Investors on edge as US banks declare Card Wars

New York

MORRIE Low, a 27-year-old Seattle cocktail server, has found an unlikely new source of pleasure: credit card companies.

After working off card balances he built up during college, Mr Low started collecting new cards in May specifically to reap the increasingly lucrative travel awards banks are offering to encourage spending on their cards. In August, Mr Low snagged a new Sapphire Reserve card, from JPMorgan Chase & Co, which has become a magnet for millennials willing to pay the US$450 annual fee for a sign-up bonus worth as much as US$1,500 in travel, plus US$300 in annual spending credits and more freebies.

Now Mr Low is planning a trip to Germany with his girlfriend on JPMorgan's dime. "I have never…