Hilton, Marriott e IHG han lanzado tarjetas de débito en el Reino Unido. A continuación te explicamos por qué.

Key Points

• The UK debit card wave is enabled by regulation: capped interchange (0.2% debit vs 0.3% credit) means hotels lose almost no revenue issuing debit, unlike the US where ~2% uncapped credit interchange funds premium rewards.
• Two distinct fintech models are in play — Hilton and Marriott use Currensea's frictionless open-banking overlay on existing bank accounts, while IHG taps Revolut's 75-million-customer ecosystem as a customer acquisition channel.
• Debit cards target younger, debit-preferring, and non-credit-rewards users, embedding travel loyalty into everyday spending; global expansion stays credit-led, with Australia the next market to watch amid October interchange reforms.

Summary

Three major hotel groups—Hilton (2024), Marriott (2025), and now IHG (via a Revolut/Visa partnership)—have each launched co-branded debit cards exclusively in the UK, alongside United Airlines' March UK debit entry. The UK-only strategy is driven by three aligned conditions: debit dominates UK payments (over half of the 26.1 billion transactions in 2024), the UK's Interchange Fee Regulation caps both debit (0.2%) and credit (0.3%) fees so narrowly that hotels sacrifice almost no revenue by issuing debit instead of credit, and each card bundles a competitive foreign-exchange proposition to remain useful abroad. This contrasts sharply with the US, where uncapped ~2% credit interchange funds rich rewards and keeps premium co-branded credit cards dominant. Hilton and Marriott chose Currensea's frictionless open-banking overlay (linking to a customer's existing bank), while IHG opted for Revolut's 75-million-customer banking ecosystem as an acquisition channel. All three report the cards attract both new members and deepen engagement with existing ones, with everyday domestic spending emerging as a notable use case. Global expansion, however, will continue to run on credit, with Australia flagged as the next market to watch following upcoming interchange reforms.