Dive Brief:

• Chase and DoorDash announced a partnership Tuesday that offers complimentary subscriptions of DoorDash's DashPass service for Sapphire and discounted subscriptions for Freedom and Slate card members, according to a press release emailed to Restaurant Dive. DashPass waives most delivery fees and reduces service fees on orders of $12 or more.
• Chase Sapphire Reserve and Preferred members will have access to free DashPass for a minimum of one year and maximum of two years; Chase Freedom, Freedom Unlimited, Freedom Student and Slate card members will receive complimentary DashPass for the first three months of enrollment, followed by a 50% discount price at the current rate for the remaining nine months. 
• The offer is good for card members who activate the DashPash service by Dec. 31, 2021. 

Dive Insight:

Chase card members have more than doubled their spending on food delivery in the past year, Chase Branded Cards President Catherine Hogan said in the release. Not only are cardholders spending more on food delivery, but they're also ordering delivery more frequently, averaging at least once a month, Hogan said. This explains why the company pursued the benefit for its cardholders. 

Delivery and service fees combined on DoorDash average about $6 per order, so earning a waived-fee perk is attractive not only for those cardholders, but also DoorDash's restaurant partners that could yield more business from customers interested in delivery but reluctant about fees.

DashPass, which launched in August 2018, is typically $9.99 a month. The subscription service has grown to 1.5 million active members, according to the release, and that number could swell from Chase's vast network of potential members. With 93 million cardholders, Chase is the top issuer of general-purpose credit cards in the U.S. and its revenue takes up more than 31% of the market, according to CardRates.com.

Because of the rising demand for delivery, more companies are adding unique promotions with delivery companies, waiving fees, for example, to incentivize signups. DoorDash marked DashPass' first anniversary in August with free delivery for a week. 

This appears to be the first credit card company tying its member benefits to delivery, and such a partnership could provide both companies with a first-to-market advantage for heavy delivery consumers. 

It also provides a differentiator for Chase as more credit card companies are focusing on the restaurant space. For example, Mastercard  launched a permanent international culinary collective in August 2019 called Priceless in New York City, featuring "immersive, multi-sensory experiences" from famous restaurants from around the world. In May 2019, American Express acquired reservations platform Resy. Shortly after, American Express added a restaurant booking tool to its mobile app. The latter move illustrates why credit card companies may be turning their attention to the restaurant space: dining is one of the top expenses among households annually.