Why Wealthy Travelers Can Be Denied U.S. Credit Cards

Even consumers with millions of dollars in assets can become “credit invisible” when they move to the United States.

That’s the problem Karta says it’s solving after recently raising $140 million to expand its platform, which helps affluent international investors qualify for premium U.S. credit cards without a traditional U.S. credit history.

They may have millions in the bank and spend $50,000 in a few swipes — but still can’t get a U.S. credit card. @conkarta CEO @Freddyjuez explains why. Read the full Q&A with Freddy 👉 https://t.co/Vumm5WM6wV pic.twitter.com/T45w5eFrY2

— CardRates News (@CardRatesNews) July 22, 2026

In this conversation with CardRates, Karta CEO and Co-Founder Freddy Juez discusses why legacy underwriting leaves wealthy consumers behind, whether traditional credit scores are becoming less important, and how AI-powered concierge services could reshape premium card experiences.

CardRates: For someone who’s never heard of Karta, what problem are you solving?

Freddy Juez: Especially here in Miami, there are a lot of international travelers and international investors. They have assets parked here in the U.S. in the form of brokerage and investment accounts. They have a credit score in their home country, but when they come to the U.S., they’re credit invisible.

They have a considerable amount of wealth parked in the U.S., but they can’t get access to credit products. That’s the fundamental problem we’re solving.

CR: Why are affluent international travelers still getting rejected or underserved by U.S. credit card issuers?

FJ: Basically, the way credit card issuers underwrite people here in the U.S. is against their credit score. A credit score is tied to a Social Security number or potentially an ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number).

As an international customer, you have neither. You could potentially get an ITIN, but ITINs are for paying taxes in the U.S. If you don’t reside here, why would you get one?

“You could have $1 million to $600 million parked at a partner bank and still not get access to a credit card because you don’t have a U.S. credit score.” — Freddy Juez, Karta CEO

Essentially, if you don’t have that, you’re credit invisible. You could have lots of our clients with anywhere from $1 million to $600 million parked at a partner bank and still not get access to a credit card because you don’t have a U.S. credit score.

CR: What does Karta’s approach tell us about the limitations of traditional credit scoring?

FJ: We thought about this business the same way companies like Brex and Ramp thought about startups. Back then, startups were credit invisible because they didn’t have a credit history, so Brex and Ramp underwrote them against cash.

We take a similar approach. As a consumer or an investor, nobody wants to hold cash, but they do hold very large brokerage accounts. Since we can’t see your credit score in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Asia, Italy, or Portugal, we consider the assets you have parked in the U.S.

That’s a good benchmark to underwrite you for a nice credit line.

CR: What are you using instead of a traditional U.S. credit score or Social Security number?

FJ: In order to apply, you have to be a client of one of our partner banks.

From there, the way we underwrite you is quite simple. Think about Brex and Ramp underwriting against cash balances. We underwrite against your brokerage account—basically your net liquid assets held at the partner bank.

The majority of international investors tend to hold investments like fixed income and ETFs, so that’s what we underwrite against. That’s why it’s been so simple for us.

CR: Do you think we’re moving toward a future where lenders rely less on traditional credit scores and more on alternative financial data?

FJ: Potentially. I’m a former banker myself, and I think there’s definitely something valuable about credit scores. They measure character. There’s one thing having the ability to pay versus wanting to pay.

For me, the limiting factor is that your good payment behavior from Brazil can’t be transferred to the U.S. If that limiting factor gets solved — let’s say there’s eventually a global credit score — then things could potentially be different.

Today we're thrilled to announce our $15M Series A and $125M warehouse facility.

The round was led by @galaxyhq and CIM respectively, with @IlluminateFM joining as a new investor and @canary_ventures and Clocktower Ventures doubling down on us.

Karta has never been in a… pic.twitter.com/kSSeRsPjOE

— FJ (@Freddyjuez) June 17, 2026

For now, I think the assets you have at the partner bank are the best way to assess your creditworthiness. We know how much money you have, we know where the money is, and we know what sort of actions to take if something happens.

With tokenization on a global basis and potentially a global credit score, things might change. But for now, let’s see what happens.

CR: If you could leave readers with one takeaway about the future of credit access, what would it be?

FJ: If you believe in the future of tokenization of assets at scale, I think global credit scores and global access to financial data won’t be limiting factors anymore.

With the current pace of stablecoins and tokenization, I think that’s actually closer than we think.

I also think the servicing side of banking hasn’t really changed in the last hundred years. That’s what ultimately makes us different. We serve customers through WhatsApp with an AI concierge. No phone calls. No calling the number on the back of your card.

I actually think that’s going to change faster than global credit access.

CR: Karta recently launched an AI concierge. What makes that different from traditional premium card concierge services?

FJ: When people think about making it in the world, they think about getting the black card with the concierge. Then you get there, call the number on the back of the card, and it’s pretty limited.

We have a personal concierge for every single user that can handle dinner reservations, flight changes, hotel reservations, and pretty much any everyday task you can think of.

For example, whenever I need to change a flight and the airline tells me to call, I just ask my Karta concierge through WhatsApp. The AI agent calls the airline on my behalf, requests the change, gets a quote, creates a one-time virtual card if there’s something to pay, and handles everything through a single request.

We’ve also seen people ask it to call restaurants for a specific table, contact their hairstylist to schedule an appointment, or arrange deliveries.

When you listen to the recordings, the person on the other end has no idea they’re talking to an AI agent.

That’s what has really driven stickiness for the product. We have a lot of U.S. residents asking to test the card — not because of the rewards or the points, but because of the concierge.