’s where we are going.”

Credit card issuers looking to add more subprime borrowers to their customer base may not feel comfortable offering them unsecured cards. But a secured card program can teach a customer the ins and outs of using a credit card, paving the way for them to apply for an unsecured card down the road.

Banerjee confirmed that the brand plans to offer a secured card for consumers in the near future.

With uncertainty surrounding tariffs and questions concerning whether the Fed will make more rate cuts, experts trying to figure out where the economy will go next may have more questions than explanations at this time.

Banerjee told us that he foresees inflation rising. If inflation does climb, more people may be in the market for a new credit card that gives them some financial breathing room. 

But subprime borrowers could find themselves with limited options, particularly if lenders tighten their underwriting standards.

That’s precisely why now may be opportune timing for Seen to introduce a secured card.

“I feel like rolling out a secured card at this point in time is the right thing to do,” Banerjee told us. “This is a cycle, and we are here to manage through it.”

Credit card issuers that understand the shifting needs of consumers and can adapt their products to meet those needs stand to weather the difficulties a challenging economy can present.

“Really, the idea behind our approach is to say ‘yes’ to as many people as we can, responsibly,” Banerjee said. “That’s the reason we have been creating this suite of products, so we can actually cater to everybody.”