From Concept to Card: What One Leadership Team Learned Launching in 2025

With so many credit cards offering rewards for spending categories such as gasoline and groceries, companies that key in on an overlooked purchase type can attract consumers.

We caught up with members of the Nibbles team, including the company’s Founder and CEO, Rafael Lopez, and Matt Lamers, its Head of Marketing, to gain an inside look into the course Lopez traveled as he shepherded an idea for a new card product into a reality.

Nibbles offers a pet rewards credit card program that gives pet owners points for purchases they make for their pets. The card, which launched in January 2025, also includes up to $10,000 in annual pet insurance coverage. 

Lopez told us that, prior to Nibbles, he founded a business that had sent a survey to its employees asking them what benefits they’d like to see the company offer in the coming year. The employees’ responses revealed that pet insurance was the number one benefit they sought.

The survey results caught Lopez’s attention, and he followed up with employees to dig deeper into why they wanted pet insurance benefits, he said. 

Market research can help credit card companies determine whether an idea they have for a new card will gain traction with consumers. Lopez said his conversations with employees led him to conclude that many people view their pets as members of their family.

“When I heard that, I really started thinking about how I could make a product that could provide healthcare for as many animals as possible and make it as affordable as it could be for people,” Lopez told us. “And that’s where the inspiration for Nibbles came from.”

Lopez’s initial conversations with employees about pet insurance planted a seed that eventually sprouted into a credit card program, but he first had to see if more people shared a similar insurance need as his employees. He told us he engaged in more market research, learning that many people were searching for affordable healthcare options for their pets.

Dogs and cats are the most common type of pets in the U.S. According to data from the American Veterinary Medical Association, more than 45% of U.S. households own a dog and nearly 1 out of every 3 households in the country have cats as pets. But only 24% of all pet owners have pet insurance for their cats or dogs.

Armed with the confidence that the market would be receptive to a solution that helped people pay for the costs of pet ownership, Lopez told us he turned again to research to learn more about the demographics of consumers who would be interested in a pet rewards credit card.

Market research can help credit card companies determine the demographics of customers who may be interested in their product.

“What we found in our market research is that our potential customers include more females, and their typical age is between 30 and 50,” Lopez told us. “And they’re slightly more affluent and have prime credit scores. But, as time goes on, Nibbles wants to expand so that our product addresses the needs of people from all income brackets.”

Companies that are seeking to launch new payment products in the U.S. can face significant regulatory roadblocks, a process Lopez can attest to. 

He told us that Nibbles first tried to facilitate the launch of its card through a banking-as-a-service model, but it encountered challenges that led Lopez and his team to take on management of the program to bring the card to market.

A recent Synchrony study highlighted how expensive pet care can be, revealing that nearly 80% of pet owners underestimate how much it can cost to pay for the care of a pet over its lifetime. As more pet owners come to terms with the expenses associated with caring for pets, consumer appetite for payment tools such as the Nibbles card stands to increase.

The card previously carried a $249 annual fee, but as of today, Nibbles no longer charges an annual fee.

“Even though the card will have no annual membership fee, it’ll still be providing you with a full pet insurance policy,” Lopez told us. “This policy would cost the average person $750 a year, but they’re going to get it completely for free with the Nibbles credit card.”

The company’s quick pivot to eliminate the card’s annual fee is an example of how companies that are nimble to make improvements to their card program can increase its value to cardholders.

The Nibbles card is less than six months old, but Lopez told us the company’s initial results have been encouraging and user feedback has been positive. Though the card serves a specialized need, it’s one that’s been underserved, according to its founder.

Consumers who are approved for the Nibbles card receive pet insurance for one qualified dog or cat, but they can add coverage for additional pets for an additional fee. Lamers said that many people have multiple pets, and the company is working on streamlining the process further for these prospects within their existing onboarding funnel.

Lopez told us that launching a new card can require patience and teamwork, and just because Nibbles has launched its card doesn’t mean the company’s work is over. Nibbles plans to add more benefits to the card, underscoring how credit card companies can add relevant features to their products over time to keep them at the top of a cardholder’s wallet.

“All corporate card programs take a while to really get going,” Lopez said. “Now our focus will really be on expanding the value as much as possible for people and their pets.”