There is. Citi bought the account balances from American Express and paid a billion dollar premium. There wouldn't be a premium if there were no finance charge revenue stream.
Yes, but after the premium what is the ROE? It’s similar to Alaska paying an arm and a leg to acquire Virgin America. Just because they paid twice the VX share price does not mean Alaska is going to make money off of it. Quite the contrary if you ask me. The same argument/logic for Citi paying a premium for Amex’s portfolio.